Cisco,
Don't really have an answer. Yes, sale proceeds are due on settlement date. No question about that. Why did it not get applied for you? I have no idea. The explanation you received that they haven't updated it yet is inaccurate and inadequate to me. The margin dept doesn't manually update those things. If they did, it would be a regular occurence because the staff couldn't keep up with the volume. Something went wrong in this situation because that obviously shouldn't happen. Why it occurred I have no idea.
I hope you don't feel offended by my comments about the knowledge of many of those on this thread. The trading dynamics are not the issue in your case. I assume your trade went as expected. However, your acct wasn't posted as it obviously should be. They are not the same.
When you spoke to them, they sought a solution and rectified it as of the date it should have been. You should not be charged $5 for such a phone call -- if they did, insist it be reversed because the problem was clearly on their end.
I have heard from reliable sources that e.Schwab is experiencing markedly higher levels of e-mail than they expected and the software they originally chose to manage (Lotus Notes) it proved inadequate. They are in process of upgrading this to assure faster response time and more capacity. e.Schwab has proved even more successful than originally expected.
If you want to trade on your margin while they fix it, they do have the ability to manually post your buying power on the acct. However, you will need to call in to place a trade when that is done. Obviously, the e.schwab rate should apply because the error is on them -- I don't think they would give you a problem with that (and no $5 fee either).
From what you said, this was an error in posting your account. Off hand, I can't think of why it may have happened. However, I think it would also be unfair to conclude that this is a common practice and is malicious in intent. I have never heard of this happening at ANY firm I traded with.
You mentioned in another post about their premium rates. I wouldn't call e.Schwab premium rates. For a 1000 shares or less, it's only $29.95 and then .03/sh afterwards. I think that is pretty COMPETITIVE -- not the cheapest, but competitive (a distinct difference). To me, $30 for 1000 shares is nothing. If that's the difference between making or losing money on a stock, then I picked a loser anyway. Just my personal opinion there.
Hope this helps. Good luck, Cisco.
RR |
