"I have had two other brokers that did checking, and for both you could only write checks against your cash balance. If you exceeded
this, the check would bounce. "
gbh, if I have account equity of $10,000, and hold positions totalling $19,000, I would have an available cash balance of $500. That's $20,000 buying power - $19,000 used = $1,000 buying power/2 = $500. That $500 is not technically coming out as a margin loan, although it will increase your debit balance. I don't know how Datek will approach it, but that's the way Waterhouse does it. Since Waterhouse values stocks on the last trade, I don't need to worry about something like a trading halt causing one of my stocks to be valued at 0 overnight, and causing a check to bounce.
Barb |
