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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Dough who wrote (67924)	2/25/2000 9:53:00 AM
From: Cooters	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Mark, Ameritrade still has not placed QCOM on their special margin list, so it is at the regular levels. Cooters

To: John Dough who wrote (67924)	2/25/2000 11:16:00 AM
From: engineer	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 152472

OT Would love to see a concensus list of margin requirements across all the brokers. Seems QCOM is getting a little slammed by alot of them. Others which have had just as much run up have nowhere near the requirements for margin. Schwab has it at 65% for me, but I think they usually carry it at 70% margin for everyeone in a concentrated postion. I had just opened an account at fidelity becuse they had it at 60%. something must have scared them off.

To: John Dough who wrote (67924)	2/25/2000 11:13:00 PM
From: Mick Mørmøny	Respond to of 152472

NYSE and Nasdaq Tell Member Firms to Consider Limits on Loans to Customers quote.bloomberg.com NYSE, Nasdaq Tell Member Firms to Review Lending (Update1) (Updates with comment from William Meehan.) New York, Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers told members to consider limiting how much they lend customers, underlining rising concern investors' debts could deepen a sudden drop in stocks. In an unusual joint statement, NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso and NASD Chairman Frank Zarb yesterday said member firms should review the type and amount of credit they extend to individual investors. They should also consider raising margin requirements. Investors own more of the U.S. stock market on credit than at any point in 25 years, indicating the surge in computer-related and telecommunications stocks is being fueled partly by borrowed money. ''The increasing use of margin borrowings is not without risk,'' the statement said. ''In the event of a severe market contraction, some investors may not be in a position to sustain the leveraging and will be required to liquidate their positions under unfavorable market conditions.'' Both U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt have warned recently about the risks in increasing borrowing to buy shares. Borrowing Levels The amount borrowed from NYSE member firms to buy stocks, known as margin debt, jumped 6.55 percent in January to $243.5 billion, the Big Board said. That debt equals 1.41 percent of the market value of U.S. public companies, the highest ever under the current rules, which date to 1974, said Charles Biderman, president of investment research firm TrimTabs.com. ''The NASD and NYSE request that member organizations review their maintenance margin policies and requirements to consider whether further changes are necessary to address the rapid growth of margin borrowing,'' their statement said. The previous high in margin debt as a percentage of market value occurred in September 1987, Biderman said, a month before the crash that the sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 23 percent in one day. The Fed sets the initial requirement for how much stock investors can buy on credit, though the central bank hasn't changed the rule since 1974. The Fed's rule says investors can only borrow 50 percent of the value of the stock they're buying. The exchanges' statement could reflect behind-the-scenes prodding by the Federal Reserve, said William Meehan, chief market analyst at Cantor, Fitzgerald & Co. ''It's laying the groundwork for an eventual Fed change in margin requirements,'' Meehan said. The central bank, which sets the initial margin requirement, often tries to telegraph its moves to the financial markets so that investors aren't blindsided by bad news, he said. ''We're certainly hearing a lot more from the Fed in the past few months about margin debt.'' Brokerages can impose additional requirements on top of that 50 percent that effectively prohibit investors from buying some stocks with borrowed money. When a stock declines, brokers can require investors who have bought on margin to put up additional cash or stock so that their collateral remains at 50 percent of the amount they borrowed. If they can't or won't put up more cash or stock, the brokerage can force them to sell the stock bought on margin.

To: John Dough who wrote (67924)	2/25/2000 11:22:00 PM
From: Don Edgerton	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Merrill Lynch has not imposed higher margin requirements. You can negotiate a better margin rate than the normal rate if you bring significant assets (depends on the broker and managers willingness. You can do $30 trades on ML direct but don't know the whether margin rates are negotiable in those circumstances. If you are an active trader (not day trader) then the Unlimited Advantage account is great. 1% of assets for unlimited trades. There are still some limitations on on line order entry that are systemic but are scheduled to be corrected. Aloha