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To: slipnsip who wrote (6201)	6/16/1998 2:42:00 PM
From: Dell-icious	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

yes - you can open a box position that is long if you're already short. if you're short AMZN - this is a good time to get out :-)

To: slipnsip who wrote (6201)	6/16/1998 3:58:00 PM
From: F The	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

David, I don't know what you are trying to answer. Silly to you may not be to others and you probably didn't know my whole situation what I was talking about. Ok smart boy! Felicia

To: slipnsip who wrote (6201)	6/16/1998 7:18:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

Silly question. If you are long a stock, you can short against the box without putting up any additional capital. Does it work the opposite way? In other words, if you are short, can you buy long without putting up additional capital?? Embarressed that I do not know the answer.. David, SEC mandates you have margin requirments for each. However, one position may be as little as 25% whereas the typical minimum is 33%. Gary Korn says Fidelity does not require more than 10% on one of the positions. Not sure how they get away with that. Glenn

To: slipnsip who wrote (6201)	6/17/1998 2:18:00 AM
From: Gary Korn	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

If you are long a stock, you can short against the box without putting up any additional capital. Does it work the opposite way? In other words, if you are short, can you buy long without putting up additional capital?? David, The margin requirement varies from house to house. At Fidelity, a boxed long/short position requires only 5% margin. So, going from pure short to a boxed position actually cuts down on the margin required by a substantial amount (and unwinding the box then adds to the margin requirement). FWIW, I unwound my box about a dozen points ago and replaced it (at the same time) with a calls that I bought. My logic was that, while a boxed position sees no gain on the downside (or upside), a short/long call position can at least see a gain should there be a sudden dramatic downward move. Also, though it costs additional premium, the call position can be ratcheted up (i.e., tell your broker you want to do a spread at x net credit, in which you sell the original call position and open up a new higher call position). Gary Korn