One of my systems shows over $9K of buy power, yet when I tried to purchase an additional $2K worth of shares, an invalid signal error popped up stating that I have insufficient cash. Am I unable to borrow against equity gains?
Thanks,
Dan
Because the C2 margining simulation tries to account for margining across multiple instrument classes from a single "bucket" of margin, it can behave in ways that are a bit perplexing and mysterious.
But, basically, what you need to know is this: you must have both enough buying power and enough cash (assuming you are trading an instrument that requires cash outlays for purchase, as stocks do).
We do allow the use of margin for stock purchases. You are allowed to borrow up to half the purchase price (for stocks $5 or greater). So, if you have (for example), $10,000 in cash in your C2 Model Account, you are typically allowed to purchase $20,000 worth of stocks. But having enough cash for the 50% purchase is one constraint that must be met.
Because the C2 margining simulation tries to account for margining across multiple instrument classes from a single "bucket" of margin, it can behave in ways that are a bit perplexing and mysterious.
But, basically, what you need to know is this: you must have both enough buying power andenough cash (assuming you are trading an instrument that requires cash outlays for purchase, as stocks do).
We do allow the use of margin for stock purchases. You are allowed to borrow up to half the purchase price (for stocks $5 or greater). So, if you have (for example), $10,000 in cash in your C2 Model Account, you are typically allowed to purchase $20,000 worth of stocks. But having enough cash for the 50% purchase is one constraint that must be met.
Thanks for the quick response.
So if I understand this correctly, say I purchase $20,000 of XYZ stock using all of my cash ($10,000) and the value of XYZ goes up to $30,000. I am unable to purchase more XYZ - since I have no cash - but if I sell it all and immediately repurchase it, I can buy $40,000 worth.
