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What is the normal interest charge over haircut? Some said it is 200 bps over broker rate, but Bright charges only 2% a year!

Don, Did you mean 2% haircut charge per year? Suppose I have 1 million capital, and I buy 10 million value of stocks. What will be my interest for a year? 4 mil * 0.02 = 0.08 mil?

Besides interest rate, it depends on your pricing models. Different models give me close but not the same delta. In addition, there is dividend that most web sites don't bother to enter to the model.

i attended TOS chat yesterday. They talked a little bit about vix.

Look at the following thread. There are a lot of info regarding the new margin rule. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78820

I think it is 6x margin, not 10x.

Recently I have started looking at the possibility of hedging using vix future and es for hedging spx options. Anyone has any ideas or suggestions how to use vix future or option for hedging?

Which firm? Why don't you ask your friend?

Last year, I was able to get filled at around mid, but recently it is getting harder and harder.

Does anyone use future to hedge against a bad position?

Thats good to know. Are the bid ask spreads reasonable after hours?

Mark, It is very easy to use for option trading. It is the best service i ever got. The margin is very friendly too. They have their own proprietry margin software that will give you the best buying power under reg-T. If you use ACH fund transfer, they can make the fund available...

Thanks, Chris. You are right. I got this real "CE" test confused with the firm's CE program.

You can do the CE at home. It is web-based.

Since we are going to have pm in April, the margin advantage will disappear soon. Switching to future options means higher commission. I am not sure if I want to switch yet.

Do you mean you can better fill with ES option than that with SPX? Does ES option has a smaller bid ask spread?

Did you get filled at 3.0? You can send the order at $3.0, but it doesn't mean your order will get filled. TOS always suggests you to send the order at mid. I use TOS, and I have never get filled at mid.

It is not up to a non-MTM trader to decide the basis. The law requires you to use a "zero" basis for your short if you haven't covered it. Your broker doesn't report your purchasing price. It doesn't mean you can choose the basis.

We always use a unexpected downside as a BSE example. Anyone can point an example of upside BSE? Since a lower IV comes with the up market, is it safer to sell the call side credit spread?

You always report your short even before you buy it back. According to the tax rule, Suppose you shorted a stock at $10 last year and didn't cover it in the same year, you report a gain of $10. At the year that you cover it, you report it as a loss.