GME Stock Split 4:1

[BMK]

Monday morning I opened a short strangle in GME. Sold short the 185C and the 180P, expiring 07/22 (today).

So I log in this morning before the market opens.

I am now short four 46.25 calls and four 26.25 puts.

And that looks just fine...

Except in the hours before the opening, the closing price of the stock from yesterday was still showing as somewhere around 140...

So Schwab's margin calculations went completely haywire, thinking that I was naked short four calls with a strike price of 46.25, with one or zero days to expiration, and the stock at 140.

The account showed a margin call/balance due of around $200K.

Of course, I calmed down once I figured out what was going on, and the margin call went away once the market opened and the stock begain trading around 35.

So I don't have to kill myself like that guy at Robin Hood who had an account with about $20K in it, when his screen before the open showed a negative balance of $700K that wasn't real.

BMK

 

[newwurldmn]

Monday morning I opened a short strangle in GME. Sold short the 185C and the 180P, expiring 07/22 (today).

So I log in this morning before the market opens.

I am now short four 46.25 calls and four 26.25 puts.

And that looks just fine...

Except in the hours before the opening, the closing price of the stock from yesterday was still showing as somewhere around 140...

So Schwab's margin calculations went completely haywire, thinking that I was naked short four calls with a strike price of 46.25, with one or zero days to expiration, and the stock at 140.

The account showed a margin call/balance due of around $200K.

Of course, I calmed down once I figured out what was going on, and the margin call went away once the market opened and the stock begain trading around 35.

So I don't have to kill myself like that guy at Robin Hood who had an account with about $20K in it, when his screen before the open showed a negative balance of $700K that wasn't real.

BMK

everytime that happens to me, i think i have a mild heart attack until i figure out that it was just a stock split.

 

[BMK]

everytime that happens to me, i think i have a mild heart attack until i figure out that it was just a stock split.

My account is still a little fouled up for a completely different reason. GSK did some sort of spinoff. I was holding 100 shares of the ADR. Now I have 100 shares of a new company called Haleon, and 80 shares of... something else, which is not showing up accurately in my account yet. It looks like maybe they had to use some temporary stock symbols or something...

 

[newwurldmn]

Like a when-issued?

corporate actions are annoying. I try to close positions before they happen.

 

[BMK]

Like a when-issued?

Yes, that is exactly what it was. It looks like it's already fixed, as of today's close. But they were using a stock symbol that had WI immediately after it.

 

[BMK]

Hmmm... my original post contains an obvious typo. I did not short the 180P LOL that leg was the 105P.

 

[lightninboy]

I don't see why GME would want its price closer to penny-stock levels.

 

[GotherL]

What was his rush? (He could've at least call his broker first.)

Prolly one of the dumber things Ive heard aside from that guy who yoloed 500k on AAL calls and went bankrupt.

 

[MacBookProHo]

Prolly one of the dumber things Ive heard aside from that guy who yoloed 500k on AAL calls and went bankrupt.

There are no dumb bets in the market, everything is basically priced accordingly to the risk:reward factor. If you choose to take on risks, you're generally awarded the, potential, reward. If you hate risks, you're then given a tiny, tiny, award.

The skill, of course, is the ability to trade something and execute,
I trade SPX options daily, intraday. Most would consider that risky and foolish, but not me. Most people feel swing trading futures or commodities is so much more respectful, or selling options for premium is, -- boring, boring and boring,

 

[GotherL]

There are no dumb bets in the market, everything is basically priced accordingly to the risk:reward factor. If you choose to take on risks, you're generally awarded the, potential, reward. If you hate risks, you're then given a tiny, tiny, award.

The skill, of course, is the ability to trade something and execute,
I trade SPX options daily, intraday. Most would consider that risky and foolish, but not me. Most people feel swing trading futures or commodities is so much more respectful, or selling options for premium is, -- boring, boring and boring,

Not the calls he took that was dumb but putting it all in on the same options without any diversification with all his life savings. Can't justify that as not being dumb.