I have run into my first problem with trading my Roth. I bought SDS before it "settled" and now I want to sell it before it "settles" again and I have run into a "free trip" situation. If I sell before the 3 days that is required to settle I will get a demerit for being bad. Two demerits I get a warning. Three, I get a 90 day penalty of no trading unsettled funds. Four, and I get banned for life.
Damn! Point is plan your trade. I'm up 5% on this trade and want to sell bad, but will ride it out like the whimpering amateur I am.
I get those warnings all the time!
Monday 5/1/XX: sell 1000 (ABC) stock for $10,000.00 � Sell has a settlement date of 5/4/XX. You make a purchase of 1000 (XYZ) for $10,000.00 on 5/4/XX, using the settled proceeds from the sale of 1000 (ABC) shares from 5/1/XX. Since the 5/1/XX funds have settled, you are free to use those funds to make purchases of stocks on 5/4/XX, and sell those stocks at anytime without having to bring in any additional cash to pay for the purchases.
You sell 1000 (ABC) stock on Monday 5/1/XX for $10,000.00 � sell has a settlement date of 5/4/XX. You then buy 1000 (XYZ) for $10,000.00 on Tuesday 5/2/XX. Since you have used the proceeds from a sale that has not settled yet, to make a purchase, you cannot sell the 1000 (XYZ) stock until 5/4/XX. If you sell the securities that were purchased with unsettled proceeds, on 5/2/XX, before the proceeds settled, then you must bring in additional funds to cover the $10,000.00 purchase. If you do not bring in additional funds, then you will be charged with a free ride.
You have 10 (ABC) call options long in your account. You sell the options on Monday 5/1/XX, generating $300.00 in proceeds. You then use the proceeds to buy $300.00 worth of (XYZ) stock, also on 5/1/XX. If you hold those shares of (XYZ) stock until the options sale proceeds settle, on 5/2/XX, then you may sell those shares at any time you want without bringing in any additional money to pay for the purchase. If you sell the (XYZ) stock the same day that you bought the stock, the option sale would not have settled yet, and you would have to bring in an additional $300.00 to pay for the purchase of the (XYZ) stock.
You begin the day with a cash position of $10,000 on Monday 05/01/XX. The first thing you do is a buy of 1000 (ABC) stocks for $10,000 Then you sell those securities on the same day generating $10,100.00, which settles on 05/04/XX, and use the money to buy 1100 (XYZ) shares for $10,100.00, again on 05/01/XX. If you hold the 1100 (XYZ) shares until Thursday 05/04/XX, you can then sell those 1100 (XYZ) shares whenever you want without having to bring in any additional funds. If you sell those 1100 (XYZ) shares before Thursday 05/04/XX, then the 05/01/XX sell of 1000 (ABC) would not have settled yet and you could not use those proceeds to pay for the 05/01/XX purchase of 1100 (XYZ) shares. In this case you would need to bring in additional money to pay for that purchase.
You begin the day selling $5,000 of a Mutual Fund (ABCDX) on 05/01/XX. This Fund has a settlement date of 05/04/XX. You wish to purchase $5,000 of DEFGX on 05/01/XX using the ABCDX proceeds. This Mutual Fund could not be purchased until 05/04/XX because the ABCDX has not settled
