TOS/TDA Transition to Schwab

I understand but does the call use the same strike as the put ? Not sure how your structure looks but just thinking it may be a box trade situation where the put and the call cancels out Normally having a BWB and a calendar on the same trade should not be a problem unless the strikes are interfering at least there was no problem on the original Rhino that used a calendar on the upside If that is a problem now than the A14 would also have a problem
 
I called Schwab/TDA after my attempt to purchase the RUT Call Calendar was denied and was informed that calendars on Indexes like SPX and RUT were not permitted. It might be a different story in a larger account with PM but I put this trade on just about every month in a $50k Reg-T account. I have never had a problem adjusting it with calendars before, until now. I asked the trade desk if this was a recent change in policy. I got a convoluted answer that sort of implied this, but he would not say definitively that this was a policy change implemented under Schwab. Cheers!
 
This seems to point to a broader issue with what's going on at SCHW/TDA right now. My understanding is that Calendars will be permitted at SCHW on instruments like SPX but the margining will be handled as if that front strike is a naked short. So with PM that would take up about $45K or so per lot. The message that @Michael received was that the Calendar is not permitted, not an "insufficient margin" message.

This messaging from the rep is confusing, and I'm not sure everyone at SCHW is clear what's going on, or what policies will be phased in throughout the transition and after.

As you've probably seen in other forums/Discord, etc. SCHW/TDA sent an email about zero balance accounts yesterday. I received one of these as well. Since it didn't match any account that I currently have at TDA (still to be transferred) or SCHW (I've had for a number of years, long-term portfolio accounts), I called them and learned it was in error.

This highlights to me that their communication internally as well as overall process in the transition has gaps. Last fall, SCHW laid off a number of employees to cut costs.

So what is really happening with Calendars? I'm no longer confident that they know. I surely don't.

I'll be watching to see others' experiences as they trade in their TDA or SCHW accounts over the next few months. I have shifted the bulk of my funds from my TDA brokerage into my IBKR brokerage account for my daily trading.
 
Yes I believe calendars and diagonals are going to be a problem with margin for small accounts for TDA accounts as it's transitions to Schwab
I have not traded calendars at all last year so I don't have any first hand experience
Just consider it a naked option if you want to trade calendars Clearly TDA is no longer in charge
I wonder when or if they will also stop futures trading
 
I just did a quick experiment and placed a calendar on SPX and I had no problem placing the order So I don't think the margin is the issue at this point Maybe it will be a problem in the future but not at the moment
This was just a 1 lot and my account is not big enough to handle a 1 lot naked put
There may be other reasons why it will reject it but the calendar by itself is not the cause
Try to place a 1 lot calendar by itself without any other trades on and see if that works
 
I got an email about moving my TOS account to Schwab on May 10 weekend I am guessing other folks have a different date perhaps
Just curious which login screen will be used I guess we will also find out if they are going to implement the margin requirements for calendars
 
I got the same email today. I've heard in other forums that this group is the very last batch, not sure if this is good or bad.... :) But for sure, they've had lots of practice in moving accounts over already.

I have ToS on TDA (green) on one of my trading computers, and ToS SCHW (teal'ish?) on another. I expect when the TDA accts are moved, we will need to log in using our SCHW credentials. They say that all studies and history will transfer over, but I'm not trusting that completely and making copies and sharing my customizations across my platforms already.

I'm hopeful that the margining for Calendars on SPX, RUT, etc. won't be absurd and prohibitive. I'm also hopeful that they get the API up and running... currently at least nine months later than originally promised. From what I can tell in other Discords, many with automation have already set up and moved to other brokers.

C'mon SCHW, I'm pulling for you!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Contact Us