I realized that there was an ambiguity in my last missive. I'd like to close that ambiguity. "Perry E. Metzger" writes:
Forgive me if I am wrong but are CFTC margin requirements not requirements placed on brokers as opposed to requirements brokers must impose on customers?
I must confess that I don't know, largely because its irrelevant, even in this case.
If you meant "brokers have to put up the margin, not customers, and they don't have to charge customers the margin" you were simply flat out wrong. Margin is a customer responsibility, not a broker responsibility. I will point out, though, that brokers face liability if their customers cannot meet their obligations -- which naturally would make any honest broker suspicious of a customer trading a highly leveraged position in which a tiny move in the market would wipe out the customer's entire net worth, thus likely exposing the broker to substantial risk. Stop loss orders, incidently, aren't any use if the damage would be done before any such order could be executed. Perry