I have a E*Trade and they suck… I get some RegT margin error when I try to sell a box spread. I called and they said b/c it’s impossible to make a profit on the trade, they don’t allow it. So I guess that means they just don’t want peeps borrowing from the options market when they can charge 12% interest.
Gonna open an account with IBKR… anyone have experience with these kinds of trade with them?
I sold a box spread on Etrade before. It went though fine. But the commissions are higher than at Fidelity, so I stopped doing this on Etrade. Could it be that you made a mistake in the order entry? The box spread order entry is more complicated and it is easy to make an error.
It’s likely the box is only going to work if you have portfolio margin treatment. Putting up margin for each leg as if it’s separate is not going to go well for you.
I made my box spread trade without portfolio margin.
But this quote
suggests to me there is something wrong with the order entry.
I’m researching box spreads now. Do you know of anyway to close the position before it expires once you put it on?
Sure, you just sell all the options. The question is whether the spreads on exiting all the options legs and commissions are worth freeing up the cash / margin sooner.