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Question about trading with Fidelity

Posted on 1/22/15 at 3:07 pm
Posted by jp90
Member since Oct 2009
1298 posts
Posted on 1/22/15 at 3:07 pm
So i'm still very new to trading. Have been messing around with it for a few months now and have gotten a notification that I have 3 "good faith" violations. What I understand to have happened is that I sold a certain stock, bought another stock with those proceeds, and then resold that second stock too quickly..?

After I sell something it shows my amount available for trade. So i use that to trade. I know this is somewhat ignorant on my part, but please educate me as to what I am doing wrong. How can I act quickly to make a profit on rising and falling prices if I have to wait for the cash to settle after I sell something?
Posted by BlackCloud
Above It All
Member since Jan 2014
3816 posts
Posted on 1/22/15 at 6:27 pm to
quote:

What I understand to have happened is that I sold a certain stock, bought another stock with those proceeds, and then resold that second stock too quickly..?

There is a federal law that requires any stock trade to officially "settle" before you can resell another stock with those same funds. In most cases this takes three days. After you sell a stock, you will have to make sure the funds for that sale have settled if you have purchased another stock with those funds and you intend to sell that stock.

quote:

After I sell something it shows my amount available for trade. So i use that to trade.

Again, you can purchase another stock with those funds, you just can't sell that stock until the funds from the previous sale have settled.

quote:

Have been messing around with it for a few months now and have gotten a notification that I have 3 "good faith" violations.

They will freeze your account if you continue to do this. I think they can do this for 3 months. It's a federal law.

quote:

How can I act quickly to make a profit on rising and falling prices if I have to wait for the cash to settle after I sell something?



You can trade on margin (basically a credit line), which I would not recommend for a beginner. If you are only holding stocks for 1 or 2 days you are basically gambling and might want to get a bookie and start sports betting. Just kidding. Good luck.
Posted by jp90
Member since Oct 2009
1298 posts
Posted on 1/22/15 at 7:01 pm to
Thank you for taking time to explain that. I think it stated I'm restricted to purchasing securities with settled cash for 3 months.
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