re: 2015 TDMTFSS (SECOND Standings Update, 3/20/2015)

Brink, the MarketWatch main screen shows we have 78 players enrolled in our game but the ranking screen only shows 36 players ranked.

Any idea why that is?

Could it be that they made no trades? I noticed the number went up as the day went on. My guess is that it only ranks players that have participated in the game (as opposed to those that just signed up). Notice that no one in the list has exactly 1 million.

Yes, the game closed at the start date. No more new entries.

Ruskie, NBR may have nailed it, I have no clue and I haven't even logged on. I will dig in Monday but I think NBR's explanation sounds good.

Alright, some of the intent of the game was for people to learn. One thing I always wanted to learn was shorting a stock. Let's say ABC stock had not been selling widgets and has closed two factories, I want to short it. It is at $10.00 right now. Can someone walk me through the process? Can I sell a shorted stock whenever? Is the platform we are using with market watch similar to most IRL trading platforms?

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Can I sell a shorted stock whenever? Is the platform we are using with market watch similar to most IRL trading platforms?

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I can only refer to my experience using Charles Schwab's trading platform for frequent traders called "StreetSmartPro" (SSP) and not all trading platforms. (I've also used TD Ameritrade's "Think or Swim" trading software but I don't like it and I've never shorted a stock on it.)

You can short a stock on SSP anytime the market is open. You can put an order in to short a stock when the market is closed or in extended hours trading but the prices then are so volatile I don't recommend it and shorting during those hours is very undependable.

Not all stocks are eligible for shorting (on SSP) because either they don't have enough float or their shares are not eligible to be borrowed for shorting.

One example of a stock like that which is a hot topic on this board is EXXI and the ETF UGAZ. Both of those have a notice at the top of their trading screen on SSP which says "Difficult to Borrow." I've learned when that notice is present it's futile to enter a short sale because the order will be killed within seconds of entering it.

The MarketWatch game screen is similar to SSP for all of the trading except it does not allow extended hours trading which SSP does. I can start trading at 7:00 AM Central Time each market day and can continue to trade until 7:00 PM Central Time. However the volume is very thin at those times. But I've made some of my most successful trades early in the morning before the market officially opens usually resulting from a news release from a company and the pre-market traders overreact either buying or selling. A few thousand shares traded at 7 AM can move a stock a dollar or more per share.

One major difference between the game's trading process and real world trading is the game allows players to trade using "uncollected" cash in the account. IRL there is a three day settlement period for all trades so if a trader makes multiple large trades and uses up all of his collected (settled) cash, he is not allowed to buy any additional stock until his previous trades settle. Think of it similar to writing a check on your bank account and overdrawing the collected funds on deposit in your account.

I saw our game's leader making trades in excess of what would be his settled cash position which he could not do IRL. If he did that (and I know because I did it inadvertently once with Schwab) he would be prohibited from selling any shares until after they settle following three days. That really hurts a day trader who might want to buy then sell a security a few minutes later.

I had to plead my case with Schwab that I was stupid and not trying to use unsettled cash. They gave me a mulligan and told me not to do it again. I suspect my trading volume also helped me get my trading back since I make about 1,000 trades a year.

Russian,

Let me say first that I trust your experiences with the various frequent trading platforms, but Schwab let me trade unsettled funds just last week. Do you think this is a difference in the frequent trader/standard brokerage accounts? For instance, I sold some stock last week to capture some gains in 2014, and Schwab let me trade on the unsettled funds immediately. As soon as the trade was executed, the funds were made available to trade, but not withdraw. I immediately used the new funds to purchase something else the same day.

Maybe there are tighter restrictions in the frequent trader programs?

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Maybe there are tighter restrictions in the frequent trader programs?

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That's possible. I don't trade on Schwab.com so I don't know what the procedures are on their website.

I know that on StreetSmartPro there are three cash account balances shown on the trading screen:
1- Available to Trade
2- Available to Withdraw
3- Settled Cash Available to Trade

#3, "Settled Cash Available to Trade" is the magic number that I have to pay attention to.

For example, lets say I have the following balances in those three categories:

Available to Trade: $50,000
Available to Withdraw: $35,000
Settled Cash Available to Trade: $100,000

(The "Settled Cash" balance is larger because it includes margin cash available for trading.)

If I try to buy 1,500 shares of XOM, which would be about $140,000 I get a pop-up window that says "You have insufficient settled funds in this account to fill your order. If you submit the order and it is filled, you may not be allowed to sell those shares until the trade is settled unless you deposit additional cash or securities into the account before your order settles."

So, technically, I CAN buy shares without having sufficient settled cash in the account, but I then have to wait 3 days for the shares to settle before I can sell them or if I do sell them, I am violation of an SEC regulation. Or, I have to deposit additional cash or securities into the account which would increase my margin account borrowing limit.

In my case I bought shares using unsettled cash and then I turned around and sold them before they settled. That was when I got the GFY email and certified letter from Schwab telling me I had violated a SEC regulation and my frequent trading privileges had been suspended. I begged for forgiveness and promised never to do it again and they reinstated my frequent trading. And, trust me, I've never done it again.

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Does this mean if a stock is trading at $10 and you want to short it, you enter $10.05 in the limit price, and if the stock goes up, then your shares are automatically covered?

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If you mean "shares are sold" when you say "automatically covered" the answer is yes.

I almost always put in a short sale price at slightly above the "ask" price shown on my trading quote screen.

After the short sale order is filled the shares show up on my portfolio balance window in red print to let me know I'm short those shares as opposed to black numbers for long positions.

Using your example, let's say the "bid" (buyer's) price quote is $9.99 and the "ask" (seller's) price quote is $10.00. I might enter a short sale limit price of $10.05 and if the price goes up $.06 cents so that the bid price hits $10.05, the short sale order is filled.

One caveat is I always enter my short sales as "All or None" orders. That means there must be sufficient shares bid on from buyers to fill my entire order. It prevents "partial fill" orders from happening.

I learned my lesson early on when I entered a short sale and didn't put the "All or None" requirement on it and I short sold 10 shares out of a 2,000 share order. Then the price went back down and I was stuck with a short balance of 10 shares. That meant basically the stock's price had to drop by $1.50/share just for me to break even on the broker's commissions. Screw that!

Whatever, Russian might have actual "experience" and some might call him an "expert" and "professional" but I've got beginners luck on my side. I can't lose.



JK - please keep schooling is ruskie. I'm learning a lot.