He had $400 left in his account before the margin call. The trouble with options is that they can be very highly leveraged, meaning you’re trading on credit, and you can lose a lot of money really fast (and likewise, gain a lot of money really fast). Most brokerages don’t even let you trade on options until you can prove you have knowledge of how the market works. So the kid is probably smart, but like many smart 19 year olds, not smart enough.
Boomers keep telling me I should have put $20 in my savings account with every paycheck starting at age 18 and I’d be able to retire at 65. Dude was not going to be able to retire at 65 apparently.
the fun part of it is that a combination of inflation and stagnating wages means $20 keeps getting smaller in terms of value but also keeps becoming a larger part of your disposable income.
i thought it was code for daddy’s money but apparently it was 400 bucks.
He had $400 left in his account before the margin call. The trouble with options is that they can be very highly leveraged, meaning you’re trading on credit, and you can lose a lot of money really fast (and likewise, gain a lot of money really fast). Most brokerages don’t even let you trade on options until you can prove you have knowledge of how the market works. So the kid is probably smart, but like many smart 19 year olds, not smart enough.
This guy owes the brokerage $56k.
Boomers keep telling me I should have put $20 in my savings account with every paycheck starting at age 18 and I’d be able to retire at 65. Dude was not going to be able to retire at 65 apparently.
the fun part of it is that a combination of inflation and stagnating wages means $20 keeps getting smaller in terms of value but also keeps becoming a larger part of your disposable income.
400 bucks you don’t owe for rent is a lot when you’re 19.