You are correct. I usually rely upon margin availability as stated earlier this morning in a post of two. It's for the sake of convenience and I always maintain cash reserves sufficient to cover my debt.
However, I've been urging fellow posters here to reduce margin exposure as is evidenced in the post you've highlighted. In late February I sensed a serious market wave was about to descend and thereupon unwound more than $300,000 in margin utilization. I remember feeling that while it might be okay to dip a toe in the water for something highly promising, you wouldn't want to do it if the water's infested with crocodiles. And when I wrote the post you mention, it was towards the end of February, well before the Corona virus took most of the headlines here in the States.
My stance was based heavily on the petroleum market. I could tell that all debt would soon be the Achilles for MLPs, should anything perilous affecting the global market take place. I didn't see the Corona virus accomplishing that . What I did see was that demand wasn't increasing appreciably and that, alone, meant that oil and gas borrowers could become caught in a web of market manipulation without readily available redemptive forces in sight. With Saudi A. and Russia now occupying part of the global catbird seat, I think there's merit to anyone's having concluded that oil and gas risks were mounting. That told me that I had to be out of MLPs if my reason for being in them was tied to distributions. I couldn't reconcile retaining faith in my receiving distributions from companies strangled by debt exposure.
I'm awaiting a "right" time to re-purchase shares I sold this week. I see now RCEL is down to $5.31, off 16 cents (+) from my earlier announced selling average of this morning ($5.475). I continue to believe we are headed lower and hold that this might be a good moment for some others to consider preserving capital by selling now which happens to be the high of this moment. If you believe we are heading lower, then it's clear what must be done.
People sometimes have a hard time distinguishing between good investment ideas and capital preservation. A successful trader and investor must have a foot in each of these!
P.S. As our President prepares to speak with heads of State this afternoon to discuss the oil situation, nothing to be concluded at that meeting could possibly offset the demand and supply side economics involved and it's those items yet to be fully understood and accepted. So long as the Corona virus tramples people, our finances will suffer accordingly. Factories will remain closed and demand will not perk up any time soon.
We are at war but it's with a global pandemic brought about by a disease. No amount of politicking will immediately undo the ravaging of the Corona virus.
