Short Term Trading Member Forum

[dvdmogul]

hedgies are short...cant sell what you dont own and here is the facts of another myth.....destroyed, relative to public margin....LOL.
From: ahhaha 8/16/2007 9:57:31 PM
of 9766

AMTD TD Ameritrade reports monthly metrics

The co reported average client margin balances in July of approx $7.7 bln. As of July 31, 2007, client margin balances totaled approx $8.2 bln. Client assets totaled approx $293 bln, of which
cash and money market assets amounted to $43 bln.

cash/assets = 15%
margin/assets = 2.8%
cash/margin = 94%

Isn't it interesting that margin/assets is about equal to the average percentage of trades marked short even though most of the margin in public accounts goes to long buying.

I hope this helps to dismiss the myths associated with public involvement with shorting or margin and cash coverage of outstanding margin, since AMTD's client structure well characterizes the rest of the industry.