I was using a small firm called AF Trader (America First).. Funny thing- a few months ago I ripped on these folks when 'Paula' was asking about them and ironically they saved me from going bankrupt by not covering that short..
But- alot of the folks I was trading with were using the likes of DLJ and Ameritrade.. Once the stock started going balistic they didnt even give them the option to wire funds, they simply closed out the trade to protect their own interests. DLJ destroyed a handfull of traders I followed by doing this.. My only guess is that AF Trader is about 1/16th the size of these firms, and they had to make a judgement call and probably felt it was wise to just let my position ride and hope it dropped.. and sure enough- the next morning, CNBC made an apology and the stock plunged immediately. I also know some folks who became wealthy shorting the stock over 40 : )
It didnt hurt for me to tell my broker that if they covered me they would be eating the loses because I had no way on this planet of covering the margin call.. but the favor was not for me, but rather they had no choice and had to take the risk given the position I put them in..
I was new to shorting, and that was my excuse.. I was over confident, and wanted to get rich over night.. The one thing that sticks in my mind and the reason I saved the chart and hung it on the wall was because some of the folks who got burnt were incredible traders.. 10-20 years experience.. THey too got greedy and threw their wisdom/rules out the window in hopes of retiring.. It just stuck in my head that after all those decades they can make one mistake and whipe it all out.. but thats both long and short..
Heck- remember MSTR? accounting problems? The stock plunged some 300 points in what, a few days? So it happens both ways.. unfortunately.
AI
Market Data 
Markets 
