About Overnight Buying Power
Overnight Buying Power is calculated by dividing the margin account's Excess Equity by the Federal Reserve Board Regulation T Margin Requirement as established by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Currently the minimum Regulation T Margin Requirement is 50% for both long and short positions. The excess equity is calculated by Cash Balance + Long Market Value + Credit Balance - Short Market Value - Margin Requirement - Margin Debit. The Margin Requirement can be higher, up to 100%, for certain 'Hard to Margin' securities as determined by TradeStation, including the following instances:
- Long positions on securities priced at or below $3.00/share carry an automatic margin requirement of 100%. Long positions on securities priced above $3.00/share carry a minimum Regulation T margin requirement of 100%.
- Short positions on securities priced at or above $5.00/share carry a minimum Regulation T margin requirement of 50% or $5.00/share, whichever is greater.
- Short positions on securities priced below $5.00/share are special exceptions and carry a Regulation T margin requirement of 100% or $2.50/share, whichever is greater.
For an example of how Buying Power is calculated, see the Buying Power Example.