pc23211

I have a substantial amount of scrap gold and want to get as close to market value for it as possible. I have decided I want to sell it in an auction setting.

There are many small, and broken scraps in my collection. I split the larger scraps, stamped with the carat, by carat. I plan on selling the gold in large lots, by weight, separated this way.

I am curious if there is anything I can do to instill confidence in bidders that my auction is legitimate. I am also interested in protecting myself from a false claims about the weight, quality or value of the gold after the auction. Is the any outside source or otherwise that I can employ to prove to a buyer that my auction is legitimate?

Since interest is charged on negative cash balances, does that mean that there will never be interest charged on your margin for short sales?

Example: I have 100,000 my own money in a margin account and I short 200,000 worth of stock.

Is this below an accurate representation?

$300,000 Cash balance, plus

-$200,000 Value of stocks, equals

-----------

$100,000 Total assets in account, minus

$100,000 Margin used

-----------

$0 Margin available.

My cash balance will always be positive here, so does that mean I will never pay interest. If so, how does the broker make money on short sales on margin?

Example 2: I have $100,000 of my own cash in a margin account and buy $200,000 worth of stock.

Is this below an accurate representation?

-$100,000 Cash balance, plus

$200,000 Value of stocks, equals

-----------

$100,000 Total assets in account, minus

$100,000 Margin used

-----------

$0 Margin available.

Since I have a negative cash balance I will pay interest on the -$100,000, right?

So does this mean that, all else equal, if I go short in one account and go long in another, the short account will cost me less than the long because I will not pay any interest on the margin?

Thank you, all

I am trying to figure out exactly how short selling works. I've been reading up on it but I am still a bit confused.

I believe when I sell a stock short I need 150% equity in a margin account to be eligible. The first 100% is covered by the purchase price of the stock and the extra 50% is, I assume, held as collateral for a rising stock price. Am I understanding this correctly?

If I am fully invested in shorts, is it impossible for me to actually borrow money? Since I need over 150% equity , that means that I need at least 50% over the cost of the stock in my own personal assets to legally short.

I am having trouble comprehending how this translates.

Example of what confuses me: I have a margin account with $90,000 cash in it, I short 3 stocks valued at $20,000 each. I add an additional $10,000 per stock to meet the 150% equity requirement. This brings my cost to $90,000. Do I have any additional buying power? Do I have any additional shorting power?

A different example: I have a margin account with $90,000 cash in it. I go long on a stock for $30,000. I short 2 stocks valued at $20,000. I add $10,000 more to each stock I shorted to meet the 150% requirement for selling short. This brings my total to $90,000 dollars. Do I have any additional buy power? Do I have any additional shorting power?

If I have the $30,000 and short a stock for $30,000 ($20,000 + $10,000), do I pay any margin interest if the price only moves in my favor?

That's all. I really hope I am not totally off base. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you, all