He had $400 left in his account before the margin call. The trouble with options is that they can be very highly leveraged, meaning you’re trading on credit, and you can lose a lot of money really fast (and likewise, gain a lot of money really fast). Most brokerages don’t even let you trade on options until you can prove you have knowledge of how the market works. So the kid is probably smart, but like many smart 19 year olds, not smart enough.
He had $400 left in his account before the margin call. The trouble with options is that they can be very highly leveraged, meaning you’re trading on credit, and you can lose a lot of money really fast (and likewise, gain a lot of money really fast). Most brokerages don’t even let you trade on options until you can prove you have knowledge of how the market works. So the kid is probably smart, but like many smart 19 year olds, not smart enough.
This guy owes the brokerage $56k.