Balances Bar

The Balances Bar is a panel across the top of your StreetSmart Edge®® screen that displays pertinent account balance information at a glance.

You can choose whether to display the Balances Bar by clicking the Show/Hide Balances button in the upper right corner of your window.

Add Balances

Add balances to the bar by right-clicking in the bar and selecting the value you want to display. You may display up to 8 balances.

Rearrange Balances

Click on a balance column and drag it to the desired position.

Remove Balances

Mouse over the balance and click the X in the corner to close a Balance column out of the display. You can also right-click and uncheck the column to remove it.

TIP: You can also right-click in the bar and select Balance Bar Settings to add, remove, or rearrange the Balances bar columns.

In the Balance Bar Settings window, check the columns you want to display and then arrange them in the Column Order panel on the right. Click Save when you're finished.

 

The following values are available for view in the Balances Bar:

Available Values Descriptions
Total account value The Total Account Value is the sum of your securities, unswept or intra-day cash, money market funds, bank deposit accounts, and net credit or debit balances in your account.
Today's change

Indicates the change in account value from the previous trading day's close. This includes your trading activity, as well as deposits and withdrawals.

NOTE: This may different from the Day Change P&L within the Position columns, which in contrast, simply sums the value changes of all securities currently in the account vs. the value of the securities at the previous close or today’s opening prices (dependent on your settings).

Today's % change Indicates the percentage change in account value from the previous trading day's close. This includes your trading activity, as well as deposits and withdrawals.
Cash balance

The total dollar value of your unswept or intra-day cash, money market funds, bank deposit accounts, and net credit or debit balances you hold in the Schwab account you have selected to view.

Available to trade The maximum amount of money in your account that you can use to trade without creating a request for the deposit of additional funds.
Settled cash to trade

Trading in the Margin Account

Trading on margin does not require settled funds. If 100% of the trading activity occurs on margin, there will be no difference between the settled funds to trade balance and the total available to trade balance. Traders who fit this profile will not be affected by the special requirements that may result from Cash Account trading activity.

Traders who occasionally trade non-marginable securities in the Cash Account should continue reading.

Settled funds are:

  • incoming cash (such as a deposit or wire)
  • available Margin Loan Value
  • settled sale proceeds of fully paid for securities.

Settled funds may be used for purchases of securities. If a security is purchased using settled funds, there are no requirements surrounding the timeframe of when the newly purchased securities can be sold. (Click here for more information on unsettled funds and trade violations.)

However, if unsettled funds are used to purchase securities and the customer sells the securities prior to making full payment, these newly purchased securities may be subject to special requirements. Securities purchased using unsettled funds, should not be sold prior to the settlement of the funds used to purchase these securities.

If these securities are sold prior to settlement of the financing sale then additional funds will be required to be deposited in the account to cover the cost of the newly purchased securities. If no additional funds are deposited within 5 business days of the purchase, the sale of these securities will constitute a "free ride" under Federal Reserve Regulation T. This will result in a 90-day settled cash-up-front restriction.

EXAMPLE: If you sold a fully paid for security on Monday the 1st, you could use the proceeds to purchase new a security prior to the settlement day of Wednesday the 3rd (2 day settlement). However, if you sold the newly purchased security prior to the settlement date (Wednesday the 3rd), you would then be required to deposit funds to pay for the purchase.
If you sold the new position on Wednesday the 3rd, or anytime there after, no additional funds would be required.

NOTE: Beginning on the trade date of September 5, 2017, T+3 settlement changes to T+2.

Available to withdraw  Using cash: The maximum amount of money you can withdraw without accessing margin borrowing. The amount is a combination of credits in the account less any cash on hold.

Cash + Borrowing: The maximum amount you can withdraw from your account to by requesting a check or transferring funds to another account. This value includes the cash balance in your account, plus the maximum amount you can borrow against marginable securities held in your margin account.

Note that recent deposits earn interest and are available for most types of trading activity, but are not reflected in your authorization limit until they are cleared. This value is only shown in accounts with a margin feature. You will be charged interest on any amount you borrow that exceeds the Available Cash in the account.

Margin BP The amount of money you can use to trade marginable equities using cash and the margin feature of your account. Click Buying Power Details to understand this value for all security types. This value is only shown in accounts with a margin feature. You will be charged interest on any amount you borrow that exceeds the settled cash and sweep money market funds in the account.
Today's Net Realized P&L

The P&L realized by closing positions today, based on the cost of the position. The Sum of P&L for positions closed today. Calculated as (Price sold – Price Purchased) .

EXAMPLE

Position XYZ has $150 unrealized profit coming into the day. During the day, the profit on XYZ increases to $400, and the position is closed out. Today's Net Realized P&L would reflect $400 if this were the only position closed for the current day.

Today's Unrealized P&L

The sum of today's change in P&L for all open positions.
Today's Realized P&L

Based on whether Day Change P&L is calculated from open or close in the Account Settings, shows the sum of Day Change P&L for all positions closed today.

  • If calculated from Prev Close, calculated for long positions as (Sold Price – Prev Close), short positions as (Prev Close – Bought Price).
  • If calculated from open, calculated for Long positions as (Sold Price – Open Price), short positions as (Open – Bought Price).
  • If the position was entered today, then the P&L here follows the Today’s Net Realized P&L calculation above.

EXAMPLE

Position XYZ has $150 unrealized profit coming into the day. During the day, the profit on XYZ increases to $400, and the position is closed out. Today's Realized P&L would reflect $250 if this were the only position closed for the current day. $400 total profit minus $150 profit not from today.

Unrealized P&L The total change, gain, or loss, for all your equity and option positions from the original entry prices, this is the difference between the cost and proceeds.
Bank Sweep The cash balance of funds that have been moved into the Schwab Bank Sweep feature.
Margin Equity The dollar value of marginable securities in your margin account, less the amount you owe Schwab, plus any cash in your margin account. This is the liquidation value of your margin account, but does not include option positions, segregated money market funds, or cash not held in the margin account. Margin Equity represents the total amount you invested in securities plus any excess cash, minus funds borrowed on margin.
Equity Percentage Your margin equity divided by the market value of your margin account. This amount reflects the percentage of the current margin account value you would receive if you liquidated the margined securities, paid off any margin debt and withdrew the funds. Options, cash account positions and segregated money market funds are not included when calculating the equity percentage.
Available to Day Trade Available to Day Trade is the maximum dollar amount of fully marginable securities that can be held intraday including funds swept into interest bearing features of your brokerage account, like the Bank Sweep Feature.
Day Trade BP

Day Trading Buying Power is the maximum dollar amount of fully marginable securities that can be held intraday. It does not include leverage from funds swept into interest bearing features of your brokerage account, like the Bank Sweep Feature.