Positions Column Descriptions

The Positions tab can track more than 70 different data fields for the securities in which you hold positions. See Manage Positions Columns and Settings for directions on setting up your Positions tab display.

General
Notes If a symbol in the Positions tab has a note associated with it in the Notes tool, the Notes icon will display. Click the icon to see the note(s).
Symbol The unique 1-5 characters used to represent the security. Symbols are defined by the different markets or exchanges. Sometimes a security might not have a symbol, in which case, an internal Schwab reference # will be used.
Security Type

Type of security:

  • Eqty = Equity
  • MF = Mutual Fund
  • Bnd = Bond
  • Call = Call option
  • Put = Put option
 

 

Company Info
Description Company name or description of item
Dividend Amount Annual taxable payment declared by a company's board of directors and given to its shareholders out of the company's current or retained earnings
Dividend Yield Dividends paid by company over last 12 months as a % of Previous Close.
Ex-Date The first day following a dividend declaration when the buyer of a stock is not entitled to the next dividend payment
Ex-Date Amount Dividend amount to be paid on the Pay Date, displayed in dollars per share
Pay Date The date in which a declared stock dividend is scheduled to be paid
Stock Split Date and Ratio of an increase (or decrease in the case of a Reverse Split) in existing shares
EPS (ttm) Earnings Per Share shows net income divided by the average number of shares outstanding for a company for the last 12 months
Exchange Exchange on which the security is listed
Industry GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Industry classification. From broad to specific, helps define a company's business focus. Also, helps identify competitors.
Market Cap Market value of all of a company's outstanding shares (in millions)
Mkt Cap Class Classifies the size of a company by Small/Medium/Large, -/+ indicates where the company falls within the broader classification (i.e. M+ is a larger mid-cap company)
News Icon shows the availability of news on a symbol. Right-click and select View [symbol] news...
P/E (ttm) Ratio of company's previous close to earnings over the last 12 months. The higher the P/E ratio, the more the market is willing to pay for each dollar of annual earnings.
Sector GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Sector classification. From broad to specific, helps define a company's business focus. Also, helps identify competitors.
Sub-Industry GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Sub-Industry classification. From broad to specific, helps define a company's business focus. Also, helps identify competitors.
SER Schwab Equity Rating evaluates individual stock and provides a 5 point rating scale (A, B, C, D, F) indicating Schwab's outlook on the potential performance of the stock over the coming 12 months. More on Schwab Equity Ratings
Spread Difference between the Bid and the Ask

 

Positions
Alerts Displays a bell icon when an alert is set on a position.
Bracket Quantity

Quantity of brackets for the position. Please see the Brackets section for more information.

Notes on closing all or part of a position with brackets:

  • Closing the entire position: When a position is closed, any contingent bracket orders will be cancelled automatically.
  • Closing part of a position: Note that if you manually close part of a position with an associated bracket order, the Bracket quantity may not match the position Quantity shown in the Positions tab. Do not be concerned by this, because a bracket exit is treated like an order to close rather than an order to sell (or buy, for short positions) and will never put you in an oversold (or overbought) position. It will only act on the number of shares you actually hold.
Cost (Total)

The cost for the position. For more information on Cost and Trade Lots, see Trade Lot Details.

Important Information Regarding Cost Information and P&L Calculations for Your Accounts

Missing cost and P&L information will be represented with an ‘N/A’. Incomplete cost and P&L information will be represented with either the word ‘Incomplete’ or an asterisk (*) in the Cost column and P&L columns.

If lot level data is not available for your account but cost data is displayed, it will exclude commissions and transaction fees, and will not reflect corporate actions including but not limited to: stock splits, stock dividends, spin-offs, mergers, and name changes.

If lot level information is available for your account, the cost and resulting profit and loss data will include commissions and transaction fees but may also be incomplete because it may exclude manual adjustments and corporate actions including but not limited to: stock dividends, spin-offs, mergers, and name changes. Please note that cost and resulting profit and loss data displayed in StreetSmart Edge® is not the official record of your account. Your statements and confirmations serve as your official records.

Quotes for mutual fund positions are based on a quote from the most recent closing price available. For all other positions, during market hours, market value is derived from real-time quotes. After market hours, market value is derived from the most recent closing price or last trade, unless you have Update Equities Profit & Loss during After Hours checked in your Account Settings.

Cost/Share Cost per share for the position
Day Chg $ P&L

Today's gain or loss for your equity and option positions. The calculation is based on the gain or loss for your positions since the previous market close (Marked-to-market) or your cost if purchased today. It includes estimated commissions on positions established today.

Please note that the change calculation for your positions established prior to today can also be based on today's open price if you have elected this option via your Account Settings.

NOTE: This may differt from the Today’s Change within the Balances Bar, which in contrast, indicates the change in account value from the previous trading day's close. This includes your trading activity, as well as deposits and withdrawals.

Day Chg P&L/Share

Today's percent gain or loss for your equity and option positions expressed on a per share or per contract basis. The calculation will be based on the gain or loss for your positions since the previous market close (Marked-to-market) or your cost if purchased today. It includes estimated commissions on positions established today.

Please note that the per share or per contract change calculation for your positions established prior to today can also be based upon today's open if you have elected this option via your Account Settings.

Day Chg % P&L

Today's percent gain or loss for your equity and option positions. The calculation is based on the gain or loss for your positions since the previous market close (Marked-to-market) or your cost if purchased today. It includes estimated commissions on positions established today.

Please note that the percent change calculation for your positions established prior to today can also be based on today's open if you have elected this option via your Account Settings.

The percentage value will be taken out to two decimal places. Rounding the 2nd decimal placeholder up if the third decimal is +5 and rounding down if it is -5.

DRI

Shows if position is enrolled in Dividend Reinvestment.

Certain stocks and mutual funds pay a dividend, which may be reinvested into additional shares of the security, or can be paid to you in cash, depending upon your instructions.

  • Yes indicates that the corresponding security's dividend is being reinvested.
  • No indicates that no dividends are being reinvested for that security and that dividends will be paid in cash.
Margin Requirements

The Margin Requirements column shows the minimum dollar amount of equity you must maintain in your account (maintenance requirement).

For option positions, it shows:

  • Maintenance Requirement: The requirement is only shown for one leg of each pairing
  • Quantity: Number of contracts
  • Strategy: Legs are paired to optimize buying power, even if the positions were opened individually
  • Strategy sequence number: Legs paired together have the same sequence number

Typically, the ongoing maintenance requirement for most stocks is 30%, but Schwab may impose higher maintenance requirements on certain securities that are low priced, thinly traded, volatile, or which pose heightened risk.

Special maintenance requirements are set at Schwab's discretion4 and are intended to reflect a stock's volatility and to ensure that your account maintains sufficient equity to cover large price movements. Some stocks are so volatile or illiquid that they cannot be margined.

  • Securities held in a cash account will display as ‘- -‘ or 'Not Marginable'
  • 'N/A' will display if margin requirement data is unavailable.
  • Maintenance requirements for multi-leg options will display with the short leg(s) that has/have the higher requirement(s).

A list of maintenance requirements across security types can be found here, with maintenance requirements listed on the far right under the heading "Schwab Maintenance Req."

The Margin Maintenance Requirement Lookup tool can be found here (login may be required).

Maintenance Requirement Disclosure

  1. Maintenance requirement data updates every 15 minutes or upon an event that changes your balances or positions, such as a trade execution, debit transaction, etc.
  2. If you have a special maintenance requirement on your account that is greater than the equity-specific requirement, then the account level maintenance requirement will supersede the equity-specific requirement.
  3. Stocks trading for less than $3.00 are not marginable.
  4. Margin requirements may be changed due to concentrated positions, non-diversification, changes in market conditions or at Schwab's discretion.
P&L

Unrealized profit or loss on the position in dollar format. P&L is calculated based on an average price paid per share.

NOTE: Lot accounting is not used, so P&L is NOT calculated on a LIFO/FIFO basis. There are limitations on the reporting of transactions/events that make up the P&L amounts.

P&L %

Unrealized profit or loss on the position as a percentage. P&L is calculated based on an average price paid per share.

NOTE: Lot accounting is not used, so P&L is NOT calculated on a LIFO/FIFO basis. There are limitations on the reporting of transactions/events that make up the P&L amounts.

P&L/Share Unrealized profit or loss based on the average cost per share
Position Dollar Value Dollar value for existing position(s) in the account. Calculation uses the bid price for long positions and the ask price for short positions.
Price (P&L Calcs) Price used as the current price in P&L calculations
Quantity (Position)

Quantity held in selected account.

For stocks or mutual funds, this field reflects the number of shares you currently hold. For fixed income securities, this field reflects the face value of the securities. For options, this field reflects the number of option contracts.

 

 

Quote Data
Ask Current inside Ask price
Ask Size Number of shares at inside ask
Bid Current inside Bid price
Bid Size Number of shares at inside bid
Change Change from Previous Close to Last Trade
% Change Percent change from Previous Close to Last Trade
Chg (Open) Change from Open to Last Trade
% Chg (Open) Percentage change from Open to Last Trade
Ending Ask Ending Ask price of the market session
Ending Bid Ending Bid price of the market session
Ending Mid Ending Midpoint price of the market session
High Highest price the security has traded for the day
Last Size Size of last trade
Last Time Time of last trade
Last Trade Price of last trade
Low Lowest price the security has traded for the day
Midpoint Midpoint between Bid and Ask
Open Opening price for the day
Prev Close Closing price from previous market session
Volume Number of shares/contracts the security has traded for the day

 

Greeks

*In the Positions tab, Greek values are multiplied by the position quantity and multiplier.

Delta*

Estimate of the change in position value per one point change in the underlying price based on the selected option pricing model.

For equities, delta will be the same as quantity, because the price will change dollar for dollar with the stock price.

Gamma* Measures the change in delta for a change in the underlying security price
IV

Implied Volatility based on the option midpoint price and underlying price as calculated with selected option pricing model.

IV is a theoretical value (in %) designed to represent the forecast volatility of the security or index as determined by the prices of multiple call and put options using the Black-Scholes pricing model.

Other variables usually include security price, strike price, risk-free rate of return, and days to expiration. If all other variables are equal, the security with the highest volatility will generally have the highest option prices.

IV Ask Implied Volatility based on the option ask price and underlying price as calculated with selected option pricing model.
IV Bid Implied Volatility based on the option bid price and underlying price as calculated with selected option pricing model.
Rho* Estimate of the change in option price per a 1% change in interest rates based on selected option pricing model.
Theta* Estimate of the change in option price per one day passing based on selected option pricing model.
Vega* Estimate of the change in option price per a 1% change in volatility of the underlying based on selected option pricing model.

 

Options
Days until Exp The number of days until the Expiration Date
Expiration Date Date the option expires. All holders of options must indicate their desire to exercise by this date.
Intrinsic Value The value by which the option is in the money, calculated for calls as (underlying price – strike price), or for puts as (strike price-underlying price)
Open Int The number of outstanding option contracts per option series
Strike Option strike price; the price at which the owner of an option can purchase (call) or sell (put) the underlying security
Time Value The value of the option that is not attributed to the intrinsic value, calculated as (Midpoint - Intrinsic Value)
Underlying Symbol The symbol of the underlying security or index upon which an option is based
Underlying Last The last trade price of the underlying stock of an option

 

Extended Quotes
52 Week High Highest price at which the security has traded over the last 52 weeks
52 Week Low Lowest price at which the security has traded over the last 52 weeks
After Hours Chg Change from today's close to last after hours trade price
% After Hours Chg Percent Change from today's close to last after hours trade price
Avg Vol - 1 month Average daily volume over the last month (1 month = 21 days)
Dollar Volume The dollar amount of shares/contracts traded for the day on a security or options contract. Calculated as VWAP (Volume-Weighted Average Price) multiplied by the day's total volume.
P/C Ratio OI Open Interest Put/Call Ratio calculates the Put/Call ratio by dividing the total number of puts by the total number of calls for an underlying stock or index based on open interest.
P/C Ratio Vol. Volume Put/Call Ratio calculates the Put/Call ratio by dividing the total number of puts by the total number of calls for an underlying stock or index based on the trading volume of the current or most recent trading session.
Today's Close Today's closing price. If before market close, shows the last trade.
VWAP Volume Weighted Average Price measures the average price of a stock over a given period of time. VWAP is calculated by adding up the dollars traded for every transaction (price multiplied by number of shares traded) and then dividing by the total shares traded for the day.

 

Related Topics Link IconRelated Topics

 

Options carry a high level of risk and are not suitable for all investors. Certain requirements must be met to trade options through Schwab. Multiple leg options strategies will involve multiple commissions. Please read the options disclosure document titled "Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options." Supporting documentation for any claims or statistical information is available upon request.