I was in my parents' study and I saw a paper they printed from a Charles Schwab account and it had something called a SMA? I assume it has to do with money because there was a dollar sign and a number next to it. So what is a SMA and what does it do?
Thanks!
Additional Details
Special Memorandum Account (SMA)- This is a special account authorized by the Federal Reserve Board to preserve buying power in your margin account. It reflects any excess equity you have above the required amount (50% for marginable securities). The figure is part of the calculation used to determine your Margin Buying Power. Unlike a credit balance or market value, SMA is a bookkeeping entry that reflects a history of the excess equity* above the required minimum for Regulation T, plus all of the charges and releases from the past activity in the account. Once the SMA has been credited with any excess equity, it remains available until used for a purchase or a cash withdrawal. The SMA is retained even if the market value of securities held on margin subsequently declines, which could result in an SMA figure greater than your margin Cash Available (inflated SMA). A Fed call is generated when a trade occurs in an account that does not have sufficient SMA to satisfy the initial requirem