Cl,opter 4: Other Call Buying Strategies 121 
feels ve:ry certain that his bearish view of the stock is the correct view, he might then 
buy a fairly deep out-of-the-money call just as disaster protection, in case the stock 
suddenly bolted upward in price (if it received a takeover bid, for example). 
MARGIN REQUIREMENTS 
The newest margin rules now allow one to receive favorable margin treatment when 
a short sale of stock is protected by a long call option. The margin required is the 
lower of (1) 10% of the call's striking price plus any out-of-the-money amount, or (2) 
30% of the current short stock's market value. The position will be marked to market 
daily, and most brokers will require that the short sale be margined at "normal" rates 
if the stock is below the strike price. 
Example: Suppose the following prices exist: 
XYZ Common stock: 47 
Oct 40 call: 8 
Oct 50 call: 3 
Oct 60 call: 1 
Suppose that one is considering a short sale of 100 shares of XYZ at 47 and the 
purchase of one of the calls as protection. Here are the margin requirements for the 
various strike prices. (Note that the option price, per se, is not part of the margin 
requirement, but all options must be paid for in full, initially). 
Position 
Short XYZ, long Oct 40 call 
Short XYZ, long Oct 50 call 
Short XYZ, long Oct 60 call 
l 0% strike + out-of-the-money 
400 + 0 = 400* 
500 + 300 = 800* 
600 + 1,300 = 1,900 
30% stock price 
1,410 
1,410 
1,41 0* 
*Since the margin requirement is the lower of the two figures, the items marked with an asterisk in 
this table are the margin requirements. 
Again, remember that the long call would have to be paid for in full, and that most 
brokers impose a maintenance requirement of at least the value of the short sale itself 
as long as the stock is below the strike price of the long call, in addition to the above 
requirements.