How to Read an Account Statement
by Rick Thachuk

ACCOUNT STATEMENT – SAMPLE
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YOUR NAME YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER 2/26/99 [1]

2/26/99 US DOLLARS FUNDS-SEGREGATED ACCOUNTS 48,212.50 [2]

- – -BUY SELL – - – - – - C O N F I R M A T I O N – - – - – - – - – -

THE FOLLOWING TRADES ARE CONFIRMED AS OF DATE INDICATED.

2/25 1 JUN99 NYMEX CRUDE OIL 12.44 [3]
*1 COMM/FEE 17.50-

2/25 1 MAY99 COTTON P 590 1.90 950.00 [4]
* 1* COMM/FEE 17.50- PREM 950.00 *
EXP 5/07/99 LST TRD 4/16/99

- – -BUY SELL – - – - P U R C H A S E & S A L E – - – - – - – -

1/25 1 MAY99 COTTON P 590 2.45 [5]
2/25 1 MAY99 COTTON P 590 1.90
1* 1* P & S .00 *

- LONG SHORT- – - – - O P E N P O S I T I O N S – - – - – - – - -

2/25 1 JUN99 NYMEX CRUDE OIL 12.44 80.00 [6]
1* * AVG 12.44 STL 12.52 80.00*

1/25 1 MAR99 CBT SOYBNS 5.17 3,362.50- [7]
1* * AVG 5.17000 STL 4.49 3/4 3,362.50-*

1/26 1 MAR99 IMM C-DLLR P 660 .800 220.00 [8]
1* * AVG .80000 STL .220 220.00 *
EXP 3/05/99 LST TRD 3/05/99

- – - – - – - A C C O U N T T O T A L S – - – - – - – - – - – - -

*-* LONG OPTION MKT VALUE 220.00 [9]
*-* 2,700.00 INIT EXC/DEF(-) OTE 3,282.50-*
*-* 2,000.00 MAINT 43145.00 TE 45,845.00 *
*-* AVAIL SPAN NOV .00 *
*-* NET LIQUIDITY 46,065.00 **

- – - – - P R O F I T & L O S S S U M M A R Y – - – - – - – -

FUT P&L OPT LONG OPT SHORT [10]
——- ——– ———
MTD 4672.50 2500.00 2500.00
YTD 4672.50 7660.00 2500.00

COMMISSION FEES
———- —-
MTD 245.00- .00
YTD 367.50- .00

[1]
Statement date of the account.

[2]
Starting balance of the account.

[3]
Confirmation of a futures transaction on the previous day. Customer bought one June 1999 NYMEX crude oil contract at a price of 12.44. Paid fictitious commission of $17.50 which is half of the fictitious $35 roundturn commission per contract.

[4]
Confirmation of an options transaction on the previous day. Customer sold one May 1999 NYCE cotton put option having a strike price of 590. Premium received is 1.90 which is equal to $950.

[5]
Results of a completed transaction, in this case, an option transaction. The cotton put option sold above closed a trade that was initially entered into on Jan. 25 at which time the customer bought a May 1999 cotton put option having strike price of 590. The purchase price was 2.45 which is equal to $1,225. This amount of cash was taken out of the customer’s account on Jan. 25. The overall profit/loss on the option transaction is not shown on the statement but can be easily calculated. The customer has a net loss on the option transaction of $1,225-$950=$275 plus commission of $35.

[6]
Daily mark-to-market of open position, in this case, the long crude oil futures that was purchased in the confirmation report (#3). The June 99 crude oil futures was purchased on Feb. 25 for 12.44 and settled on Feb. 26, the statement date, at 12.52. The customer has an open trade equity profit of 0.08 points which is equal to $80. Since the customer only purchased one such contract, the average purchase price (AVG) is equal to the stated purchase price of 12.44.

[7]
Daily mark-to-market of open position, in this case, a long Mar. 99 soybean futures contract. The soybean futures was purchased on Jan. 25 for 5.17 and settled on Feb. 26, the statement date, at 4.49 3/4. The customer has an open trade equity loss of 67 1/4 cents which is equal to -$3,362.50.

[8]
Daily mark-to-market of open position, in this case, a long Mar. 99 Canadian dollar put option having a strike price of 660. The put option was purchased on Jan. 26 for 0.800 which is equal to $800. This amount was taken out of the customer’s account on Jan. 26. Thereafter, the value of the option at the end of every day is added back into the customer’s account and appears in the line item LONG OPTION MKT VALUE. This option settled on Feb. 26, the statement date, at 0.220 which is equal to $220, so this amount of money is credited to the customer’s account. A running profit/loss on the option trade is not shown in the account statement. It can be calculated, though. The option was initially purchased for $800 and is now worth $220, resulting in a loss thus far of $580 plus commissions. The most that the customer can lose, of course, is the total cost of the option equal to $800, plus commissions. Also shown is the expiration date and last trade date of the option: EXP 3/05/99, LST TRD 3/05/99.

[9]
LONG OPTION MKT VALUE is the total value of long options held by the customer. Currently, the customer only has the long Canadian dollar put option valued at $220.00 as of the statement date.

OTE is the open trade equity on all open futures positions and is equal to a loss of $3,282.50 as of the statement date.

TE is the total equity of the account and is equal to the starting balance of $48,212.50 plus the $950 premium received from the crude oil option sale, less commissions paid of $35, plus the OTE. This value is $45,845.00 as of the statement date.

AVAIL SPAN NOV is a margin calculation for naked short option positions, of which there is none in this statement.

NET LIQUIDITY is the value of the account as if all open positions were sold at the settlement prices as of the statement date and is equal to TE plus LONG OPTION MKT VALUE, in this case $46,065.00 as of the statement date.

INIT is the initial margin required on the customer’s open futures positions and is equal to $2,700.

MAINT is the maintenance margin required on the customer’s open futures positions and is equal to $2,000.

EXC/DEF(-) is the amount of excess cash in the customer’s account above the initial margin required and is calculated as the TE less INIT. In this case, the customer has an excess of cash equal to $43,145. This number must be reduced to below zero before the customer need worry about getting a margin call.

[10]
Shows a running total of profit and loss on futures and options trades and commissions paid on a month-to-date (MTD) basis and year-to-date (YTD) basis.