Recipients of the message "Account May Not Hold Positions: Short Call" have either opened a Cash Account or have enabled Limited Option Trading permissions. Cash Accounts are not able to hold uncovered short call positions. If you wish to upgrade to a margin account, please access Client Portal and select the User menu (head and shoulders icon in the top right corner) followed by Settings. Under Account Settings find the Account Configuration section and click Account Type to request an upgrade from Cash to Margin. Then click on Continue and complete the steps presented.
You may also see that message even if you have a margin account but you have enabled the "Limited Option Trading" permissions. If you want to trade options but do not have enough experience, you can select Limited Option Trading on the Trading Permission screen. Limited option trading is available with any investment objective that you select on the Configure Financial Profile screen. Limited option trading lets you trade these option strategies:
- Long Call or Put
- Covered Calls
- Short Naked Put: Only if covered by cash
- Call Spread: Only European-style cash-settled
- Put Spread: Only, European-style cash-settled
- Long Butterfly: Only European-style cash settled
- Iron Condor: Only European-style cash settled
To turn off Limited Option Trading log into Client Portal and select the User menu (head and shoulders icon in the top right corner) followed by Settings. Under Account Settings find the Trading section and click Trading Permissions, then go to the section for Options. If US Options are selected, look just to the right and uncheck the box for "Limited Option Trading" permissions and save your changes.