What does Insufficient buying power mean?

Schwab says the order exceeds your available cash and margin.

How much does a credit spread reserve?

Its max loss: the width minus the credit, times 100.

Can unsettled funds cause it?

Yes. In a cash account, Schwab can reject a sale for that reason.

Does Nyria retry the order?

It re-sends a close once for unsettled funds or an outage.

Lower the entry size, or wait for funds to settle.

Guide

Why does Schwab say Insufficient buying power?

Insufficient buying power means Schwab rejected the order because it would exceed your available cash and margin. A credit spread reserves its max loss, which is the width minus the credit. A 5-wide SPY put credit spread sold for $1.00 reserves $400 per contract. Lower the size or wait for funds to settle.

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Official documentation

Nyria docs: Connect Charles Schwab to Nyria

Fix Insufficient buying power

1
Read the error
The bot log names Insufficient buying power.
2
Check the spread math
Max loss is the width minus the credit, times 100.
3
Check settled funds
In a cash account, funds from a recent sale may not have settled.
4
Lower the entry size
Reduce the amount the bot puts into each entry.
5
Send the alert again
Once funds allow it, the next alert can place the order.

Credit spread sizing

Schwab reserves the max loss as buying power.
Max loss is the spread width minus the credit.
A 5-wide spread sold for $1.00 reserves $400 per contract.

Unsettled funds

A cash account can have a sale rejected for unsettled funds.
Nyria re-sends that close once, after re-checking the position at Schwab.
A Schwab outage can cause the same rejection.

Day-trade limits

A pattern day trader account has day-trade buying power.
When that is used up, Schwab rejects new orders.
Wait for the next session or fund the account.

What to change

Lower the bot's entry size.
Pick a narrower spread.
Wait for funds to settle, then send the alert again.

Questions

What does Insufficient buying power mean?: Schwab says the order exceeds your available cash and margin.
How much does a credit spread reserve?: Its max loss: the width minus the credit, times 100.
Can unsettled funds cause it?: Yes. In a cash account, Schwab can reject a sale for that reason.
Does Nyria retry the order?: It re-sends a close once for unsettled funds or an outage.
How do I fix it?: Lower the entry size, or wait for funds to settle.

All questions