A customer’s margin account contains the following positions: long 100 RET at $5,000, long 100 LET at $7,000, a debit balance at $8,500, and an SMA at $0. If the client were to sell 50 shares of RET for $3,000, how much would be released to the SMA? $1,500 Explanation: With a total market value of $12,000 and a debit balance of $8,500, this account is restricted, therefore, with the sale of $3,000 of stock, the firm will apply the 50% retention rule and $1,500 of the sale proceeds will be used to reduce the debit while the other $1,500 will be posted to SMA.