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How To Start Margin Trading Successfully

In the financial industry, where investment has become the main source of passive income, several different strategies exist to multiply returns. This piece will overview one of them – margin trading with a margin account.

Margin accounts provide traders greater freedom and flexibility to pursue higher-yielding, higher-risk trading opportunities. Trading with such accounts entails more risk than more conventional methods. Therefore, it has to be approached with prudence. However, many traders now use this strategy in an effort to increase earnings. Thus, the idea is clearly gaining traction.

So, how do you start trading with margin? Here is how to trade with margin and calculate your risks before taking them.

Understanding Margin Trading

You may trade with money you do not really own if you open a margin account. How is this possible? Borrowing. A margin account allows you to borrow money from your broker and execute market trades you cannot afford.

This way, you take the risks of high returns and hope these gains are high enough to pay back the broker’s money and have some profits left for you. 

Experienced traders use this method to explore high-value trading opportunities that may double their gains. However, this risky tactic can double the losses as well.

Margin trading requires careful account management. You must pay part of the trade from your balance while the broker will finance the remaining amount. However, the broker will use some of your equity as collateral or a financial cushion if the trade goes sideways.

Margin Account Components

Margin trading is more complicated than direct trading, where you can only trade with your available money. Margin includes several conditions that you must satisfy and maintain.

The “initial margin” is the minimum balance in your margin account before you borrow money. The broker will use the margin you’ve provided to finance the deal you’ve requested. As an example, say you want to buy 100 shares of Company ABC for $500 total. In order to apply leverage of 1:100, the broker will need an initial margin of $500, bringing the total cost of the deal to $50,000.

The amount you must keep in the account’s equity as collateral to keep the margin trade active is called “maintenance margin”. The requirement for maintenance varies between accounts, and it can be 25%-50% of the total market position you want. 

The margin call happens when your maintenance margin falls below the required amount/percentage, and you must add more money. Once the margin call occurs, the broker will give you a deadline to deposit more money into your account before liquidating your market position.

Final Remarks

Trading on margin is a sophisticated tactic used by experienced investors to magnify their returns. The trader runs the danger of becoming indebted to the broker if the market goes against them and the deal is liquidated. Margin trading is risky and should only be attempted if one has sufficient funds to cover both the trade’s initial outlay and subsequent maintenance in the event of a margin call.

About the author

Jack Reuben Fletcher

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