Margin Trading

What is leverage in the forex market? It’s the ability to buy and sell foreign currencies while putting up only a fraction—3% to 5%—of the notional amount. Leverage, or forex margin, offers potential opportunity, but it’s also quite risky.

Futures versus stock trading: Each poses intriguing possibilities. Although stocks and futures share some common ground, they differ in several ways. Learn why.

Short selling aims to provide protection or profit during a stock market downturn, but it can be risky. Plus, it requires a margin account. Learn the mechanics of shorting a stock.

Trading on margin can magnify your returns, but it can also increase your losses. Learn the basics, benefits, and risks of margin trading.

Learn how following short interest and other short-selling metrics can help investors gain valuable insights into companies and markets.

Have a single-leg option? Consider using a vertical spread to turn it into a defined-risk spread to lower the margin requirements and free up capital at the same time.

Short selling, short interest, naked short selling are among terms some investors had scarcely paid attention to. But a flurry of apparent short squeezes in 2021 called attention to shorting. Here are some of the top questions answered.

The housing market has historically been a bellwether of the stock market and of the economy in general. Learn about housing starts, building permits, and other indicators that can help investors assess the state of the housing market.

Margin trading has been around forever. But qualified traders, there’s another category—portfolio margin—that could take your leverage to new heights.

When trading in a cash account, understand the three different types of cash account violations you could encounter: free ride violation, good faith violation, and liquidation violation.

Once you’ve mastered the basics of margin trading, you might want to learn how different trader and investor types use it. It can depend on your objectives, risk tolerance, and the products you trade.

A margin account can be useful for investment leverage. Did you know it can also be used as a convenient line of credit with a low interest rate and flexible repayment? But understand the risks.

Investors seeking to profit from a market downturn or looking for portfolio protection have several shorting alternatives. Here are three of them.

Learn how experienced investors comfortable with the risk of margin trading can view a margin account as a “reserve fund.”

Nobody wants his or her stock investments to be forcefully liquidated. Protect your portfolio with better estimations and risk management plans.

Part 3 of our series on portfolio margin covers profit, loss, and what happens at expiration—eventually your position will expire, know what to expect.

Part of our series on portfolio margin, the greeks—theoretical metrics describing how things like stock price, time, and volatility can impact option price.

You can upgrade your trader status by expanding your leverage with portfolio margin, but first you must know synthetic equivalents—here's a primer.

Active traders and investors can maintain margin, a cushion of buying power in their accounts for volatile times.

Risk-based margin is both a blessing and a curse. But is it for you?