Before I Start: I am beginning to trade my own futures account and am still learning. I am ok with losing money and taking on risk. Please don't flame me. Up until today on my futures account I was slowly growing my account about $5600 in about 2 weeks. Making between .5% and 2% a day. Account balance was at about $60,600. I am just scalping so I don't mind taking larger positions. Sometimes I do get draw down with my strategy but I figured with a large account it's no problem. Apparently I went too large today. I took the max possible margin on the account. But I was not too worried. I was looking for some downside, but price was very bullish today news on top of news / earnings. Anyway if necessary I would stop out for a small - medium loss / break even. The account was in 6.6% drawdown and got "margin called" and liquidated instantly. Realized loss was $8900 which to me is a large loss. I try to keep losses around $500-$1000 max. It liquidated me at the max position. Mind you i was about maybe 7 points away max only from being break even / entering profit. Within 30 minutes it traced down there and i could have exited in profit of about $1500-2000. Instead I took home an $8900 loss Broker was tradestation. I was under the impression margin and account balance drawdown separately. I have read from brokers like Optimus Futures / Amp. They auto liquidate when account balance draws down 60% or 80% - regardless of how many contracts you have on? But my acct balance was only drawn down 6.6%. So I thought I was safe just maxing out the leverage and setting my levels. Apparently not. Any info on how to prevent this in the future. And do all brokers do this?
Have you asked your broker? daytrade margin varies by product % liquidation is dependent on Software, Data provider and clearing firm A conversation with a professional is imperative to better understand how margin policy impacts your trading style How margin works, ( I can’t control the ads in front of the content) feel free to skip.
Beginners Definitely don't know the Future. Even veteran and advanced traders don't know the future even though they arrogantly like to think and act so. You shouldn't trade on margin and leverage. You should be studying the market casually, observing it, questioning it...for three years first before using real money. That's the problem with trading....amateur people get orgasmic boners thinking I will make all this money. This Is It. Razzle Dazzle time. Thank you God. Life very rarely works out like that. You have to pay your dues like Moses, wander in the wilderness, gain wisdom
need specifics, it shouldn't. ts has day trade margin, es for example, 10% of overnight margin, unless it is a major econmic news day.
Not flaming...Just wondering. "I am beginning to trade my own futures account and am still learning". If we looked an your application with TradeStation, what would we see that you put down for experience with margins...
1. Tradestation Sucks 2. I wouldn't extended your leverage to the point you could get liquidated so easily. There's no reason to put yourself in such a bad spot. 3. I'd talk to them so you understand better, but they won't do anything other than explain why it happened.
Initial account $5600 Realised loss $8900 You should be thankful that your position is instantly liquidified / liquidated. If you are not liquidified/liquidated, soon your realised loss will be $10,000 $100,000 $1000,000 $1,000,000 etc etc etc Since you are not aware of liquidification/liquidation what makes you think your realised gain will be $10,000 $100,000 $1000,000 $1,000,000 etc etc etc It is time for you to revamp your trade plan. Max loss per trade, max loss per day, max lot size .... need to be reviewed.
the broker doesn’t matter, each is different. ts intraday margin 10% kicks in i recall as 9am est. if the account is mid five figures and intraday margin is in effect, shouldn’t got margin call unless op runs 20+ lots in 1 trade.
No you didn't read his post correctly, 5600 was his recent profit, Initial account was 60,600. Regarding the OPs question, I can only imagine he got liquidated when margin switched from day to overnight. Otherwise it doesn't make much sense. The auto liquidator should have sold part of his position to bring him back in line. Unless Trade station don't bother with that and they just liquidate your entire position when you get the slightest margin call.