With margin trading, investors can leverage their purchasing power into larger positions, which can result in better returns and potential losses. They can also borrow money from their broker to trade in larger sizes.
One of the most common types of financial transactions that investors can make is day trading, where they buy and sell the same stocks multiple times in an attempt to profit from the movement in the market. It’s risky because the sudden changes in the stock prices can cause substantial losses.
Margin and Day Trading
What is margin trading? According to the experts at SoFi, “Margin trading is an advanced investment strategy in which you trade securities using money that you’ve borrowed from your broker to magnify your return.”
With margin trading, investors can still trade even if they don’t have the necessary cash on hand. It allows them to buy securities for a larger amount than they have available cash. This allows them to increase their buying power and generate higher returns.
When it comes to day trading on margin, the risks are more significant than those associated with other types of financial transactions. Because of the higher risk, the returns that investors can expect with margin trading are often much larger. The rules of the financial industry’s regulatory agency define a day trade as the buying and selling of security on the same day.
Margin Requirements
Unlike other types of financial transactions, margin trading requires investors to maintain a sufficient amount of cash on hand to cover their purchases and repayments. According to the regulations of the Federal Reserve, investors can borrow up to half of the total cost of the purchase.
One of the most important factors that investors consider when it comes to margin trading is the maintenance requirements. For pattern day traders, the minimum equity requirement is $25,000, while for non-pattern day traders, it’s $2,000. Every account that’s labeled as a day trading account must additionally meet this requirement. If the account falls below this amount, it can’t be used for any further transactions.
Margin Calls
If your account falls below the required amount, your broker may require you to make additional money available to boost the level of your account. This type of demand is usually called a margin call. If you don’t meet the margin call, your broker may also require you to sell some or all of your open positions to bring the account back to the minimum value. This can be done without your approval.
Margin Buying Power
Pattern day traders have significantly greater buying power than the other types of financial transactions when it comes to margin trading. For instance, if an account has a minimum equity requirement of $25,000 and an excess of $10,000, then the latter is over and above the minimum amount, and this triggers a day trading margin call.
The time that’s required to meet the maintenance margin call is usually five business days. During this period, the buying power of a day trading account is restricted to two times the amount of money that’s required to maintain the margin. In case the call is not met within the specified time frame, further trading can only be permitted on a cash available basis.
Because margin trading is a risky activity, it should be ignored by novice day traders. People who have experience with these types of financial transactions commonly conducted on margin should also be careful when using them. With the added buying power that margin trading provides, investors must use it prudently.
