Margin Call

A margin call is a notification, triggered when your margin level (equity ÷ used margin × 100) falls to a broker-defined percentage, that your account no longer has a comfortable cushion to support its open positions. It is a warning stage, not the final step: the broker is asking you to top up equity or close trades to restore a healthy margin level. Thresholds vary, but a common pattern is a margin call near 100% followed by automatic liquidation at a lower stop-out level. Margin calls are far more likely with high leverage and large positions, because the buffer between healthy and dangerous shrinks dramatically. Treat one as a hard signal that your risk is already too large, not as routine noise.

In plain English — A margin call is the broker’s alert that your account equity has dropped close to the minimum needed to keep your trades open. It usually happens because open positions are losing money and your margin level has fallen below a set threshold. At this point you are expected to either add funds or reduce your positions. If you ignore it and losses continue, the broker can start force-closing trades at the stop-out level.

Your broker’s margin call hits at a 100% margin level. After a string of losses your equity falls until used margin equals equity — you get the call, warning that without action your positions may be liquidated.