Glossary / Risk
Margin call
Definition
A demand to add funds or reduce positions when equity falls below requirements.
Why it matters
Intraday margin requirements can change at the broker's discretion, which is how leveraged accounts get liquidated on quiet news days.
Example
Holding 3 contracts with $6,000 of equity when the maintenance requirement rises to $7,500 triggers a call or an auto-liquidation at the worst possible time.
How to track it in a journal
TradeStack calculates the core performance numbers — win rate, average win and loss, profit factor, expectancy, drawdown and consistency — automatically from imported trades, so margin call stops being something you estimate and becomes something you read.
Related terms
R multiple
A trade result expressed as a multiple of the amount you risked.
Risk-reward ratio
The size of your planned target compared with the size of your stop.
Position sizing
Choosing how many shares, contracts or lots to trade based on your stop distance and risk budget.
Drawdown
The decline from a peak in your equity curve to the following trough.
Keep reading
Trading journal guides
Expectancy, profit factor, drawdown, backtesting and the PDT rule.
Free trading calculators
Position size, risk-reward, expectancy and options profit.
Expectancy calculator
Expected profit per trade from your own numbers.
Broker CSV export guides
Step-by-step exports for Tradovate, NinjaTrader, IBKR and more.
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