Do You Use Margin Money While Trading Stocks?

[jjgold]

Very useful for buying and selling power but dangerous. The only good thing is if you get carried out and can't pay you just claim bankruptcy or just pay the monthly payment. Johnny Selino will not coming knocking on your door looking for the cash. I rather owe brokerage houses than hooks or sharks.

So do you guys use margin money as leverage?

[SBR_John]

Yea I use margin. Try not to let my margin amount exceed 20% of the account value.

[capitalist pig]

Its not quite that simple. Depending on the stock being bought on margin, and the stocks backing up the margin buys. There will be a price where the broker issues you a margin call. You will normally then have 72 hours to make the deposit, or they will sell enough of the stocks in your account to cover the $ call.The brokers will never lose, and they will liquidate your account to 0 before they let it go negative on them.

The only reason I have margin accounts is its the only way you can take short positions.

later

[mavs1978]

we use lots or margin.. but we use it to hedge our existing portfolio.. very rarely do we use it to get ultra long.. sometimes at a major inflection point ive been 200-300% long or short.. but thats very rare

[aircoryell]

rarely, but on margin right now large with an energy canroy PVX at 10.54

10% margin interest is a killer, but this prick pays a 13% yield and was way oversold