Referring to equities primarily. Do you rarely, if ever, make use of your overnight margin, but perhaps go in strong during the day on "no-brainer" moves? Or, do some of you accept that risk of using margin to hold larger positions on a regular basis?
i use very little margin overnight, during the day i'll sometimes be close to all in if i am trading very actively and managing a bunch of positions, but i always make sure to scale back so i have plenty of powder dry for the next morning.
Let me show you a video which represents the majority of elitetraders. Do you think these guys are responsible with their margin? <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GrQEKYZFmgE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GrQEKYZFmgE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
When I started, I was like everyone else, the more leverage the better. Over time my portfolio has grown and then some. I don't have the need for margin anymore...
if, for whatever reason, you have strong reason(s) to think your market is going to move in a certain direction in a certain time frame, then you may choose to use margin to go in with a strong position. forget "no-brainer", replace it with "strong conviction."