Hi, I just woke up this morning and realized that my Alaron account says I have a margin call or cash deficit of 768.00!! Where did this come from? I have 2 grand in my account, I traded 2 contracts for the DJ Emini yesterday. I was told a contract is about 750 per. Why do I owe this ridiculous amount for a "margin" call? Please help!
overnight margin is different I believe. its like double of the intraday or close to it. so 1500 per contract if your overnight
Yeah, he's right. I'm surprised Alaron actually let you initiate the multiple positions in the Dow e-mini, they must've grown lax with their need to pull-in new accounts. You're seriously overtrading for having an overnight position. (and IMHO you''re overtrading based on day margin rates as well, but hey, that's just my experience talking). Like they say over on MyMini's satrical thread about just buying the e-mini's "there's no place to go but up", that's only true until this game of musical chairs stops. *** Good lesson to have while things are still going your way. Good luck, JJ
All joking aside, but what are you doing trading 2 contracts with 2k, especially overnight? If you want to gamble, goto a nice casino might as well have some fun while you burn the cash. Cover your contracts asap and start the whole planning process again from zero. Treat it like a business. You don't start a business with 2k. I'm not trying to sound like an ass, just trying to help you preserve your cash. Good luck.
The $750 you were quoted is probably the daytrading margin requirement. Check Alaron's or the CBOT web site for the overnight or full margin requirement, which is close to $2500/contract.
It means you're trading larger than what would be considered to be a "reasonable" amount of performance bond or margin per e-mini contract. I won't keep you in suspense: Hypothetically, here's the basic performance bond you need based on your trading style/temperament. Aggressive = $2,000 per e-mini Moderate = $3,000 per e-mini Conservative = $4,000 per e-mini (these are the day margins, for holding overnight, I would only go with twice the Conservative day margin) *** You want to trade the number of contracts based on the worst cast scenario/what you have to lose type of mentality. What this will do is, assuming you have a setup(s) that makes money, is allow you to gradually increase your account size as do the daily work of trading, day-in and day-out. What you're currently doing is extremely speculative and based on serious lack of knowledge. Like the other poster said, you're gambling and risking blow-out by holding overnight - the weekend like this. That Margin Call could easily wipe out this account and your bank account if the market drops 50 - 100 pts over the weekend and keeps going (these types of moves are not a rare event, btw). Like I said, good luck and keep working and studying while you're playing around with your dough. JJ
but what does that mean ANDY? I owe them 2500 ?!? Im soo lost! Ive never done this before so im confused. I have two contacts, so thats 2500 per contract? Now I owe them 5000?
[QUOT but I have a stop loss? E]Quote from JimmyJam: It means you're trading larger than what would be considered to be a "reasonable" amount of performance bond or margin per e-mini contract. I won't keep you in suspense: Hypothetically, here's the basic performance bond you need based on your trading style/temperament. Aggressive = $2,000 per e-mini Moderate = $3,000 per e-mini Conservative = $4,000 per e-mini (these are the day margins, for holding overnight, I would only go with twice the Conservative day margin) *** You want to trade the number of contracts based on the worst cast scenario/what you have to lose type of mentality. What this will do is, assuming you have a setup(s) that makes money, is allow you to gradually increase your account size as do the daily work of trading, day-in and day-out. What you're currently doing is extremely speculative and based on serious lack of knowledge. Like the other poster said, you're gambling and risking blow-out by holding overnight - the weekend like this. That Margin Call could easily wipe out this account and your bank account if the market drops 50 - 100 pts over the weekend and keeps going (these types of moves are not a rare event, btw). Like I said, good luck and keep working and studying while you're playing around with your dough. JJ [/QUOTE]