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Maintenance margin

The minimum account equity required to keep a futures position open; falling below it triggers a margin call.

Margin and leverageA small deposit controlling a much larger position, and the point at which losses trigger a margin call.Position you controlnotional value $100,000your margin deposit: $5,000$100,000 / $5,000 = 20:1 leverageYour deposit absorbs every dollar of loss$5,000$2,500$0Equity leftMARGIN CALLequity has fallen to $2,5000%1%2%2.5%3%4%5%How far the price moves against you
Margin and leverage. A $5,000 deposit can control a $100,000 position, which is 20:1 leverage. Because the loss is measured on the full $100,000, a 2.5% move against you halves the deposit and brings a margin call, and a 5% move uses all of it.

Maintenance margin is set below initial-margin. After you open a position, losses reduce equity. If equity drops under the maintenance level you must add funds back up to initial margin or the broker liquidates.

Because futures are mark-to-market daily, this check happens every day, and intraday for many brokers.

Example: initial margin $15,000, maintenance $13,500. You open one contract with $16,000. A 60-point loss on ES ($3,000) takes equity to $13,000, below maintenance, and the broker calls for $2,000.

Related: initial-margin, margin-call, mark-to-market, margin

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