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A position margined on its own

By default each position is held against its own margin and carries its own liquidation price, shown as Liq. Price on the ticket before you confirm, on the position’s row and on the chart. The position is liquidated when its price loss reaches the liquidation threshold of its margin: 84% up to 1:25, falling to 70% at 1:60 and above. The table is on Fees and spread. At liquidation the position is closed at the market, the loss is booked, and what is left of the margin goes back to the balance. The opening commission is charged to the balance and does not move the liquidation price. Each night’s swap does, and so does the borrow charge on a short share: both count against the margin, so the liquidation price moves a little closer every night the position is held. The price shown allows for the closing commission and for the nights already charged, so the position closes where the app says it will. A position margined on its own is never closed at a worse price than its liquidation price, even when a gap takes the market past it. A stop loss placed beyond the liquidation price does not protect the position: it is liquidated first. On a position margined on its own, the ticket refuses such a stop loss.

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An account margined as a whole

A trading account can be margined as a whole: choose Per account in its margin mode. See How an account is margined. Then the whole equity backs every position, no position has a liquidation price of its own, and the account’s margin level (equity over used margin) is what the risk reads.
  • At the stop-out level, 10% today, positions are closed one by one, the one losing most first, until the margin level is back above it. A position on a market that is closed is left open until the market reopens.
  • In the positions table, Liq. (est.) shows the price at which a market would take the account to its stop-out, if every other price stayed where it is.
  • A stop loss placed beyond that estimate may never fire, because the stop-out closes the largest loss first. The ticket warns you, and still sends the order.
  • A margin call level can be set above the stop-out by the desk. When the margin level falls to it, the app and a notification say so: deposit or reduce the exposure. The call is lifted once the level is back above it by a margin.

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Negative balance protection

On an account margined as a whole, a gap can take the equity below zero before the stop-out has closed every position. If the account is left below zero once nothing is open, the balance is reset to zero, so you do not owe more than what is on the account. It shows in your movements as Balance restored to zero. This protection is on by default for every account.

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When a market is closed

Open positions stay open, the overnight swap keeps accruing, and waiting orders keep waiting. At the reopening the price can differ from the close, in your favour or against you: a stop loss fires at the first price past its level, not at the level. The hours of each instrument are on Markets and hours.

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When the desk halts trading

In an incident the desk can make an instrument or a class close-only: open positions can be closed, and take profits, stop losses and liquidations keep firing, but no new position opens. An order then says “This instrument is close-only: open positions may be closed, no new ones opened.” The desk can also freeze an instrument, and an instrument whose price feed is lost is frozen until the feed returns. While it is frozen, nothing on it trades: no order, no close, and no exit fires. The instrument bar shows Halted, or Paused: pricing.