Buying Stocks On Margin explaind conducted by professional stock trading experts, In this article you will read all about how to buy Stocks on Margin.
What Is Buying Stocks On Margin?
Buying on margin is the purchase of an asset by using leverage and borrowing the balance from a bank or broker. Buying on margin refers to the initial or down payment made to the broker for the asset being purchased; for example, 10 percent down and 90 percent financed. The collateral for the borrowed funds is the marginable securities in the investor’s account. Before buying on margin, an investor needs to be approved and open a margin account with his or her broker. The buying power you have in your brokerage account reflects the total dollar amount of purchases you can make using your cash plus available margin capacity. In addition to buying on margin, short sellers of stock also use margin to borrow and then sell those shares.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve Board regulates the amount of margin that an investor must pay for a security. As of 2016, the board requires an investor to fund at least 50 percent of a security’s purchase price with cash. The investor may borrow the remaining 50 percent from a broker or a dealer.
As with any loan, when you buy securities on margin you have to eventually pay back the money you borrow plus interest, which varies by brokerage firm and the amount of the loan.
Interest rates for margin trades are typically lower than alternatives such as credit cards or personal loans. There is also no set repayment schedule; instead, monthly interest charges accrue to your brokerage account, where you can repay the principal at your convenience. In addition, margin interest can be tax-deductible if you use the margin to purchase taxable investments subject to certain limitations.
How To Buying Stocks On Margin?
To buy stocks you need to sign up with an online stock broker, Then fund your Stock trading account and buy Stocks online.
Based on one’s creditworthiness and other factors, the broker sets the minimum or initial margin and the maintenance margin that must exist in the account before the investor can begin buying on margin. Maintenance margin refers to the minimum amount of money that must exist in the account before the broker forces the investor to deposit more money.
Suppose an investor deposits $10,000 and the maintenance margin is 50 percent, or $5,000. As soon as the investor’s equity dips even a dollar below $5,000, the investor may receive a margin call. When this happens, the broker calls the investor and demands that the investor bring his balance back to the required maintenance margin level. The investor can do this by depositing additional cash into his brokerage account or by selling securities that he purchased with borrowed money.
Futures contracts are almost always purchased using margin, while other securities such as options contracts are not marginable and must be purchased using 100 percent cash.
Buying on Margin: Benefits and Risks
Buying on margin offers investors some definite benefits, but the practice is also fraught with risk. Using this kind of leverage to purchase securities with someone else’s money amplifies gains when the value of those securities increases, but it magnifies losses when the securities decline in value.
Consider an investor who purchases 100 shares of Company XYZ stock at $50 per share. He funds half the purchase price with his own money and the other half he buys on margin, making his initial cash outlay $2,500. After a year, the share price doubles to $100. The investor sells his shares for $10,000 and pays back his broker the $2,500 he borrowed for the initial purchase. Ultimately, he triples his money, making $7,500 on a $2,500 investment. Had he purchased the same number of shares outright using his own money, he would only have doubled his money, from $5,000 to $10,000.
Now consider that instead of doubling after a year, the share price falls by half, to $25. The investor sells at a loss and receives $2,500. Since this equals the amount he owes his broker, he loses 100 percent of his investment on the deal. Had he not used margin to make his initial investment, he still would have lost money, but he would only have lost 50 percent of his investment.
Buy Stocks On Margin Conclusion
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