Margin (the deposit your broker holds while a position stays open) isn't a fee you pay. It's money set aside, and you get it back the moment you close the trade. Enter your lot size, price, and leverage to see exactly how much of your balance one position locks up, in USD and THB.
Margin required
48.00USD
≈ 1,567.68 THB
Caution
This one position would lock up more than half of your balance as margin. A small move against you could trigger a margin call.
Notional value = $2,400.00 × 100 × 0.10 = $24,000.00. Margin required = $24,000.00 ÷ 500 = $48.00, or 2.40% of a $2,000.00 balance, leaving $1,952.00 free.
Notional value = 1.0850 × 100,000 × 1 = $108,500.00. Margin required = $108,500.00 ÷ 100 = $1,085.00.
What each variable means:
For a 0.10 lot XAU/USD position at $2,400, notional value is $2,400 × 100 × 0.10 = $24,000.00. At 1:500 leverage, the margin required is $24,000.00 ÷ 500 = $48.00, a small fraction of the position's full value.
Margin is the money your broker sets aside as collateral the moment you open a position, not a cost that leaves your account. It's held for as long as the trade is open and released back to your free balance when you close it. What you pay for a trade comes from the spread, swap, or commission your broker charges, none of which show up in the margin figure at all.
Free margin is simply your balance minus the margin already in use, and a large free margin figure can make a position feel safer than it is. The margin this tool calculates only tells you how much cash a position ties up. It says nothing about how much you stand to lose if the price moves against you. That number depends on your lot size and stop loss distance, which the Lot Size Calculator is built to size correctly, not on how much margin happens to be free.
A margin call is a warning your broker sends when your account equity gets close to the margin you're using, asking you to add funds or reduce your position. A stop-out goes further: it's an automatic, forced close of one or more open positions once equity falls to a set percentage of the margin used, commonly somewhere between 20% and 50% depending on the broker. Neither event is optional once triggered, which is why the margin-as-percent-of-balance figure above is worth watching, not just the account balance on its own.
No. Margin is held, not spent. It sits aside as collateral while the trade is open and returns to your free balance the moment you close it. Your actual profit or loss comes from the price move itself, not from the margin figure.
A margin call happens when losses on your open positions push your account equity down close to the margin you're using. It's a warning, not an automatic action, and it usually gives you the chance to add funds or close part of the position before anything is forced shut.
A margin call is a notice. A stop-out is the broker acting on your behalf, automatically closing positions once equity falls to a set percentage of the margin in use. By the time a stop-out happens, the choice to act has already passed to the broker.
Free margin moves with the unrealized profit or loss on your open positions, since that gain or loss adjusts your account equity in real time. A losing trade shrinks free margin even though the margin held for that position hasn't changed.
They should be close, but not guaranteed to be exact. Some brokers round differently, apply a markup to the contract size, or use tiered margin requirements for larger positions. Treat this as a planning estimate and confirm the figure your platform shows before you trade.
Work out the leverage a position actually uses, from its notional value and your account balance.
Example 0.5 lot XAU/USD @ $2,400 on $2,000 = 1:60
Open toolWork out the right lot size from your account balance and the risk you accept per trade.
Example $1,000 account, 2% risk, SL $2.00 = 0.10 lot
Open toolLearn more about margin and leverage in Chapter 04: Trading XAU/USD on a Forex Platform → · See the full curriculum →