Leverage and the Financial Markets

Trading Fundamentals

To understand the importance of trading fundamentals, you have to understand the meaning of two important concepts, margin and leverage. Margin is a loan drawn-out by your broker that allows you to leverage funds and securities for you to enter a higher trade. In order for it to be used, you need to open and be permitted for a margin account. Margin goes hand-in-hand with leverage. Leverage is generally borrowed funds to generate investment returns. It increases your buying power which is in conjunction with the margin account. This is a customary term in Wall Street and in the Main Street real property market. It is mainly used to trade for forex and equities and is also used to obtain physical assets like automobiles and real estate. The use of leverage can augment your gains but can turn the opposite way and can give you losses. Its use has multiplied over the years with the availability of online trading platforms and the obtainability of cheap credits. Ultimately, leverage allows you to pay less than the full price of the trade and is collaterally secured by the cash and securities in the margin account.

Leverage in Forex Trading

For an investor who is grounded on the US Stock Market and trades through an online forex brokers like WebTrader or Alvexo, Forex trading signifies a high degree of leverage as this is considered a norm. One example is if your broker gives a determined leverage of 2:1, which connotes to an every dollar investment put up, you can trade twice the value of your trading account. So presumably you invest $25,000, you would be able to purchase $50,000 value of stock. A 2:1 ratio has been greatly utilized by the market; however, leverage varies greatly based on eligibility and by the market you want to penetrate. A 100:1 was given access to traders prior to 2010 though the loss is bigger and gains are much more volatile. It is common though for forex traders to use a 50:1 ratio. Trading of margin has its intrinsic risks so therefore, it is essentially not suitable for everyone. You can nonetheless, alleviate those risks by limiting your usage of leverage and not using the entire margin balance. And always test your exchange plan before setting it in the market and risking your investments.

Leverage Automobile Purchases

Automobile dealerships and customers also use the comforts of leverage. Most automobile buyers can purchase a brand new vehicle without cashing out the full amount of the car. The consumers simply borrow the money to obtain the brand new car. Let’s say for example a vehicle cost $20,000 and the customer only has $2,000 dollars cash in hand, he only pays 10% of the total purchase price and hands in 90% of his borrowed money through leverage. He is therefore, able to obtain a much more expensive car than the cash he has on hand. And if we put it the other way, if the car buyer sells his car for $22,000, he has an immediate profit of $2,000 which means he gets a 100% return on his investment of which he only cashed out the same amount, though not taking into consideration the interest.

Leverage on Real Estate

The use of leverage in real estate is similar to margin loans, bond, and stock market investment. An instance would be if a real estate investor only has $70,000, he could buy a house worth that same amount of money and hand down 10% of the amount. Or he can purchase 10 houses and use leverage with a margin of $7,000, finance the other houses and sell those houses for $77,000, he would have a return investment of 100%. It would take a much less amount of money needed to build his portfolio.

Tips for a successful leverage

While it may not be truthful for dynamic traders who try to pursue small price moves, leverage allows them to make additional money off lesser moves. Exchanges on margin and using leverage can upturn your returns and develop your account rapidly though it should be constantly used cautiously. Trading on margin involves higher risks and may not always return your investment, or worst you may lose more than your funds. Moreover, interest charges should be considered and factored in, it is a significant factor between gaining and loosing assets. The scenes of spawning big profits and investing much of your own money can be alluring but it could be the opposite. So before you try to leverage your investment, learn to cap your losses. This means managing your limits before everything gets out of hand.  Using a relatively lower margin also helps keep your account afloat. Lower margins have lower risks such as 5:1 or 10:1, it generally is in the level of comfort. One should also weigh the pros and cons constantly and not stick to a losing position until the situation becomes extremely tough not to be able to get out. A trader should be smart and know when to cut the losses and keep the account alive.