Having a brain fart on figuring out margin used based on stop?

Millionaire said:
Does your broker not show the margin required for an order before it is placed?

And also the PnL for each pip, so you can calculate the risk to your stop.
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It shows the PnL for each pip based on position size... but I already know how to calculate this myself. I mentioned the 4 formulas above for calculating your position size.

But that's not the info I am looking for. I am looking for the formula for Margin USED, after entering a position, as price moves against your position.

Think about it this way... if you enter a position... at some point price will move so far against you, that you would use 100% of your margin. The question is... how do you figure out what this point is? For the moment, ignore the threshold the broker sets(oanda is 50%), as thats not the difficult part.

This will change depending on how much you buy and what leverage you are using.
 
Or...?

X = Balance - {balance + open PnL - [(Base Currency / Account Currency) ✕ Units] / Leverage}

This should give you Margin Used if I am not mistaken...
Although we agree it's obvious you won't be allowed to go past your net balance.
 
cesfx said:
...Although we agree it's obvious you won't be allowed to go past your net balance.
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Correct, we don't need to worry about that for this discussion.

Lemme check out your formulas, will report back in a few.
 
Pelt said:
I might be doing a terrible job at explaining the information I am looking for?

I'm not looking for the margin required to OPEN a trade. I am looking for the formula to figure out how much margin you are using, based on your position size, and your CURRENT pnl of your open positions.

This formula should be the same irrespective of your broker agreement.

I.e., if I open a position with n-units, at y-price... this will use a certain margin.

What happens if price moves 10pips against the entry... how much margin have I used up?

What happens if price moves an ADDITIONAL 10pips against the entry... how much margin have I used up? etc...

There must be a formula to figure this out?

I appreciate you gentlemen humoring me on my question, let me know if my question makes no sense.
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The margin required to maintain a position at any level would be the same as if you were to open a position at that level.
 
cesfx said:
Or...?

X = Balance - {balance + open PnL - [(Base Currency / Account Currency) ✕ Units] / Leverage}

This should give you Margin Used if I am not mistaken...
Although we agree it's obvious you won't be allowed to go past your net balance.
More...

Not saying its wrong, as I could simply be screwing it up, but I'm not getting the correct answer.
 
Pelt said:
I might be doing a terrible job at explaining the information I am looking for?

...
More...
Nope. I understood just now, reading first post on, what you are looking for but my FX knowledge is a little bit rusty since its been years since my last trade after switching to currency futures so I can't offer assistance.
 
Pelt said:
Not saying its wrong, as I could simply be screwing it up, but I'm not getting the correct answer.
More...

I put a - for a + there...

last time I did an equation smartphones were yet to be invented

Margin=
10k trade : 50 leverage = 200

Cash available=
1k (balance) - (10k units : 50 leverage) = 800

Margin used =
1k balance - [1k (balance) - (10k units : 50 leverage)] = 200

including Pnl, let's assume -100$ to the 200 used margin figure:

1k balance - [1k (balance) + (-100$ PnL) - (10k units : 50 leverage)] = 300

Although it's the cash available that changes, margin used stays the same, so...

cash available=
1k (balance) + (-100$ PnL) - (10k units : 50 leverage) = 700

buying power of margin left: 700 x 50 leverage

add a x50 to the formula if you want to know how much margin power you have left to spare with 100$ drawdown on your 10k trade, 50 leverage:

50x [1k (balance) + (-100$ PnL) - (10k units : 50 leverage)] = 35k
 
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