borrowing money from your brokerage in order to purchase securities.

in a margin account, the maximum dollar amount that you can purchase without having to deposit additional funds; you must have sufficient buying power in your account at the time your margin order is placed (also see Margin excess).

securities pledged to guarantee the margin loan, which may be liquidated in case of margin call (also see Margin call).

an order that sets the maximum or minimum at which you are willing to buy or sell a particular stock.

a requirement to act when your account has exceeded the amount it can borrow. This can occur if the market value of the securities in your account falls, so that your margin falls below the requirements. In that case, you will need to either deposit more cash or marginable securities in your account or sell some of the stock.

the amount of funds that you contribute toward the purchase of securities in a margin account.

the amount of funds available in your account that are above the margin requirement. Those funds are available to purchase new securities or to add to an existing position (also see Buying power).

the amount that you borrow from your broker in order to buy securities. You pay interest on the loan as long as it is outstanding. Normally, there is no requirement to repay the loan until the stock is sold. While the value of your security may go up or down, the amount you owe will increase as interest is charged monthly.

because the value of the marginable securities and cash in your account serves as collateral for your loan, you are required to maintain a certain minimum ratio between the amount borrowed and the current market value of the securities in the margin account. Margin requirements are set by securities industry regulators and by the risk management policies of the individual brokerage.

securities that are permitted to be used as collateral in a margin account.

securities that are not permitted to be used as collateral in a margin account.

selling securities that you do not own. You “borrow”, with the intent to buy it back later at a lower price.

an order where you set a stop price and a limit price. Once the stop price is hit, the order converts to a limit order, to be filled only at the limit price or better.

an order that becomes executable once a pre-determined price (stop price) is hit; at that point the order is filled at the market price.