Margin & leverage calculator

Leverage does not change the risk of a trade, position size does. Set the lot size from your stop and your risk percentage first (position size calculator), then check that the margin it needs fits comfortably inside your balance. If the margin for your normal size uses more than 10-20% of the account, lower the size, not the leverage. Regulated brokers in the EU and UK cap gold at 1:20; offshore brokers offer up to 1:2000.

Margin level is equity divided by the margin in use, as a percentage. At 1,000% you have ten times the required margin available; at 100% your equity only just covers the margin and most brokers block new trades (margin call); around 50% they start closing positions (stop out). Because floating losses reduce equity, a big position on high leverage can go from comfortable to stopped out in a single move.

For gold and USD-quoted pairs the required margin is set when you open the trade and stays fixed in most platforms, but the margin for a new trade rises with the price because the notional value is bigger: a lot of gold at 4,500 needs more margin than at 2,000. Free margin, on the other hand, changes every tick with your floating profit or loss.

Divide the balance times the leverage by the notional value of one lot. Gold at 4,500 with 1:500: 1,000 × 500 ÷ 450,000 = 1.11 lots maximum, but that leaves no free margin at all; a move of a few dollars would stop you out. The calculator shows the maximum so you can see how far your planned size sits from it, not as a size to use.

No. Margin is a refundable deposit; the money you can lose is the distance to your stop times the pip value. A $900 margin on a full lot of gold does not cap the loss at $900: a 200-pip stop on that lot is a $2,000 loss. Size from the stop, then check the margin.