The good-faith deposit required to hold a futures position — leverage's entry fee.
Futures Margin is the capital a broker requires to open and hold a position — not a cost, but collateral. Day-trading margins on ES typically run $500–$1,500 per contract (broker-set), while exchange overnight margins are much higher (~$12,000+). Margin is what creates futures leverage: one $1,500 day margin controls a ~$290,000 notional ES position. That leverage is why position sizing by risk — not by margin available — is the rule. The broker will happily let you trade 10 contracts on a $15K account. The math says you shouldn't.
Margin tells you what you're allowed to do. Risk math tells you what you should do. Confusing the two is how accounts die.
$15,000 account, $1,500 day margin = you can open 10 ES contracts. One 4-point stop = $2,000 loss = 13% of the account. That's not trading; that's leverage roulette.
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