Ignoring Leverage: Why Most New Forex Traders Fail
Most professional forex traders and money managers trade one standard lot for every $50,000 in their account.
If they traded a mini account, this means they trade one mini lot for every $5,000 in their account.
Let that sink into your head for a couple seconds.
If pros trade like this, why do less experienced forex traders think they can succeed by trading 100K standard lots with a $2,000 account or 10K mini lots with $250?
No matter what the forex brokers tell you, don’t ever open a “standard account” with just $2,000 or a “mini account” with $250. Heck, some even allow you to open accounts with just $25.
The number one reason new traders fail is not because they suck, but because they are undercapitalized from the start and don’t understand how leverage really works.
Don’t set yourself up to fail.
We recommend that you have at least have $100,000 of trading capital before opening a standard account, $10,000 for a mini account, or $1,000 for a micro account.
Of course, open an account only when you are consistently good.
So if you only have $60,000, open a mini account. If you only have $8,000, open a micro account. If you only have $250, open a demo account and stick with it until you come up with the additional $750, then open a micro account. If you have $1, find a job.
If you don’t remember anything else in this lesson, at least remember what you just read above.
Okay, please re-read the previous paragraph and ingrain it in your memory. Just because brokers allow you to open an account with only $25 does NOT mean you should.
Here’s why:
We believe most new traders who open a forex trading account with the bare minimum deposit do so because they don’t completely understand what the terms “leverage” and “margin” really are and how it affects their trading.
It’s crucial that you’re fully aware and free of ignorance of the significance of trading with leverage. If you don’t have rock solid understanding of leverage and margin, we guarantee that you will blow your trading account.
杠杆就是杀人王:为何新手败阵
大部分职业交易者和基金经理，都是以每$50,000在账户时，才交易1手为标准。
如果他们交易的是一个迷你帐户，这意味着他们每$5,000在账户时，只交易1“迷你”手。
让这些数字深深烙印在你的脑海中几秒钟。
如果职业交易人士都这样谨慎的进行交易，为什么缺乏经验的菜鸟认为他们只需$2,000的账户就能交易1手，或在250美元的迷你账户就交易1″迷你”手，依然能够成功盈利呢？
无论外汇经纪商向你说了什么，永远不要以$2,000就开立一个“标准帐户”，也不要以$250就开立一个“迷你账户”。该死的，有的甚至允许你只需$25就可以开立帐户。
交易菜鸟失败的首要原因，不是因为他们的差劲，而是因为他们从一开始就处于资金不足，然后又不了解杠杆的运用。
不要让自己成为注定跌倒的对象
我们建议您至少有$100,000时才开设一个标准账户，当有$10,000时就开设一个迷你帐户，或在$1,000时开设微型账户。当然，只有在你的资金条件良好的情况下才开设账户。
所以，如果你只有$60,000，就开一个迷你账户。如果你只有$8,000，就开一个微型账户。而如果你只有$250，开一个模拟帐户，并坚持下去，直到你获得额外的$750，然后才打开一个微型账户。如果你只有$1，去找一份工作先吧。
如果你已经不记得这堂课之前的内容，至少要记得你刚刚上面读过的这段。
好了，请重新阅读之前那一段，让它在你的记忆里根深蒂固。因为即使经纪商允许您只需用$25开设一个帐户，但这并不意味着你就应该那样做，以上就是原因。（之后，我们会教你：选择交易商时，要考虑的6件最重要的事）
我们相信大多数的新交易者，都会用最小的数额开设一个外汇交易的帐户，因为他们还不完全明白“杠杆”和“保证金”到底是什么，也不清楚它们会如何影响他们的交易。
你对利用杠杆来交易的含义，是充分的了解还是糊里糊涂的，这是非常关键的。如果您对杠杆和保证金，没有透彻明白的了解，我们可以完全保证你的交易账户一定会爆仓。
Leverage and Margin Explained
What is leverage?
We know we’ve tackled this before, but this topic is so important, we felt the need to discuss it again.
The textbook definition of “leverage” is having the ability to control a large amount of money using none or very little of your own money and borrowing the rest.
For example, to control a $100,000 position, your broker will set aside $1,000 from your account. Your leverage, which is expressed in ratios, is now 100:1.
You’re now controlling $100,000 with $1,000.
Let’s say the $100,000 investment rises in value to $101,000 or $1,000. If you had to come up with the entire $100,000 capital yourself, your return would be a puny 1% ($1,000 gain / $100,000 initial investment).
This is also called 1:1 leverage. Of course, I think 1:1 leverage is a misnomer because if you have to come up with the entire amount you’re trying to control, where is the leverage in that?
Fortunately, you’re not leveraged 1:1, you’re leveraged 100:1. The broker only had to put aside $1,000 of your money, so your return is a groovy 100% ($1,000 gain / $1,000 initial investment).
Now we want you to do a quick exercise. Calculate what your return would be if you lost $1,000.
If you calculated it the same way we did, which is also called the correct way, you would have ended up with a -1% return using 1:1 leverage and a WTF! -100% return using 100:1 leverage.
You’ve probably heard the good ol’ clichés like “Leverage is a double-edged sword.” or “Leverage is a two-way street.” As you can see, these clichés weren’t lying.
What is margin?
So what about the term “margin”? Excellent question.
Let’s go back to the earlier example:
For example, in forex, to control a $100,000 position, your broker will set aside $1,000 from your account. Your leverage, which is expressed in ratios, is now 100:1. You’re now controlling $100,000 with $1,000.
The $1,000 deposit is “margin” you had to give in order to use leverage.
Margin is the amount of money needed as a “good faith deposit” to open a position with your broker. It is used by your broker to maintain your position. Your broker basically takes your margin deposit and pools them with everyone else’s margin deposits, and uses this one “super margin deposit” to be able to place trades within the interbank network.
Margin is usually expressed as a percentage of the full amount of the position. For example, most forex brokers say they require 2%, 1%, .5% or .25% margin.
Based on the margin required by your broker, you can calculate the maximum leverage you can wield with your trading account.
If your broker requires 2% margin, you have a leverage of 50:1. Here are the other popular leverage “flavors” most brokers offer:
| Margin Required | Maximum Leverage |
|---|---|
| 5.00% | 20:1 |
| 3.00% | 33:1 |
| 2.00% | 50:1 |
| 1.00% | 100:1 |
| 0.50% | 200:1 |
| 0.25% | 400:1 |
Aside from “margin required”, you will probably see other “margin” terms in your trading platform. There is much confusion about what these different “margins” mean so we will try our best to define each term:
Margin required: This is an easy one because we just talked about it. It is the amount of money your broker requires from you to open a position. It is expressed in percentages.
Account margin: This is just another phrase for your trading bankroll. It’s the total amount of money you have in your trading account.
Used margin: The amount of money that your broker has “locked up” to keep your current positions open. While this money is still yours, you can’t touch it until your broker gives it back to you either when you close your current positions or when you receive a margin call.
Usable margin: This is the money in your account that is available to open new positions.
Margin call: You get this when the amount of money in your account cannot cover your possible loss. It happens when your equity falls below your used margin. If a margin call occurs, some or all open positions will be closed by the broker at the market price.
定义杠杆和保证金
什么是杠杆？
我们知道我们处理过相关内容，但是由于这个话题十分重要，我们觉得有必要再讨论一下。
教科书中“杠杆”的定义是能什么也不用或用较小的自有资金控制大量的资本，剩下的资金则为借入资金。
例如，要控制10万的仓位，经纪商会从你的账户中拨出1千美元。你的杠杆，用比率表示，就是100:1。
你用1千美元控制了10万美元。
假设10万美元的投资上涨到价值10.1万美元。如果你要提供全部10万美元的的资本，你的回报仅为微不足道的1%(获利1千美元/初始投资10万美元)。
这也被称为1:1杠杆。当然我认为1:1杠杆是误称，如果你拿了你要控制的全部资金，哪里还有什么杠杆！
幸运的是，你没有1:1杠杆，你的杠杆是100:1。你的经纪商只需拨走你1千美元钱，所以你的回报是绝妙的100%。(获利1千美元/初始投资1千美元)。
现在，我们想让你做一个快速的练习。计算一下如果你损失了1千美元，你的收益是多少。
如果你按照我们之前的方法计算，也就是正确的方法，你用1:1杠杆，你的收益是-1%，你用100:1杠杆，你的收益是-100%。
你可能听过这句老话“杠杆是一把双刃剑。”或“杠杆是双行道。”正如你所知道的，这些老话没骗人。
什么是保证金？
那么术语“保证金”是什么？好问题。
让我们回到之前的例子：
例如，在外汇市场，要交易10万的规模，你的经纪商要拨出你账户中的1千美元。你的杠杆，用比率表示，就是100:1。你用1千美元控制了10万美元。
这1千美元是你为了使用杠杆交出的“保证金”。
保证金是通过你的经纪商开仓所需的用作“诚信押金”的一笔钱。你的经纪商用于维护你的仓位的。你的经纪商拿走你的押金和其他所有人的放在一起，并用这个“超级保证金账户”在同业银行网络间交易。
保证金通常表示为实际账户的百分比。例如，大多数经纪商说他们需要2%，1%，0.5%或0.25%的保证金。
基于你的经纪商所要求的保证金，你可以计算你使用交易账户时最大的杠杆。
如果你的经纪商要求的保证金是2%，你的杠杆是50:1.下面是多数经纪商提供的较受欢迎的杠杆“口味”：
除了“所需保证金”，你还会在你的交易平台上看到其他“保证金”相关术语。这些“保证金”的意思很容易混淆，以此我们尽力明确每一个术语的定义：
所需保证金：这个很简单，因为我们刚刚讨论过。保证金是通过你的经纪商开仓所需的资金。保证金通常用百分比表示。
账户保证金：这是“交易资金”的另一种说法。它指的是你的账户总额。
占用保证金：经纪商“冻结”的用以保持你现有仓位的资金。尽管这钱仍然是你的，你不能碰它，直到你的经纪商把它还给你，或者你关闭了现有交易，或你收到了追加保证金的要求。
可用保证金：这是你账户中可用来开新仓的资金。
追加保证金：你收到这一要求当你账户里的钱不能覆盖你可能的损失。当你的资产净值低于占用保证金是，这会发生。如果你收到了追加保证金，你的部分或所有的开仓头寸被经纪商以市价关闭。
Margin Call Explained
Assume you are a successful retired British spy who now spends his time trading currencies. You open a mini account and deposit $10,000.
When you first login, you will see the $10,000 in the “Equity” column of your “Account Information” window.
Usable Margin
You will also see that the “Used Margin is “$0.00″, and that the “Usable Margin” is $10,000, as pictured below:
Your Usable Margin will always be equal to “Equity” less “Used Margin.”
Usable Margin = Equity – Used Margin
Therefore it is the Equity, NOT the Balance that is used to determine Usable Margin. Your Equity will also determine if and when a Margin Call is reached.
As long as your Equity is greater than your Used Margin, you will not have Margin Call.
( Equity > Used Margin ) = NO MARGIN CALL
As soon as your Equity equals or falls below your Used Margin, you will receive a margin call.
( Equity =< Used Margin ) = MARGIN CALL, go back to demo trading
Let’s assume your margin requirement is 1%. You buy 1 lot of EUR/USD.
Your Equity remains $10,000. Used Margin is now $100, because the margin required in a mini account is $100 per lot. Usable Margin is now $9,900.
If you were to close out that 1 lot of EUR/USD (by selling it back) at the same price at which you bought it, your Used Margin would go back to $0.00 and your Usable Margin would go back to $10,000. Your Equity would remain unchanged at 10,000.
But instead of closing the 1 lot, you (the adrenaline-junkie, chop-socky retired spy that you are) got extremely confident and bought 79 more lots of EUR/USD for a total of 80 lots of EUR/USD because that’s just how you roll.
You will still have the same Equity, but your Used Margin will be $8,000 (80 lots at $100 margin per lot). And your Usable Margin will now only be $2,000, as shown below:
With this insanely risky position on, you will make a ridiculously large profit if EUR/USD rises. But this example does not end with such a fairy tale.
Let us paint a horrific picture of a Margin Call which occurs when EUR/USD falls.
EUR/USD starts to fall. You are long 80 lots, so you will see your Equity fall along with it.
Your Used Margin will remain at $8,000.
Once your equity drops below $8,000, you will have a Margin Call.
This means that some or all of your 80 lot position will immediately be closed at the current market price.
Assuming you bought all 80 lots at the same price, a Margin Call will trigger if your trade moves 25 pips against you.
25 PIPS!
Humbug! EUR/USD can move that much in its sleep!
How did we come up with 25 pips? Well each pip in a mini lot is worth $1 and you have a position open consisting of 80 freakin’ mini lots. So…
$1/pip X 80 lots = $80/pip
If EUR/USD goes up 1 pip, your equity increases by $80.
If EUR/USD goes down 1 pip, your equity decreases by $80.
$2,000 Usable Margin divided by $80/pip = 25 pips
Let’s say you bought 80 lots of EUR/USD at $1.2000. This is how your account will look if it EUR/USD drops to $1.1975 or -25 pips.
As you can see, your Usable Margin is now at $0.00 and you will receive a MARGIN CALL!
Of course, you’re a veteran international spy and you’ve faced much bigger calamities.
You’ve got ice in your veins and your heart rate is still 55 bpm.
After the margin call this is how your account will look:
EUR/USD moves 25 PIPS, or less than .22% ((1.2000 – 1.1975) / 1.2000) X 100% and you LOSE $2,000!
You blew 20% of your trading account! (($2,000 loss / $10,000 balance)) X 100%
In reality, it’s normal for EUR/USD to move 25 pips in a couple seconds during a major economic data release, and definitely that much within a trading day.
Oh we almost forget…we didn’t even factor in the SPREAD!
To simplify the example, we didn’t even factor in the spread, but we will now to make this example super realistic.
Let’s say the spread for EUR/USD is 3 pips. This means that EUR/USD really only has to move 22 pips, NOT 25 pips before a margin call.
Imagine losing $2,000 in 5 seconds?!
This is what could happen if you don’t understand the mechanics of margin and how to use leverage.
The sad fact is that most new traders don’t even open a mini account with $10,000.
Because you had at least $10,000, you were at least able to weather 25 pips before his margin call.
If you only started off with $9,000, you would have only been able weather a 10 pip drop (including spread) before receiving a margin call. 10 pips!
追加保证金实例
上图告诉你使用过多杠杆和用光保证金的副作用，愿它一直萦绕在你的脑海里。
希望我们完成了任务，你已经能很好的理解什么是保证金。现在我们要来看看“杠杆”，向你展示它是如何摧毁毫无戒心的狂热的交易者的。
我们都看到或听过在线外汇经纪商做广告宣传他们可以提供200:1或400:1的杠杆。我们要清楚他们实际上说的是你可以用以交易的最大杠杆。记住这个杠杆比率取决于经纪商要求的最小保证金数额。例如，如果需要1%的保证金，你就有了100:1的杠杆。
这是最大杠杆。然后才是你实际使用的杠杆。
实际杠杆是你全部头寸除以你交易账户中的资金总额。
啊？
让我们举例说明：
你的交易账户中有1万美元。你在1.0000购入一标准手欧元/美元。你的头寸总价为10万美元，你的账户结余是1万美元。你实际的杠杆是10:1(10万/1万)。
假设你以相同价格又购入一标准手欧元/美元。你的头寸总价现在为20万美元，但你的账户结余是1万美元。你实际的杠杆是20:1(20万/1万)。
你感觉很好，又买入了三标准手欧元/美元，还是以相同的价格。现在你的头寸总价为50万美元，你的账户结余仍是1万美元。你实际的杠杆是50:1(50万/1万)。
假设你的经纪商要求的保证金是1%。计算一下，你的账户结余和账户净值都是1万美元，占用保险金是5千美元，可用保证金是5千美元。一标准手，每点价值10美元。
要受到追加保证金通知，价格要变动100点(5千美元可用保证金除以50元/点)。
这意味着欧元/美元要从1.0000下移到0.9900——价格变化1%。
收到追加保证金后，你的账户结余会变为5千美元。你损失了5千美元或50%，价格只变动了1%。
假设你在麦当劳汽车餐厅点了一杯咖啡，然后在开车时将咖啡洒在了电脑上，之后准备去起诉麦当劳汽车餐厅，因为你的腿烫伤了，你不知道咖啡是烫的。简而言之，你的交易账户里的资金是10万美元而不是1万美元。
你以1.0000购入一标准手欧元/美元。你的头寸总价为10万美元，你的账户结余是10万美元。你实际的杠杆是1:1。
你的交易账户将如下图所示：
你损失了8万美元！你清空了你账户的80%，而价格仅变动了4%！
看到杠杆的作用了吗？！
通过计入了你账户中的杠杆，杠杆放大了货币对相对的价格变动。
Be Careful Trading On Margin
Trading currencies on margin lets you increase your buying power.
This means that if you have $5,000 cash in a margin account that allows 100:1 leverage, you could trade up to $500,000 worth of currency because you only have to post one percent of the purchase price as collateral.
Another way of saying this is that you have $500,000 in buying power.
With more buying power, you can increase your total return on investment with less cash outlay. But be careful, trading on margin magnifies your profits AND losses.
Margin Call
All traders fear the dreaded margin call. This occurs when your broker notifies you that your margin deposits have fallen below the required minimum level because an open position has moved against you.
While trading on margin can be a profitable investment strategy, it is important that you take the time to understand the risks.
Make sure you fully understand how your margin account works, and be sure to read the margin agreement between you and your broker. Always ask any questions if there is anything unclear to you in the agreement.
Your positions could be partially or totally liquidated should the available margin in your account fall below a predetermined threshold. You may not receive a margin call before your positions are liquidated (the ultimate unexpected birthday gift).
In the event that money in your account falls below margin requirements (usable margin), your broker will close some or all open positions. This can help prevent your account from falling into a negative balance, even in a highly volatile, fast moving market.
Margin calls can be effectively avoided by monitoring your account balance on a very regular basis and by utilizing stop loss orders on every open position to limit risk.
The topic of margin is a touchy subject and some argue that too much margin is dangerous. It all depends on the individual and the amount of knowledge and training he or she has.
If you are going to trade on a margin account, it’s vital that you know what your broker’s policies are on margin accounts and that you understand and are comfortable with the risks involved.
You should also know that most brokers require a higher margin during the weekends. This may take the form of 1% margin during the week and if you intend to hold the position over the weekend it may rise to 2% or higher.
保证金+杠杆=可能致命的组合
以保证金形式进行货币交易能够增加购买力。
这意味着，如果你在允许使用100:1杠杆的保证金账户中有5,000美元，你可交易价值高达50万美元的货币，因为你只需要提供买价的1%作为押金。
另一种表述方式就是你有50万美元的购买力。
购买力高了，你就能在支出少量现金的情况下增加投资的总收益。但是要小心，以保证金形式进行交易放大了你的利润，也放大了你的损失。
追加保证金
所有交易者都惧怕恼人的追加保证金。它出现在你的经纪商提醒你，你的保证金余额由于你的判断方向错误导致其低于所需最低保证金水平的时候。
尽管以保证金形式交易可以作为获利投资策略，但花时间理解其中的风险十分重要。
确保你自己完全理解保证金账户是如何运转的，一定要阅读经纪商和你之间的保证金协议。如果你不明白协议中的内容，一定要问。
要是你的可用保证金低于预定门槛，你的部分头寸会被清偿，还是全部都会。在你的头寸清算之前，你可能不会收到追加保证金通知(终极意外生日大礼)。
万一你账户中的资金低于保证金要求(可用保证金)，你的经纪商会关闭你的部分或全部头寸。这将避免你的账户出现负结余，即使是在剧烈波动、快速变化的市场里。
通过定期监控账户余额和对每一个头寸使用止损设定来限制风险可以有效避免追加保证金。
保证金是个十分敏感的话题。一些人认为保证金太多是很危险的。这取决于个人和他/她所拥有的知识和训练。
如果你要使用保证金账户交易，了解经纪商的保证金账户政策是十分重要的。你理解这些政策，适应其中包含的风险也是十分重要的。
你要知道许多经纪商在周末要求较高的保证金。工作日的保证金可能为1%，但如果你想在周末保留现有头寸，保证金可能会升至2%或更高。
See How Leverage Can Quickly Wipe Out Your Account
Let the image above haunt you about the negative effects of using too much leverage and running out of margin.
Hopefully, we’ve done our job and you now have a better understanding of what “margin” is. Now we want to take a harder look at “leverage” and show you how it regularly wipes out unsuspecting or overzealous traders.
We’ve all seen or heard online forex brokers advertising how they offer 200:1 leverage or 400:1 leverage. We just want to be clear that what they are really talking about is the maximum leverage you can trade with. Remember this leverage ratio depends on the margin required by the broker. For example, if a 1% margin is required, you have 100:1 leverage.
There is maximum leverage. And then there is your true leverage.
True leverage is the full amount of your position divided by the amount of money deposited in your trading account.
Huh?
Let us illustrate with an example:
You deposit $10,000 in your trading account. You buy 1 standard 100K of EUR/USD at a rate of $1.0000. The full value of your position is $100,000 and your account balance is $10,000. Your true leverage is 10:1 ($100,000 / $10,000)
Let’s say you buy another standard lot of EUR/USD at the same price. The full amount of your position is now $200,000, but your account balance is still $10,000. Your true leverage is now 20:1 ($200,000 / $10,000)
You’re feeling good so you buy three more standard lots of EUR/USD, again at the same rate. The full amount of your position is now $500,000 and your account balance is still $10,000. Your true leverage is now 50:1 ($500,000 / $10,000).
Assume the broker requires 1% margin. If you do the math, your account balance and equity are both $10,000, the Used Margin is $5,000, and the Usable Margin is $5,000. For one standard lot, each pip is worth $10.
In order to receive a margin call, price would have to move 100 pips ($5,000 Usable Margin divided by $50/pip).
This would mean the price of EUR/USD would have to move from 1.0000 to .9900 – a price change of 1%.
After the margin call, your account balance would be $5,000. You lost $5,000 or 50% and the price only moved 1%.
Now let’s pretend you ordered coffee at a McDonald’s drive-thru, then spilled your coffee on your lap while you were driving, and then proceeded to sue and win against McDonald’s because your legs got burned and you didn’t know the coffee was hot. To make a long story short, you deposit $100,000 in your trading account instead of $10,000.
You buy just 1 standard lot of EUR/USD – at a rate of 1.0000. The full amount of your position is $100,000 and your account balance is $100,000. Your true leverage is 1:1.
Here’s how it looks in your trading account:
In this example, in order to receive a margin call, price would have to move 9,900 pips ($99,000 Usable Margin divided by $10/pip).
This means the price of EUR/USD would have to move from 1.0000 to .0100! This is a price change of 99% or basically 100%!
Let’s say you buy 19 more standard lots, again at the same rate as the first trade. The full amount of your position is $2,000,000 and your account balance is $100,000. Your true leverage is 20:1.
In order to be “margin called”, price would have to move 400 pips ($80,000 Usable Margin divided by ($10/pip X 20 lots)).
That means the price of EUR/USD would have to move from $1.0000 to $0.9600 – a price change of 4%.
If you did get margin called and your trade exited at the margin call price, this is how your account would look like:
You would have realized an $80,000 loss! You would’ve wiped out 80% of your account and the price only moved 4%!
Do you now see the effects of leverage?!
Leverage amplifies the movement in the relative prices of a currency pair by the factor of the leverage in your account.
杠杆的副作用
上图告诉你使用过多杠杆和用光保证金的副作用，愿它一直萦绕在你的脑海里。
希望我们完成了任务，你已经能很好的理解什么是保证金。现在我们要来看看“杠杆”，向你展示它是如何摧毁毫无戒心的狂热的交易者的。
我们都看到或听过在线外汇经纪商做广告宣传他们可以提供200:1或400:1的杠杆。我们要清楚他们实际上说的是你可以用以交易的最大杠杆。记住这个杠杆比率取决于经纪商要求的最小保证金数额。例如，如果需要1%的保证金，你就有了100:1的杠杆。
这是最大杠杆。然后才是你实际使用的杠杆。
实际杠杆是你全部头寸除以你交易账户中的资金总额。
啊？
让我们举例说明：
你的交易账户中有1万美元。你在1.0000购入一标准手欧元/美元。你的头寸总价为10万美元，你的账户结余是1万美元。你实际的杠杆是10:1(10万/1万)。
假设你以相同价格又购入一标准手欧元/美元。你的头寸总价现在为20万美元，但你的账户结余是1万美元。你实际的杠杆是20:1(20万/1万)。
你感觉很好，又买入了三标准手欧元/美元，还是以相同的价格。现在你的头寸总价为50万美元，你的账户结余仍是1万美元。你实际的杠杆是50:1(50万/1万)。
假设你的经纪商要求的保证金是1%。计算一下，你的账户结余和账户净值都是1万美元，占用保险金是5千美元，可用保证金是5千美元。一标准手，每点价值10美元。
要收到追加保证金通知，价格需要变动100点(5千美元可用保证金除以50元/点)。
这意味着欧元/美元要从1.0000下移到0.9900——价格变化1%。
收到追加保证金后，你的账户结余会变为5千美元。你损失了5千美元或50%，价格只变动了1%。
假设你在麦当劳汽车餐厅点了一杯咖啡，然后在开车时将咖啡洒在了电脑上，之后准备去起诉麦当劳汽车餐厅，因为你的腿烫伤了，你不知道咖啡是烫的。简而言之，你的交易账户里的资金是10万美元而不是1万美元。
你以1.0000购入一标准手欧元/美元。你的头寸总价为10万美元，你的账户结余是10万美元。你实际的杠杆是1:1。
你的交易账户将如下图所示：
在这个例子中，要收到追加保证金通知，价格需要变动9900点(9万9千美元可用保证金除以10元/点)。
这意味着欧元/美元要从1.0000降至0. 0100！价格变化为99%或接近100%。
假设你又以与第一笔交易相同的价格买了19标准手。你的头寸总价为200万美元，你的账户结余是10万美元。你实际的杠杆是20:1。
要收到“追加保证金通知”，价格需要变动400点(8万美元可用保证金除以(10元/点X 20手))。
这意味着欧元/美元要从1.0000降至0.9600——价格变化为4%。
如果你收到了追加保证金通知，你在追加保证金价格离场，结束交易。你的账户将如下图所示：
你损失了8万美元！你清空了你账户的80%，而价格仅变动了4%！
看到杠杆的作用了吗？！
通过计入了你账户中的杠杆，杠杆放大了货币对相对的价格变动。
Low Leverage Allows New Forex Traders To Survive
Here’s a chart of how much your account balance changes if prices moves depending on your leverage.
| Leverage | % Change in Currency Pair | % Change in Account |
|---|---|---|
| 100:1 | 1% | 100% |
| 50:1 | 1% | 50% |
| 33:1 | 1% | 33% |
| 20:1 | 1% | 20% |
| 10:1 | 1% | 10% |
| 5:1 | 1% | 5% |
| 3:1 | 1% | 3% |
| 1:1 | 1% | 1% |
Let’s say you bought USD/JPY and it goes up by 1% from 120.00 to 121.20. If you trade one standard $100K lot, here is how leverage would affect your return:
| Leverage | Margin Required | % Change in Account |
|---|---|---|
| 100:1 | $1,000 | +100% |
| 50:1 | $2,000 | +50% |
| 33:1 | $3,000 | +33% |
| 20:1 | $5,000 | +20% |
| 10:1 | $10,000 | +10% |
| 5:1 | $20,000 | +5% |
| 3:1 | $33,000 | +3% |
| 1:1 | $100,000 | +1% |
Let’s say you bought USD/JPY and it goes down by 1% from 120.00 to 118.80. If you trade one standard $100K lot, here is how leverage would affect your return (or loss):
| Leverage | Margin Required | % Change in Account |
|---|---|---|
| 100:1 | $1,000 | -100% |
| 50:1 | $2,000 | -50% |
| 33:1 | $3,000 | -33% |
| 20:1 | $5,000 | -20% |
| 10:1 | $10,000 | -10% |
| 5:1 | $20,000 | -5% |
| 3:1 | $33,000 | -3% |
| 1:1 | $100,000 | -1% |
The more leverage you use, the less “breathing room” you have for the market to move before a margin call.
You’re probably thinking, “I’m a day trader, I don’t need no stinkin’ breathing room. I only use 20-30 pip stop losses.”
Okay, let’s take a look:
Example #1
You open a mini account with $500 which trades $10K mini lots and only requires .5% margin.
You buy 2 mini lots of EUR/USD. Your true leverage is 40:1 ($20,000 / $500). You place a 30-pip stop loss and it gets triggered. Your loss is $60 ($1/pip x 2 lots).
You’ve just lost 12% of your account ($60 loss / $500 account). Your account balance is now $440.
You believe you just had a bad day. The next day, you’re feeling good and want to recoup yesterday losses, so you decide to double up and you buy 4 mini lots of EUR/USD. Your true leverage is about 90:1 ($40,000 / $440). You set your usual 30-pip stop loss and your trade loses. Your loss is $120 ($1/pip x 4 lots).
You’ve just lost 27% of your account ($120 loss/ $440 account). Your account balance is now $320.
You believe the tide will turn so you trade again. You buy 2 mini lots of EUR/USD. Your true leverage is about 63:1. You set your usual 30 pip stop loss and lose once again! Your loss is $60 ($1/pip x 2 lots).
You’ve just lost almost 19% of your account ($60 loss / $320 account). Your account balance is now $260.
You’re getting frustrated. You try to think what you’re doing wrong. You think your setting your stops too tight.
The next day you buy 3 mini lots of EUR/USD. Your true leverage is 115:1 ($30,000 / $260). You loosen your stop loss to 50 pips. The trade starts going against you and it looks like you’re about to get stopped out yet again!
But what happens next is even worse! You get a margin call!
Since you opened 3 lots with a $260 account, your Used Margin was $150 so your Usable Margin was a measly $110. The trade went against you 37 pips and because you had 3 lots opened, you get a margin call. Your position has been liquidated at market price.
The only money you have left in your account is $150, the Used Margin that was returned to you after the margin call.
After four total trades, your trading account has gone from $500 to $150. A 70% loss! It won’t be very long until you lose the rest.
| Trade # | Starting Account Balance | # Lots of Used | Stop Loss (pips) | Trade Result | Ending Account Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | 2 | 30 | -$60 | $440 |
| 2 | $440 | 4 | 30 | -$120 | $320 |
| 3 | $320 | 2 | 30 | -$60 | $260 |
| 4 | $260 | 3 | 50 | Margin Call | $150 |
A four trade losing streak is not uncommon. Experienced traders have similar or even longer streaks. The reason they’re successful is because they use low leverage. Most cap their leverage at 5:1 but rarely go that high and stay around 3:1.
The other reason experienced traders succeed is because their accounts are properly capitalized!
While learning technical analysis, fundamental analysis, sentiment analysis, building a system, trading psychology are important, we believe the biggest factor on whether you succeed as a forex trader is making sure you capitalize your account sufficiently and trade that capital with smart leverage.
Your chances of becoming successful are greatly reduced below a minimum starting capital. It becomes impossible to mitigate the effects of leverage on too small an account.
Low leverage with proper capitalization allows you to realize losses that are very small which not only lets you sleep at night, but allows you to trade another day.
Example #2
Bill opens a $5,000 account trading $100,000 lots. He is trading with 20:1 leverage. The currency pairs that he normally trades moves anywhere from 70 to 200 pips on a daily basis. In order to protect himself, he uses tight 30 pip stops. If prices goes 30 pips against him, he will be stopped out for a loss of $300.00. Bill feels that 30 pips is reasonable but he underestimates how volatile the market is and finds himself being stopped out frequently.
After being stopped out four times, Bill has had enough. He decides to give himself a little more room, handle the swings, and increases his stop to 100 pips.
Bill’s leverage is no longer 20:1. His account is down to $3,800 (because of his four losses at $300 each) and he’s still trading one $100,000 lot. His leverage is now over 26:1.
He decides to tighten his stops to 50 pips. He opens another trade using two lots and two hours later his 50 pip stop loss is hit and he losses $1,000. He now has $2,800 in his account. His leverage is over 35:1.
He tries again with two lots. This time the market goes up 10 pips. He cashes out with a $200 profit. His account grows slightly to $3,000.
He opens another position with two lots. The market drops 50 points and he gets out. Now he has $2,000 left.
He thinks “What the hell” and opens another position. The market proceeds to drop another 100 pips and because he has $1,000 locked up as margin deposit, he only has $1,000 margin available, so he receives a margin call and his position is instantly liquidated.
He now has $1,000 left which is not even enough to open a new position.
He lost $4,000 or 80% of his account with a total of 8 trades and the market has only moved 280 pips. 280 pips! The market moves 280 pips pretty darn easy.
Are you starting to see why leverage is the top killer of forex traders?
更多有关杠杆的知识
下图反映了价格基于杠杆变动时，你的账户余额大小。
假设你买入美元/日元，其价格上升了1%，由120.00升至121.20。如果你交易的是一标准手，即10万美元，下图反映的就是杠杆对你的收益的影响：
假设你买入美元/日元，其价格下降了1%，由120.00降至118.80。如果你交易的是一标准手，即10万美元，下图反映的就是杠杆对你的收益的影响：
你使用的杠杆越高，收到追加保证金前，你留给市场变动的“呼吸空间”就越小。
你可能在想，“我是即日平仓交易者，我不需要呼吸空间，我只用20至30点止损斩仓。”
好吧，让我们来看一下：
例一
你以500美元开了一个迷你账户，交易1万美元迷你手，仅要求5%的保证金。
你买入2迷你手欧元/美元。你的实际杠杆是40:1(2万美元/500美元)。你设定了30点的止损，它被触发了。你损失了60美元(1美元/点X 2手)。
你损失了账户的12%(60美元损失/500美元账户总额)。现在你的账户余额是440美元。
你想你只是不走运。第二天，你感觉不错，想要收复昨天的损失，因此你觉得加把劲，买入了4迷你手欧元/美元。你的实际杠杆约为90:1(4万美元/440美元)。你设定了30点的止损，你的交易受损了。你的损失是120美元(1美元/点X 4手)。
你损失了账户的27%(120美元损失/440美元账户总额)。现在你的账户余额是320美元。
你认为趋势会改变，所以你再次交易。你买入2迷你手欧元/美元。你的实际杠杆是63:1。你设定了30点的止损，你再次受损了！你的损失是60美元(1美元/点X 2手)。
你损失了账户的19%(60美元损失/320美元账户总额)。现在你的账户余额是260美元。
你很沮丧。你努力想哪做错了。你认为你的止损设定太紧了。
第二天，你买入了3迷你手欧元/美元。你的实际杠杆是115:1(3万美元/260美元)。你的止损设定为50点，它被触发了。交易开始时与你相悖，看起来你就要再次止损离场了！
但是接下来发生的更糟！你收到了追加保证金通知！
因为你以260美元的账户开了3迷你手，你的占用保证金是150美元，你的可用保证金仅为110美元。交易背离你37点，因为你开了3迷你手，你收到了追加保证金通知。你的头寸以市场价清偿了。
你的账户中仅剩150美元，在受到追加保证金后，你的占用保证金被退还给了你。
在总共4次交易后，你的交易账户从500美元降至150美元。70%的损失！你损失剩下的金额不会花太长的时间。
四次交易连败并不罕见。有经验的交易者也有类似的或更长的连败。他们成功的原因是他们使用较低的杠杆。大多数使用的最大杠杆是5:1，但很少达到那么高，而是处于接近3:1的水平。
有经验的交易者成功的另一个原因是他们资本规模合适！
尽管学习技术分析、基本面分析、情感分析、建立系统、交易心理十分重要，我们认为作为外汇交易者你是否成功的一个重要因素是确保你的账户资金充足，并用较小的杠杆交易那些资金。
低于最低起始资金，你成功的几率将大大减小。账户金额太小几乎不能缓和杠杆效应。
低杠杆和适当的资本使你能够损失较小，不仅能让你在晚上睡好觉，还能让你第二天继续交易。
例二
张三以5千美元开了能够交易10万美元标准手的账户。他用20:1杠杆交易。他交易的货币对每天变动70至200点。为了保护自己，他使用较紧的30点止损设定。如果价格背离他超过30点，他就会止损离场，损失300美元。张三觉得30点很合理，但他低估了市场的波动程度，发现自己经常止损离场。
止损离场4次后，张三受够了。他决定多给自己一些空间来应对摇摆，并将止损设定增加到了100点。
张三的杠杆不再是20:1了。他的账户变为3800美元(因为每次交易损失300美元)，他仍然交易一标准手。现在他的杠杆是26:1。
他决定将止损设定减小到50点。他又开了2标准手的另一个交易，两小时之后，50点止损设定达到了，他损失了1千美元。现在他的账户里只有2800美元。他的杠杆超过了35:1。
他又尝试两标准手。这一次市场上涨了10点。他获得了200美元的利润。他的账户余额稍有增长，变为3000美元。
他另开了两标准手的新仓。市场下跌50点，他离场了。现在他只剩2000美元了。
他又开了个新仓。市场又下降100点，因为他有1000美元被锁定为保证金，他只有1000美元保证金可用，所以他收到了追加保证金，他的头寸立即被清算。
他现在有1000美元，不足以开新仓。
8次交易，市场只变动了280点，他就损失了4000美元或者账户的80%。市场变动280点相当容易。
你开始看到为什么杠杆是外汇交易者的头号杀手了吗?
How Leverage Affects Transaction Costs
Besides amplifying your losses, leverage also has another way of killing you. It’s a much slower kind of death though, kinda like dying by a thousand cuts.
Most forex traders don’t see it coming and by the time they notice it, they’re DEAD.
This killer I’m talking about is the associated transaction costs of using high leverage.
Not only does leverage amplify your losses, it also amplifies your transaction costs as a percentage of your account.
Let’s say you open a mini account with $500. You buy five mini $10k lots of GBP/USD which has a 5 pip spread. Your true leverage is 100:1 ($50,000 total mini lots / $500 account).
But check this….you paid $25 in transaction costs (($1/pip x 5 pip spread) x 5 lots)).
That is 5% of your account!
With one trade, and the market not even moving yet, you’re already down 5%! If your trades lose, your account balance shrinks.
As your account balance shrinks, your leverage increases. As your leverage increases, the faster your transaction costs eat away at the little money you have left.
This is the slow and silent killer I’m talking about.
The higher your leverage, the higher your transaction cost as a percentage of your trading capital.
This is why transactions costs is one of the six most important factors when choosing a broker.
If you have a mini account, and open a trade with a 5-pip spread, which equals $5 transaction cost, look at how the relative value of your transaction costs increases with more leverage.
| Leverage | Margin Required | Cost as % of Margin Required |
|---|---|---|
| 200:1 | $50 | 10.00% |
| 100:1 | $100 | 5.00% |
| 50:1 | $200 | 2.50% |
| 33:1 | $330 | 1.50% |
| 20:1 | $500 | 1.00% |
| 10:1 | $1,000 | 0.50% |
| 5:1 | $2,000 | 0.25% |
| 3:1 | $3,300 | 0.10% |
| 1:1 | $10,000 | 0.05% |
Now you’ve learned how leverage can magnify your profits and losses, but also your transaction costs.
Leverage does not equal margin.
Leverage is how many times you lever your whole account.
The maximum amount that you are allowed to lever is dependent on your margin requirement.
杠杆如何影响交易成本
除了放大你的损失，杠杆还可以另一种方式杀死你。尽管这种死亡过程相对缓慢，有点像凌迟处死。
大多数交易者都不能发现它的到来，等到他们发现的时候，他们已经死了。
我所说的这位杀手就是与高杠杆关联的交易成本。
杠杆不仅放大你的损失，还将成比例放大你的交易成本。
假设你以500美元开了一个迷你账户。你买入了5迷你手英镑/美元，点差为5点。你的时间杠杆是100:1。
核对一下……你付了25美元的交易成本((1美元/点X5点) X 5手)。
那是你账户总额的5%。
仅一个交易，市场还未发生变动，你的账户就减少了5%！如果你的交易受损，你的账户余额将缩水。
由于你的账户余额缩水，你的杠杆增加。你的杠杆增加，你的交易成本吃掉你剩下的那点钱的时间就会越短。
这就是我说的缓慢无声的杀手。
你的杠杆越高，你的交易成本占账户资金的比例就越大。
这就是为什么交易成本是选择经纪商是6个最重要的因素之一。
如果你有一个迷你账户，交易点差为5点，相当于5点的交易成本。看看随着杠杆的增大，你的交易成本如何相对增加。
现在，你了解了杠杆不仅放大你的损失，还会增加你的交易成本。
杠杆并不等于保证金。
杠杆是你交易金额与整个账户余额的比值。
你可以使用的最大杠杆取决于所需保证金。
Never Underestimate Leverage
Most beginners underestimate the potentially devastating damage leverage can wreak on their accounts. Understanding leverage enough to know when to use it and when NOT to use it is critical to your success!
Leverage is a very powerful tool but both old and new traders use it to destroy their trading capital simply because they take its destructive force too lightly or ignore it altogether. It’s a pity, but the more of them there are, the easier it is for us smart traders to make money. Sad but true.
Always keep in mind these words from a famous superhero: With great power comes great responsibility. Or something to that effect. Come on, we know you’ve seen that movie. Here’s a clue:
Get it?
Anyway, high leverage is a favorite selling point for most forex brokers. Yes they pitch that you can make a huge killing using huge leverage, but also know that you could easily be killed by huge leverage as well.
Brokers want you to trade with a short-term mindset. They want you to trade as much as possible as often as possible. It’s the only way they make money. One or two pips are important to them. The more you trade the more they make on the spread. It’s not in their best interest to tell you to let your trades run longer than the same day.
If you want to give yourself the best chance to succeed, first learn to trade profitably without leverage.
Play it safe. Protect your capital.
When you can consistently make more pips more than you lose then, and only then, should you use unleash this weapon of mass destruction called leverage.
Destroy traders (or your broker) taking the opposite side of your trade. Don’t destroy yourself.
Forex trading should be treated as a job or business. Don’t think that just because brokers allow you to use high leverage with a low minimum deposit that you can “make a quick ” or “get rich quick”. Approach the currency markets with respect.
Be realistic in your expectations and be willing to properly educate yourself.
If you don’t, you will die.
Okay, not really, but your account will die.
别低估杠杆
大多数新手都会低估杠杆将给他们的账户带来的潜在毁灭性损伤。充分理解杠杆，知道何时应该用，何时不该用对你的成功十分关键。
杠杆是一个十分强大的工具，但是新交易者只是用它来毁坏自己的账户，因为他们轻视或直接忽视了它的杀伤力。真遗憾，但这样的人越多，我们这些聪明的交易者就越容易赚到钱。令人伤感但是事实。
记住一位超级英雄说的这些话：能力越强，责任越大。如此之类。好吧，我知道你看过那个电影。线索是：
明白了吗？
无论如何，高杠杆是大多数经纪商最喜爱的卖点。他们的定位是你可以利用高杠杆大赚一笔，但他们也知道你很有可能被高杠杆杀死。
经纪商希望你以短期心态交易。他们希望你交易得越多越频繁越好。这是他们唯一的赚钱方法。一两点对他们来说十分重要。你交易越多，他们赚的利差就越多。告诉你让交易保留超过一天不在他们最佳利益的范围内。
如果你想给自己最好的成功机会，首先学着不用杠杆实现获利交易。
求稳。保护好你的资本。
当你始终获利大于损失时，只有到那时，你可以解禁这个名为杠杆的大规模杀伤性武器。
消灭与你持相反交易的交易者(或经纪商)。别毁了你自己。
外汇交易应被作为一份工作或生意。别以为经纪商允许你使用较高的杠杆，较小的押金，你就可以“很快赚钱”，“很快致富”。接触外汇市场时要心怀敬意。
预期要现实，要愿意学习。
如果不，你会死。
好吧，不是你真的死了，而是你的账户完了。