Minimum equity required to keep positions open.
The amount of capital required to open or maintain a leveraged position in a trading account. Margin acts as a security deposit, ensuring traders can cover potential losses. On Hammer Pro and similar trading platforms, margin requirements are set per asset, and the platform automatically calculates the margin needed for each trade. Example: With a $1,000 margin and 10:1 leverage, you can control a $10,000 position. Risk: If losses exceed the available margin, a margin call may be triggered, requiring the trader to either add funds or close positions.
A brokerage account that allows traders to borrow money or securities to increase trade size.
Requires: Margin agreement, ongoing maintenance margin.
A notification from your broker or trading platform requires you to deposit additional funds or close positions to restore your account to the level of margin needed. Margin calls occur when losses reduce your account equity below the platform’s maintenance margin requirements. On HAMMER Pro, margin monitoring is automated to help manage trading risk efficiently.
Margin trading involves borrowing funds from your broker to increase your trading position - providing greater exposure, but higher risk.
Broad term covering insider trading, manipulation, and spreading false information to distort market prices.
Heavily regulated under EU’s Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and U.S. SEC laws.
The total market value of a company's outstanding shares.
Formula: Market Cap = Share Price × Number of Shares
Types:
Quote and trade-related information associated with equities, fixed income, options, futures, currency and other asset types. You subscribe to market data in Client Portal. As a service to our clients, we provide real-time streaming market data for free or at the price we are charged by an exchange.
A situation where market prices deviate significantly from fundamentals due to panic, speculation, or manipulation.
The idea that market prices fully reflect all available information.
Forms:
Occurs when trading is spread across multiple venues (exchanges, dark pools), making it harder to access all available liquidity at once.
A condition in which markets operate transparently and fairly, maintaining investor confidence.
Key principles: No manipulation, fair access, transparent pricing.
A firm or individual that quotes both buy and sell prices and stands ready to execute trades.
Role: Provides liquidity and stabilizes markets.
Example: Citadel Securities, Virtu Financial.
Market manipulation occurs when participants deliberately attempt to distort prices for strategic reasons, such as influencing public perception or outcomes tied to the prediction market. Though manipulation can temporarily affect prices, well-designed markets with high liquidity typically resist long-term manipulation due to opposing trades from informed participants.
An entity responsible for managing and maintaining the infrastructure of a trading venue (e.g. Euronext, Deutsche Börse).
An order to buy or sell a security immediately at the best available price.
Fast execution, less control over price.
Market price generally refers to the last reported sale price of a security and is often used interchangeably with "market value".
The risk of losses due to overall market movements (interest rates, economic downturns, geopolitical events). Cannot be diversified away.
Increase position size after losses — risky, but possible to automate with strict risk controls in Hammer Pro.
The date on which the principal amount of a bond, note or other debt instrument is typically repaid to the investor along with the final interest payment.
U.S. Micro-Caps generally have a market capitalization of less than $250 million or $300 million. They can be quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB) and the OTC Markets Group (e.g., OTCQX, OTCQB & Pink) or on public exchanges. IBKR defines U.S. Micro-Cap as shares (1) traded over the counter or (2) that are listed on Nasdaq and NYSE American that have a market capitalization of between $50 million to $300 million and are trading at or below $5. To avoid situations where minor, short-term fluctuations in a stock price cause repeated reclassification, any stock classified as U.S. Microcap will remain in that classification until both its market capitalization and share price exceed $300 million and $5, respectively, for a 30 consecutive calendar day period.
When a stock starts moving with speed and power — catching it early can mean significant gains, but you need the right tools to spot it in time.
Multi-leg strategies involve two or more options, such as:
A European regulatory term for a trading venue operated by an investment firm or market operator that brings together third-party buyers and sellers of financial instruments.
Examples: Turquoise (LSE), Chi-X Europe.
Key Features:
A professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to buy securities like stocks and bonds.
Key Point: Investors own shares of the fund, not the underlying securities.