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How much can the market move against me before I get a maintenance margin call on my futures position?

Jason Parker, founder of Trading Habits
The market doesn't reward being right. It rewards managing being wrong, cheaply.
Jason Parker, Founder of Trading Habits

Enter Your Position

Listed by your exchange or broker for the specific contract, and different from the initial margin needed to open the trade.

For example, the E-mini S&P 500 (ES) is $50 per point, the Micro E-mini (MES) is $5 per point.

Your Result

Enter your equity, contracts, and margin figures, then click Calculate to see your cushion in points.

How this is calculated

  • Maintenance margin is the minimum equity your broker requires you to keep in the account for an open futures position. If your equity falls below it, you get a margin call.
  • This tool subtracts total maintenance margin, across all contracts, from your current account equity to find your dollar cushion, then converts that cushion into a number of points the market can move against you before a call.
  • This does not include unrealized profit or loss already in the position beyond what you've entered as current equity, so keep your equity figure current for an accurate cushion.
  • Brokers can and do raise maintenance margin requirements without notice, especially around high-volatility events, which shrinks your cushion even if the price hasn't moved.
Risk & liability disclaimer: This calculator produces a mathematical estimate based on the numbers you enter, not live market data or your actual broker's margin schedule. Initial and maintenance margin requirements change with volatility and broker or exchange policy, and this tool does not pull or refresh those figures automatically. Actual margin requirements and margin call procedures vary by broker, contract, and exchange, always confirm your broker's specific terms. This is not financial advice and does not guarantee any trading outcome. Trading Habits is not a broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, or tax professional, and is not affiliated with any broker, exchange, or data provider. Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. You could lose more than your initial margin deposit.

Know What the Trade Actually Costs

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Maintenance margin is only one piece of futures risk. These tools round out the sizing picture.

Jason Parker, founder of Trading Habits

Built by Jason Parker, founder of Trading Habits.

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Everything on this site, including the Algorithmic Trade Alerts, is for education and illustration only and is not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security, futures contract, currency pair, cryptocurrency, or other instrument. The Algorithmic Trade Alerts are produced by an automated process that reads publicly available chart data and applies a fixed set of rules; they are not reviewed or approved by a licensed financial professional, can be delayed, incomplete, or wrong, and are not a signal, a guarantee, or a promise of any outcome. Past alerts, setups, or results shown anywhere on this site do not predict or guarantee future performance, and no trading system, tool, or alert can eliminate the risk of loss. Trading and investing involve substantial risk of loss and are not suitable for everyone; you can lose some or all of your capital, and with leveraged or margined instruments you can lose more than you deposit. You are solely responsible for your own trading and investment decisions, and Trading Habits, its owners, and its contributors accept no liability for any loss or damage arising from your use of, or reliance on, any alert, calculator, tool, or other content on this site. Trading Habits is not a broker-dealer, futures commission merchant, registered investment adviser, commodity trading advisor, or tax professional, and is not affiliated with any broker, exchange, prop firm, data provider, or TradingView. See our Terms of Service for full disclosures.

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