People don't always tell the truth about leverage in Forex trading! Why?

Because when people talk about leverage in Forex they focus in on its unique selling point, which is that it enables a trader to control large trading volumes with only a small investment. Forex brokers are especially keen to tell you about how much leverage they will give you just to get you to open an account with them. A typical broker will often advertise the ability to leverage your account with them at a hundred to one.

This means that you can trade 100 times what you deposit. For every 1 dollar you deposit you can trade $100, so if you have $1000 you could place a trade worth $100,000. So, why is this dishonest?

The truth is that using leverage can be extremely risky and you can very easily lose the $1000 you deposited if not careful, and this is something brokers are not overly keen to share with their customers. Using our example of leverage of 100:1 on a trade worth $100,000, because you only needed $1000 to make this trade, your broker actually loaned you the rest. In order to make such a large trade, you have to put forward a percentage of it as security, or as leverage.

In Forex trading we all know how volatile the market can be, and a trade will often move against you before turning round and going into profit. If your trade moved against you by just 1% it would wipe out the $1000 you put forward yourself.


Now your broker will not be prepared to lose money himself on your gamble, and will act to protect himself from losing on your trade. As soon as your 1% of the trade is wiped out he will close your trade for you. This is called a 'Margin Call', and is necessary for your broker to ensure they don't actually put their own money at risk.

After your trade gets closed, it is entirely possible that it will turn around and become profitable after all. It's too bad you won't make money on it though, because your trade got cancelled when it made a small movement against you first.

Because you were too heavily leveraged in this trade you lost $1000 in the blink of an eye! So, what have we learnt?

The important lesson here is that when you apply the principles of leverage in Forex trading, do not allow your account to become too heavily leveraged. You may as well flush your money down the toilet as place it on a trade where you have no room to manoeuvre.

When leverage of a hundred to one is advertised it means that this is the maximum you can leverage your account - by 100 times what you deposit. You don't actually have to use the full amount of leverage offered though, and the less leverage you use the more breathing space you will have if your trade starts to move against you.