Margin, Leverage & Short Selling: The Mechanics
Borrowing buying power and selling shares you don't own have real plumbing behind them — margin calls, borrow fees, locates. What every retail trader should know first.
Margin and short selling are the two levers that let your market exposure grow beyond the cash in your account. Used carefully they are ordinary tools; used blindly they are how a "good idea" turns into a forced liquidation at the worst possible price. Before you reach for either, it pays to understand the plumbing — because the mechanics, not the thesis, are what end most leveraged trades badly.
Margin and leverage: borrowed buying power
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