What Is a Margin Call in Commodities, and What Should I Do?

A margin call in Commodities happens when the margin level of your USD Margin (Commodities) wallet falls to 80%. It's the first warning: your positions stay open, and Pluang sends an alert by email and push notification. Margin level is your equity divided by the margin your open positions use, calculated across the whole wallet. At a margin call, add funds to the wallet or reduce or close positions. At 70% you get a second warning, and new orders that add risk are blocked until your margin level is back above 80%. At 50%, Pluang closes your worst-performing position in full, then checks your margin level again; if it's still at 50% or below, it closes the next one.

• Margin level: equity ÷ used margin × 100%, calculated across all your open Commodities positions in the wallet (cross margin). Equity is your balance plus your unrealized profit and loss.
• 80%, margin call: the first warning. The app shows this level as the "Maintenance Margin". Your positions stay open; add funds, or reduce or close positions.
• 70%, second warning: new orders that add risk are blocked until your margin level is back above 80%, and an order that would push your margin level below 70% may be blocked. You can still add funds and reduce or close positions.
• 50%, liquidation: Pluang closes your worst-performing position in full, then checks your margin level again. If it's still at 50% or below, it closes the next one.
• Alerts: Pluang sends an email and a push notification at the 80% margin call, again at the 70% second warning, and when positions are liquidated. At 70%, you also get a daily reminder while your margin level stays at or below 70%. When your margin level recovers, Pluang sends a push notification.
• Alert timing: alerts are sent when your margin level stays below a level for a few minutes, or straight away if it drops sharply. In a fast market, your margin level can fall to 50% before you can act on an alert, so positions can be liquidated without an earlier warning.
• Illustrative example: you deposit US$100 and open 1 lot of gold (XAUUSD) Long at US$4,300. The margin used is US$43.00, and opening fees of about US$0.11 leave a balance of US$99.89, a margin level of about 232%. Ignoring swap and closing fees, the 80% margin call comes with gold at about US$4,234.51 (−1.52%), the 70% second warning at about US$4,230.21 (−1.62%) and the 50% liquidation at about US$4,221.61 (−1.82%). Prices are illustrative, not live quotes.
• Option 1, add funds: move USD into USD Margin (Commodities) from USD Cash, or convert from your Rupiah balance. More equity in the wallet raises your margin level.
• Option 2, reduce positions: close a position with "Close Position", or place an order in the opposite direction for some of your lots. Using less margin raises your margin level, although the loss on the lots you close becomes realized.
• Keep watching: at high leverage, a small price move changes your margin level a lot. Keep an eye on your margin level in the app. Pluang also sends alerts by email and push notification.

Related questions:

Q: Will my positions be closed at a margin call?
No. At a margin call (80%), your positions stay open. The margin call is a warning that the margin in your wallet is running low. If your margin level keeps falling to 70%, you get a second warning, and new orders that add risk are blocked until your margin level is back above 80%. Positions are closed only if the margin level falls to 50%. Pluang then closes your worst-performing position in full and checks your margin level again; if it's still at 50% or below, it closes the next one. Acting at the 80% margin call or the 70% second warning gives you the chance to add funds or reduce positions on your own terms.

Q: Why did one losing position trigger a margin call on my whole wallet?
Because Commodities uses cross margin. Your margin level is calculated across all open Commodities positions in USD Margin (Commodities), not for each position separately. A large loss on one position lowers the margin level for the whole wallet, even if your other positions are in profit.

Q: Does a margin call in Commodities affect my US Stocks?
No. Commodities uses its own wallet, USD Margin (Commodities), which is completely separate from USD Margin, the wallet for leveraged US Stocks. A margin call in one wallet has no effect on positions in the other, and a loss in one never affects the other.

Q: How can I lower the chance of a margin call?
Deposit well above the bare margin for the lots you open: with only US$45 deposited for 1 lot of gold at an illustrative US$4,300 (a balance of US$44.89 after opening fees), the margin call would come after a fall of about US$10. Open fewer lots, especially on gold at up to 100x leverage, where a 1% price move equals about 100% of the margin used. Keep an eye on your margin level in the app. Take Profit and Stop Loss are coming. For now, you can place a Limit or Stop order in the opposite direction to exit at a price you choose, which offsets your position. Such an order fills in full or not at all: if it can't be filled in full, nothing is filled and it shows as Failed.

Q: What is the New Margin Level on the order page?
An estimate of your margin level after the order fills, based on current prices. If it would fall below 70%, the order may be blocked. Before you confirm, check it: a level close to 80% leaves little room before a margin call.