The Margin Report: columnsTrading and investing education on margin and leverage, risk, stock and swing trading, options, prop firms, dividends, earnings and economics, with free courses, quizzes and calculators.https://themarginreport.com/The T-Bill Yield Is the Hurdle Every Trading Strategy Must Clearhttps://themarginreport.com/columns/the-t-bill-hurdle/https://themarginreport.com/columns/the-t-bill-hurdle/The T-bill yield is the hurdle rate for any trading strategy. A worked $50,000 account shows how a $3,000 profit shrinks to $750 of real reward.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTYour Margin Call Price Is a Number You Can Work Out Todayhttps://themarginreport.com/columns/the-margin-call-price-is-knowable/https://themarginreport.com/columns/the-margin-call-price-is-knowable/Your margin call price takes one division: loan over shares times one minus maintenance. See it at 25%, 30% and 40%, and why your stop belongs above it.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTWhen the Market Goes Sideways, Swing the Range or Stand Asidehttps://themarginreport.com/columns/swing-the-range-or-stand-aside/https://themarginreport.com/columns/swing-the-range-or-stand-aside/Sideways market swing trading: why breakout setups keep failing in a range, how to trade the edges with a stop outside, and when waiting is cheaper.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTStock-Based Pay Is a Real Cost, Whatever the Adjusted Figure Sayshttps://themarginreport.com/columns/stock-based-pay-is-a-real-cost/https://themarginreport.com/columns/stock-based-pay-is-a-real-cost/Is stock-based compensation a real cost? A worked example of a 50% gap between GAAP and adjusted EPS, and where the dilution shows up.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTSkip an IPO's First Day and Let the Chart Form Firsthttps://themarginreport.com/columns/skip-the-first-day-of-an-ipo/https://themarginreport.com/columns/skip-the-first-day-of-an-ipo/Buying an IPO on the first day means trading with no price history to set a stop. The arithmetic of a wide first-day stop, the lockup, and when to step in.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTA Defined-Risk Spread Still Needs a Position Sizehttps://themarginreport.com/columns/size-a-defined-risk-spread/https://themarginreport.com/columns/size-a-defined-risk-spread/Credit spread position size, worked on a hypothetical $50/$45 put spread: size by maximum loss, not credit, and plan for early assignment and pin risk.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTSelling Puts on Margin: The Requirement Moves Against Youhttps://themarginreport.com/columns/short-puts-margin-requirement-moves/https://themarginreport.com/columns/short-puts-margin-requirement-moves/The short put margin requirement, worked on a hypothetical $50 put: why it rises as the stock falls, and why the cash to take the shares is the number to size by.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTA Prop Firm Account Is Leverage Too, Just Rentedhttps://themarginreport.com/columns/prop-accounts-are-rented-leverage/https://themarginreport.com/columns/prop-accounts-are-rented-leverage/Prop firm leverage, priced out: on a hypothetical $100,000 account with a $3,000 drawdown, the buffer is your real capital and the monthly fee is the interest.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTPass the Prop Firm Evaluation at the Size You'd Trade Once Fundedhttps://themarginreport.com/columns/pass-the-evaluation-at-funded-size/https://themarginreport.com/columns/pass-the-evaluation-at-funded-size/Prop firm evaluation position size, tested: on a hypothetical $50,000 account, doubling risk halves the trades to target and halves the losses you can survive.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTOperating Margin Is the Earnings Line Worth Reading Firsthttps://themarginreport.com/columns/operating-margin-before-eps/https://themarginreport.com/columns/operating-margin-before-eps/Operating margin before EPS: a worked earnings release where EPS rises 10% while the business keeps less of each dollar, and the reading order that catches it.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTTreat Margin as a Loan Before You Treat It as Buying Powerhttps://themarginreport.com/columns/margin-is-a-loan-first/https://themarginreport.com/columns/margin-is-a-loan-first/Margin as a loan, read the way the margin agreement writes it: daily interest, forced sales without notice, and what a 10% fall does to borrowed equity.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTMargin Debt Data: What the Crowd's Borrowing Can and Can't Tell Youhttps://themarginreport.com/columns/margin-debt-data/https://themarginreport.com/columns/margin-debt-data/Margin debt data from FINRA shows how much investors borrow against their stocks. What the monthly figures say about risk, and why they make a poor timing signal.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTHolding Swing Trades on Margin: The Interest Is Small, the Gap Is Nothttps://themarginreport.com/columns/holding-swing-trades-on-margin/https://themarginreport.com/columns/holding-swing-trades-on-margin/Swing trading on margin, priced out: what ten days of interest costs on a borrowed $15,000, what an overnight gap does to equity, and how to size for it.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTGraham's Margin of Safety, Rebuilt for a Trading Accounthttps://themarginreport.com/columns/grahams-margin-of-safety-for-traders/https://themarginreport.com/columns/grahams-margin-of-safety-for-traders/A margin of safety for traders: Benjamin Graham's idea turned into stops beyond the noise, a cap on open risk and unused buying power, tested on a $40,000 account.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTEvery Short Sale Is a Margin Trade, Whether It Feels Like One or Nothttps://themarginreport.com/columns/every-short-sale-is-a-margin-trade/https://themarginreport.com/columns/every-short-sale-is-a-margin-trade/Short selling on margin, worked through: the 150% Regulation T deposit, FINRA's short maintenance rule, the exact call price, and costs a long never pays.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTBuying Dividend Stocks on Margin Turns Yield Into a Spread Tradehttps://themarginreport.com/columns/dividend-stocks-on-margin/https://themarginreport.com/columns/dividend-stocks-on-margin/Buying dividend stocks on margin can cut your income when the loan rate beats the yield. A worked ledger of dividends, interest and a dividend cut.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTTreating Dividend Stocks as Bond Substitutes Breaks in a Bad Yearhttps://themarginreport.com/columns/dividend-stocks-are-not-bond-substitutes/https://themarginreport.com/columns/dividend-stocks-are-not-bond-substitutes/Can dividend stocks replace bonds? A worked $300,000 portfolio shows what a 30% fall and a 25% dividend cut do to income and to spending.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTA Deep In-the-Money Call Can Do a Margin Loan's Job, at a Pricehttps://themarginreport.com/columns/deep-in-the-money-call-versus-margin/https://themarginreport.com/columns/deep-in-the-money-call-versus-margin/Deep in the money call vs margin, worked on a hypothetical $100 stock: what each costs in interest or time value, how each loses, and when the call wins.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTConviction Makes a Terrible Position Sizehttps://themarginreport.com/columns/conviction-makes-a-terrible-position-size/https://themarginreport.com/columns/conviction-makes-a-terrible-position-size/Position size and conviction: why sizing up on a strong feeling doubles the damage of a losing streak, worked through on a $25,000 account at 1% and 2% risk.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTAn Emergency Fund Is the Margin of Safety Under a Portfoliohttps://themarginreport.com/columns/an-emergency-fund-is-a-margin-of-safety/https://themarginreport.com/columns/an-emergency-fund-is-a-margin-of-safety/Why an emergency fund comes before investing: a worked example of selling shares after a 25% fall, where to keep the cash, and why margin can't stand in for it.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTAdding to a Winner Only Works if the Stop Moves Firsthttps://themarginreport.com/columns/add-to-a-winner-only-after-the-stop-moves/https://themarginreport.com/columns/add-to-a-winner-only-after-the-stop-moves/Adding to a winning position safely: move the stop first, keep total risk at or below the starting risk, and add only on a fresh setup. Worked on 100 shares at $40.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTA 50% Loss Needs a 100% Gain, and That Should Change Your Ruleshttps://themarginreport.com/columns/a-50-percent-loss-needs-a-100-percent-gain/https://themarginreport.com/columns/a-50-percent-loss-needs-a-100-percent-gain/Loss recovery math: a 50% loss needs a 100% gain because the rebound starts from a smaller base. The table, a worked account, and the drawdown rules it implies.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT