New Accounts Risk Disclosures

Holding Positions Past The Daily Close

Please note that carrying positions past the daily close will subject you to 100% margin requirements. Therefore, you MUST have in your account balance the entire initial margin as required by the exchange. A lack of such funds will trigger a margin call, potential liquidations at a higher rate than your current commissions, and the increased cost of future transactions—any holdings past 4.45 Eastern may subject you to liquidations. It is your responsibility to exit. CME's Stock indices, Metals, Energy, and Currency Futures day session end at 5 PM Eastern (4 CST, 3 MST, and 2 PST) daily. Please read below to understand how day trading margins are calculated.

Standard Day Trading Margins

Please CLICK HERE to view Standard Day Trading Margins.

Understanding Day Trading Margin Rates

Day trading margins, also known as intraday margins, are typically provided as a percentage of the initial margin (E.g., 5%) or a nominal amount (E.g., $500). This is the minimum amount required to enter a position per contract during regular trading hours without carrying that position past the session’s close.

Initial and Maintenance Margin requirements are set by the respective exchanges and can fluctuate daily. Initial Margin, also known as Overnight or Exchange Margin, is always 110% of the Maintenance Margin. This is the amount required to carry a contract past the daily close. Every trader needs to have an amount equal to the initial margin requirement in their account balance to hold a futures position past the closing time of that market.

If you hold a position beyond the day trading session, your account will be subject to full initial exchange margins. You must exit before the day session ends.

For example, if the Micro E-Mini S&P initial margin requirement to hold past the daily close is $1000, day trading margin would be set to 5%. In other words, $50 per contract. This is a hypothetical example for illustration only. Exchange margins are subject to change. Please see the terms and conditions below.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR STANDARD DAY TRADING MARGINS: 

To day trade with Standard Day Trading margins, the customer must agree to commissions to be set at $.75 per side on standard contracts and $0.25 per side on micro contracts. The client is still responsible for all clearing, exchange, regulatory, subscription, platform, and data fees. 

Please note that requesting standard day trading margins does not indicate that a customer's trading activity will be more profitable, and losses will be limited. Instead, the customer acknowledges that the high degree of risk in commodity futures and options trading increases substantially as day trading margins decrease. Day trading margins may allow you to hold many contracts that surpass your risk tolerance and expose you to deficit risk. In other words, you may lose more funds than your initial deposit. 

Exchange maintenance margins still apply for carrying open positions past the daily close. Margins are subject to change without notice. Please consult your broker for more detailed information. Regular margins and day trading margins are subject to change. We reserve the right to alter or revoke this offer at our discretion. Optimus Futures does not promote over leveraging, and you may choose to increase or decrease your day trading margins at any time. Don't hesitate to contact our brokers to change your margins. 
 
If the trading desk is forced to liquidate positions in any account, there will be a $50 per contract for Full-Size Contracts or $25 per contract for Micro Contracts liquidation fee. For example, if the trading desk feels your account may go into a deficit, it could liquidate your positions. Margin of any type is provided at the discretion of the risk management department and is subject to change without notice.

By checking the Standard Day Trading Margins box, you state that you understand the high level of risk in trading futures, and decreased margin requirements increase the risk/leverage by allowing the same trading contracts for less required funds. Please do not invest funds that you cannot afford to lose.

Low Day Trading Margins

TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR LOW DAY TRADING MARGINS: 

To day trade the E-Mini S&P, Mini Dow Jones, and Mini Russell 2000 contracts with the $400 margins and E-Mini NASDAQ with $800 margins, the customer must agree to commissions to be set at $.99 per side on standard contracts and $0.49 per side on micro contracts. The client is still responsible for all clearing, exchange, regulatory, subscription, platform, and data fees. Please note that standard day trading margins apply to all other contracts. 

Please note that requesting low day trading margins does not indicate that a customer's trading activity will be more profitable, and losses will be limited. Instead, the customer acknowledges that the high degree of risk in commodity futures and options trading increases substantially as day trading margins decrease. Day trading margins may allow you to hold many contracts that surpass your risk tolerance and expose you to deficit risk. In other words, you may lose more funds than your initial deposit. 

Exchange maintenance margins still apply for carrying open positions past the daily close. Margins are subject to change without notice. Please consult your broker for more detailed information. Regular margins and $400 day trading margins are subject to change. We reserve the right to alter or revoke this offer at our discretion. Optimus Futures does not promote over leveraging, and you may choose to increase or decrease your day trading margins at any time. Don't hesitate to contact our brokers to change your margins. 
 
If the trading desk is forced to liquidate positions in any account, there will be a $50 per contract for Full-Size Contracts or $25 per contract for Micro Contracts liquidation fee. For example, if the trading desk feels your account may go into a deficit, it could liquidate your positions. Margin of any type is provided at the discretion of the risk management department and is subject to change without notice.

By checking the Low Day Trading Margins box, you state that you understand the high level of risk in trading futures, and decreased margin requirements increase the risk/leverage by allowing the same trading contracts for less required funds. Please do not invest funds that you cannot afford to lose. 

Auto Liquidation Acknowledgment And Day Trading Margin Policy

By checking the Auto Liquidation Acknowledgment and Day Trading Margin Policy box, customer understands the foregoing and agrees to be bound by the terms of Auto Liquidation Acknowledgment and Day Trading Margin Policy below.

Auto Liquidation. If you lose 60% or more of your capital from the beginning of the day's trading session, you may be subject to liquidation by the broker. Keep in mind that your losses can exceed 60%. The auto liquidation function will send liquidating (closing) market orders to the exchange, resulting in the closing of any or all open positions for Customer’s account. Customer acknowledges and agrees to his/her account being auto liquidated at the current market price. If, for any reason, positions are unable to be liquidated, Customer remains liable for the positions and for adverse market movements affecting the account. Further, Customer is responsible to pay any debit balance that may result from the account being auto liquidated. We may be unable to liquidate positions due to lock limits or other market conditions. This situation may continue for several sessions, during which time you are responsible for any amount of debt (deficit) incurred.

Risks of Auto Liquidation. Optimus Futures may liquidate an account without prior notice to Customer. This is especially the case in auto liquidation. There are several risk factors associated with auto liquidation. For instance, an account could be automatically liquidated if Optimus Futures has received wrong market data from the exchanges. Optimus Futures is not responsible for wrong data it receives from exchanges or for late, lost, misdirected, misdelivered, incomplete, illegible or unintelligible orders; unavailable network connections; failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmissions; keypunch errors; online failure or other technical malfunctions or disturbances. If the account value changes overnight, the account could be auto liquidated upon the next market open. Market volatility could cause an account to be auto liquidated on short or relatively no notice to Customer. All other risks associated with trading are present even though Optimus Futures may exercise its rights to auto-liquidate.

Day Trading Hours and Margin Policy. Please note that it is crucial to maintain 100% of the required initial margin as mandated by the exchange to avoid the liquidation of your holdings after 4:45 PM EDT. If you fail to meet this requirement, you may incur applicable liquidation fees per contract, as specified below. Moreover, if your account is on a margin call but not liquidated, you may also incur an additional one-time margin fee of $50 per margin call for micro holdings or $100 for other contracts per margin call, in addition to any relevant liquidation fees per contract.

Please keep in mind that Optimus Futures has the right to liquidate all positions, regardless of each futures contract's profit and loss status. Although the liquidation of positions is a courtesy, it is not guaranteed due to factors such as time constraints, market conditions, or other reasons that may prevent us from addressing your account. (As of 04/28/23). 

Release and Indemnification. Customer releases Optimus Futures from any liability for losses suffered by Customer as a result of auto liquidation. Customer agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Optimus Futures and its affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, managers, members, employees and agents in accordance with the terms of the Customer Agreement between Customer and Optimus Futures.