margin call

noun

, Stock Exchange.

1. a demand from a brokerage house to a customer that more money or securities be deposited in their margin account when the amount in it falls below that stipulated as necessary to cover the stock purchased.

Word History and Origins

Origin of margin call¹

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Given the limited insight into hedge-fund borrowing and derivatives trading, there’s no way to know how many other funds are just a margin call away from collapse.

From Quartz

“If investment banks didn’t do these margin calls, we probably wouldn’t have seen that,” said Francesc Rodriguez Tous, a finance professor at Cass Business School in London who previously worked at the central banks of England, Germany, and Spain.

From Quartz

The only reason we know Bill Hwang’s hedge fund had risk up to its eyeballs using borrowed money is because it got caught out by margin calls.

From Quartz

A margin call is a request for additional collateral when a trader’s position or investment drops in value.

From Quartz

Moore emerged looking “gaunt and pale” at the Oct. 17 premiere of Margin Call, according to Contact Music.

From The Daily Beast

“These valuations are then the basis for a margin call that can move real money from losers to gainers,” he says.

From The Daily Beast

Burns was forced to sell more than 650,000 shares in 2008 to meet a margin call because Lionsgate stock had dipped too low.

From The Daily Beast