margin call

noun

plural margin calls

: a demand made to an investor by a broker or brokerage firm for more funds or securities to be added to a margin account when the equity in the account falls below a certain threshold

In other words, a margin call is a demand that you increase the equity in your margin account to sufficient levels through one or more transactions.

—Kevin L. Matthews II

… the nation's largest discount-brokerage house, said Thursday it expects to take a $22 million charge against fourth-quarter earnings because of the failure of several customers to satisfy recent margin calls.

—Paul Farhi

Examples of margin call in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In late July, when AI stocks sold off, the same concentration and leverage forced the fund to sell its entire public equity portfolio, virtually overnight, to meet margin calls. — Scott Lavelle, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026

The July gains came after Citadel acquired the bulk of the public-stock portfolio formerly held by Situational Awareness late last month, following the hedge fund's rapid unraveling after steep losses triggered margin calls and forced asset sales. — Yun Li, CNBC, 5 Aug. 2026

Because the portfolio was financed with heavy leverage, relatively modest declines began triggering margin calls from lenders. — Clara Molot, Vanity Fair, 4 Aug. 2026

Situational Awareness, the hedge fund led by Leopold Aschenbrenner, was forced to sell billions of dollars of tech shares to meet margin calls after those bets rapidly lost value. — Ryan Vlastelica, Fortune, 2 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1888, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for margin call

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