Very Confused by My First Trade

[Guest hexagon999]

Ok so I just opened a CFD account and deposited £300. Trying to get a feel for what going on, I bought two shares of Facebook. I put in a stop loss so the margin was only £16. Currently, the trade is on a loss of 30 cents. However, in my account it says my equity is £287. Where has my £13 gone? If I sell the shares, do I get the margin back? If so, where has the extra £3 in my account come from?

 

Thanks for the help and sorry for being so oblivious!

[HannahL]

Hi , thanks for the post and welcome!

 

If you are trading shares on a CFD account, remember that the commission is charged separately on both sides of the trade.  With US stocks, the commission is the higher of 2 cents/share or $15.  Given the current exchange rate, that would be a charge of around £12 to £13 on your account.

 

Your margin will be returned once you close a trade, or if your guaranteed stop is hit then this will transform into your realised loss on a limited risk account.

 

Does this explain the balances on your account?  Please shout if you have any more questions!

 

Thanks,

Hannah