
is now valued 45 points lower than the purchase value, or in monetary
terms 90 half-points (called ticks) £5 or £450. In addition there is a
deposit, or initial margin, that needs to be paid of maybe £3000.
The speculator must pay to their broker this loss plus the deposit
tomorrow. Even worse, the next day the FTSE futures fall by 200
points to 5250, which equates to 400 ticks £5 £2000. Again this
must be settled with the broker the next day.
The speculator has accumulated a loss of £2450 in two days and
has to settle that loss plus they have to provide £3000 in cash or
acceptable collateral to cover the initial margin ...