What are the margin requirements for trading US-listed options and futures?

When trading US options and futures, you can open a cash account or a margin account. When you open a position in a cash account, you must pay for the total cost of the trade upfront. However, with a margin account, you can use leverage to trade marginable assets.

Note that US exchange-listed stocks are marginable, but other assets aren’t.

Non-marginable assets

Stocks below $3

OTCBB/unlisted penny stocks

Long and short options

Futures

Options on futures

Volatility-based ETFs and ETNs

Your initial margin requirement is the amount of buying power (BP) needed to open a position. Standard margin accounts use a fixed-percentage, strategy-based system. Initial requirements affect opening orders on stocks and ETF shares and are typically 50% of the position’s value. But, in certain scenarios, margin may be higher.

Let's take a look at the BP requirements of some commonly traded products and strategies. These can change at any time and may vary based on the underlying’s price.

Product and strategy	Margin/BP required	Marginable
Long stock or ETF shares	Typically, 50% initial requirement and 25% maintenance of the underlying value¹	Yes
Short stock or ETF shares	Initial: 50% of notional value or $10 per share, whichever is greater¹ Maintenance: 30% of notional value or $10 per share, whichever is greater¹	Yes
Long options	Cost of the options (debit paid)	No
Long options spreads²	Cost of the spread (debit paid)	No
Uncovered/naked/short calls	The greatest of the following: 20% of the underlying price minus the out-of-the-money amount plus the option premium 10% of the underlying price plus the option premium $2.50 (× 100) per contract	No
Uncovered/naked puts	The greatest of the following: 20% of the underlying price minus the out-of-the-money amount plus the option premium 10% of the strike price plus the option premium $250 ($2.50 × 100 shares)	No
Short options vertical spreads²	Spread width minus credit received	No
Futures	Overnight requirement (subject to risk profile) Note: instead of the entire overnight requirement, intraday futures provide 4x leverage or 25% of the initial margin requirement	No
Long options on futures	Cost of the spread (debit paid)	No
Short options on futures	SPAN margin requirement	No
Long/short options on futures spread	SPAN margin requirement	No

What are the margin requirements for trading US-listed options and futures?

Non-marginable assets

Product and strategy

Margin/BP required

Marginable