when investing on margin the investor is at risk of losing more money than what they deposited into the margin account this may occur when the value of the securities held declines requiring the investor to either provide additional funds or incur a forced sale of the securities 
the bottom lineinvestors looking to amplify gain and loss potential on trades may consider trading on margin margin trading is the practice of borrowing money depositing cash to serve as collateral and entering into trades using borrowed funds through the use of debt and leverage margin may result in higher profits than what could have been invested should the investor have only used their personal money on the other hand should security values decline an investor may be faced owing more money than what they offered as collateral 