Mark funded his\u00a0first trading account with $500. He wanted to trade gold, but a single ounce was priced well above $2,000. He assumed he was\u00a0priced out\u00a0entirely. Then he noticed a leverage setting on his\u00a0dashboard and suddenly his\u00a0$500 deposit could control a position many times its size.<\/p>\n
Three days later, a minor price dip wiped his\u00a0account to zero.<\/p>\n
Mark\u00a0is\u00a0not unusual. He made the same mistake thousands of first-time traders make:\u00a0He understood that leverage multiplies gains, but he did not fully understand\u00a0how it also\u00a0multiplies losses by\u00a0the same\u00a0amount. Getting this\u00a0right from the start\u00a0is\u00a0the difference between building a trading skill and burning through your\u00a0account\u00a0deposit\u00a0in a week.<\/p>\n