margin call

English

margin call (plural margin calls)

(finance) A request by a stockbroker or similar for a client to deposit more money in order to cover losses that have built up in open positions held on margin (rather than having been paid for in full).
- 2009 August 9, Mark Hulbert, “Buy and Hold, or Buy and Fold. But Don’t Waver.”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-11-26:
  In a liquidity crisis, as we have seen all too recently, a sudden tightening of credit sets off a vicious cycle of margin calls that lead to forced sales, which in turn cause asset prices to plunge, and so on.