The most dangerous number in a trading account may not be your loss. It may be the amount your broker allows you to trade. In futures, margin is not a down payment. It is a performance bond. You can control a much larger notional position with a relatively small amount of capital. CME notes that futures margin is typically only a fraction of the contract’s total value. That creates a trap Buying power can look like capacity. It isn’t. A broker may allow you to open a position. That doesn’t mean your account can safely carry it. CME explicitly advises traders to size positions according to risk scenarios not simply according to the maximum number of contracts their margin allows. This distinction changes how you should think about leverage. The question isn’t: “How much can I trade?” It’s “How much exposure can I survive?” Because the market doesn’t care what your broker permitted. It only cares what your position is exposed to. Maximum leverage is a limit imposed by the system. Sensible leverage is a limit imposed by your judgment. Those are not the same thing.