Never answer a margin call because you are probably overtrading and most likely the position is going against you and probably have lost much more than 2% on that trade. Never allow this to happen to you always have sufficient margin in your trading account just in case the exchange raises margin and that will not force you out of the position.

Trading futures or options can be a very lucrative business or it can be devastating on the bottom line with tremendous losses, unless you are smart enough to have a successful money management sysem in place before you ever place a trade. The question is how much money should you risk on any given trade? My answer is always the same you should risk between 1-2% on your account balance.

Profit taking sold off the meats today with feeder cattle and live cattle both down sharply in active trade this afternoon in Chicago. Feeder cattle for March delivery were lower by 77 points to close around 157.65 which was the first down day this week. Live cattle tumbled more than 130 points to close around 129.75 a pound while lean hogs sold off 50 points in choppy action today closing around 89.60 a pound. Tomorrow we have a monthly Cattle On Feed report at 2 p.m.