Importantly, a futures contract requires actual cash. This is same for buying or selling a contract. The broker will let you borrow that cash from your equities account via a margin loan. This is different from an options trade which might only use your buying power and not require any cash or loan at all.
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The main point is you need to have cash in your account to cover the margin requirement plus any possible losses in the futures contract. Typically people hold 3 to 5 times margin requirement in cash for the contract just to be on the safe side.
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The main point is you need to have cash in your account to cover the margin requirement plus any possible losses in the futures contract. Typically people hold 3 to 5 times the margin requirement in cash just to be on the safe side.