> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.alphayou.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Trading basics

> Perps, leverage and margin in plain words.

## Perps

A perpetual contract (a perp) follows an asset's price and never expires. You can go long if you expect the price to rise, or short if you expect it to fall. You do not own the asset. A stock-linked perp follows a stock's price. It is not a share. See [What is Hyperliquid](https://docs.alphayou.net/what-is-hyperliquid.md).

## Leverage

Leverage lets you hold a bigger position than your deposit. 10x means a position 10 times your margin. It magnifies gains and losses.

* The maximum leverage is set per market by Hyperliquid, not by AlphaYou. The app shows it as "The maximum leverage is" with the number.
* Hyperliquid can lower the limit for larger positions.
* At 25x or more the app warns: "Higher leverage raises liquidation risk."

## Margin

Margin is the money you set aside to back a position. You pick one of 2 modes where the market allows it:

| Mode | What it means |
| - | - |
| **Cross** | Shared margin across positions |
| **Isolated** | Margin isolated per position |

Some markets are isolated-only, and the app says "Unavailable for this market" for Cross. Stock-linked markets are isolated-only. They use one USDC balance for every market.

## Order size

Hyperliquid has a minimum order value of \$10. The app tells you when an order value rounds below it.

## Before you trade

* Read [Liquidations and funding](https://docs.alphayou.net/liquidations-and-funding.md). A leveraged position can be closed by the exchange. You can lose all the margin on an isolated position, and your whole account on cross margin.
* See [Fees](https://docs.alphayou.net/fees.md) for what each trade costs.
* Place trades in [Manual and spot trading](https://docs.alphayou.net/manual-and-spot-trading.md), or copy a trader with [Copy settings](https://docs.alphayou.net/copy-settings.md).


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