Just clarifying margin for myself.

Ok, so here's my question.
Account as follows, $5000 initial capital.
1:100 leverage
100k lot size

a pip=$10 P/L

EURUSD requires about $1300 to be held on margin per lot.

So a margin call occurs if equity drops below required margin of $1300.

that leaves $3700 left. Would that mean I would have to lose 371 pips($3710) if I purchase 1 lot before my position is closed?

With daily market volatility for EURUSD being about 175 pips, purchasing 1 lot per $5000 would give me enough room to place a safe stop right?

This is correct.

There is no safe stop in this scenario. The scenario you describe above is extemely risky, too highly leveraged and is not trading. It is gambling, hoping for the big win.

Please do yourself a big favor and read the Money Management sticky, here in the Beginners Forum. It covers risk, margin, leverage and position sizing in great detail from the perspective of a trader who is treating trading like a business. After digesting the recommended sticky, you will better understand the danger of your scenario.

Dial

ACK! I've been on this forum so long, and I thought I read through the beginner stickeys already, but seemed to have missed the one you mentioned. Thx for the great nfo about true leverage.

I rather be a long term swing trader, so I'd like my stop to be 100+ away based on technical analysis.

So for ex:
broker leveraged at 100:1, and a $5k initial capital, I'd idealy risk only 50 bucks. So I'd have to open 5 lots of 1,000 to achieve a 100pip stop.