kevinkdog 

I have a well known trader friend, and his approach was to use all margin, every day. At end of day, if he had a margin call, the broker would call, and my friend would exit his biggest losers. Sort of a forced way to maintain a "cut your losses" discipline. I guess the broker was OK with it, probably because this guy generated a LOT of commissions...

That is kind of a brilliant approach, if you can get away with it. I recall what @SMCJB wrote earlier in this thread about your trading cash not being all of your trading capital. Wise words and we are fortunate enough to be in that position.

vmodus 

I'm curious to know if a margin call affects your status with the broker.... i.e. do you get a black mark on your record?

That's a good question.

I think it depends a lot on both the Broker and how you handle it. Some brokers are just going to immediately liquidate you - especially brokers that specialize in 'retail' clients. Interactive Brokers is notorious for doing this. If you handle it efficiently and always have the extra capital deposited on time I think it can actually be a good thing, as the broker becomes more comfortable that you know what you are doing and have the funds to cover it. I definitely think that's what happened in my case. I actually know I'm going to be margin deficient before my broker does (remember my margin deficiency has always been due to new positions, not from trading losses) so I email my brokers risk department, tell them I believe I will be deficient tonight, and tell them I will be wiring money the next morning. This is all before their own systems know it! But as @planetkill and @kevinkdog said, repeatedly being on the brokers risk screens, especially if your margin calls are from trading losses, or taking too much risk for your account, will get you a black mark, especially if you account is large enough to do the broker some damage. Where this could be important is when you request risk limit increases or to trade new products. If they are confident you know what you are doing those things should be formalities. If on the other hand you have a long list of 'Black Marks' they may not be so quick to approve you request.