MT5 "not enough money" error

Causes, most likely first

1. Free margin, not balance, is the binding constraint

Open positions lock margin, and losing positions consume free margin as they move against you. A $1,000 balance with three open trades and an unrealised loss can have very little free margin left. Check the Trade tab, which shows free margin directly, rather than looking at the balance figure.

2. The requested lot size is too large for the account

Gold has a large notional value — a standard lot is around $240,000 at a $2,400 price — so even modest lot sizes require meaningful margin. Work out the requirement before assuming the platform is wrong; the margin calculator does it for your leverage.

3. Leverage is lower than you think

Many brokers reduce leverage on metals relative to FX, apply lower leverage above certain position sizes, or reduce it around weekends and major events. The account-level figure in your profile is not necessarily the figure applied to gold.

4. The account is too small for the strategy's minimum position

If the minimum lot requires more margin than the account can support at the strategy's stop distance, no configuration change will fix it. The answer is a smaller stop or a larger account — see what account size do I need.

Why this happens

The error name is misleading, which is why it causes so much confusion. MetaTrader is not saying the account has no money; it is saying the margin required for this specific order exceeds what is currently free.

For an automated system this typically appears partway through a session rather than at startup. The first trades open normally, each consuming margin, and then a subsequent order is refused. Watching only the balance makes this look random.

The structural fix is a concurrent-position cap rather than more capital. Letting margin be the limiter means the system opens the largest number of positions the broker will still permit, which is precisely the wrong behaviour at precisely the wrong moment.