On Leverage in the US stock markets

Hi everyone,

This is my first post here.

I've been trading stocks in the latin american markets in the past few years. Next year I am gonna start trading stocks in the american markets too and I would like to know how people leverage in the US(other than with options).
Are there stock forwards contracts in the US ? What are the forward contract interest rates? How liquid is the the SSFs market nowadays?

Any information about the subject is greatly appreciated.


Thanks in advance