What’s the Pattern Day Trading Rule? And How to Avoid Breaking It

You’re not normally a rule-breaker. But violating the pattern day trader rule is easier to do than you might suppose, especially during a time of high market volatility. Don’t let this happen to you. Here’s what you need to know.

First, a hypothetical. Suppose you bought several stocks in your margin account. Minutes or hours later, you change your mind, so you sell them. Your “round trip” (buy and sell) trades all took place on the same trading day.

If you execute four or more round trips within five business days, you will be flagged as a pattern day trader.

Here’s where you might be dinged: If you’re flagged as a pattern day trader and you have less than $25,000 in your account, you could be restricted from opening new positions.

So, what now? You’re in trouble, but what are the consequences? What if you do it again? More importantly, what should you know to avoid crossing this red line in the future? Keep in mind that you don’t have to borrow on margin to violate the pattern day trader rule. It’s a good idea to be aware of the basics of margin trading and its rules and risks. 

There are a few simple but strict rules that define pattern day trading. Let’s go over them.

What exactly is a day trade?

A day trade happens when you open and close a security position on the same day.

Let’s break that down:

• Open and close (round trip): When we say “open and close,” it means buying and selling, or for short sellers, selling (short) and then buying. This is also called a “round trip.”
• Security position: Day trading applies to virtually all securities—stocks, bonds, ETFs, and even options (calls and puts).
• Same day: If you do a round trip on the same day, it’s a day trade. If you hold your security position beyond the close of the trading day, it’s not a day trade.

What is a pattern day trader?

You’re a pattern day trader if you make four or more day trades (as described above) in a rolling five-business-day period, and those trades make up more than 6% of your account activity within those five days.

There are different types of day traders, but we’ll focus on two: 

• Self-identified day traders: This includes folks who are actually day traders, meaning their brokerage is aware that they intend to day trade and that they meet the $25,000 minimum account value requirement.
• Pattern day trading violators: These are people who day traded in violation of the rules without meeting the sufficient capital requirement.

Well, I violated the pattern day trader rules. What are the consequences?

Now what? It depends on your brokerage. For first-time offenders, the consequences might not be so bad, assuming your brokerage has a more forgiving policy. However, you’ll likely be flagged as a pattern day trader (in the violator sense) just so your broker can watch your activities for any consistent or repeat offenses. So, tread carefully.

If you make four day trades in a rolling five days, some brokerages may subject you to a minimum equity call, meaning you have to deposit enough funds to have the $25,000 minimum account value (even if you don’t intend to day trade on a regular basis). If you make an additional day trade while flagged, you could be restricted from opening new positions.

This is a big hassle, especially if you had no real intention to day trade. If you violated the pattern day trading rules by accident, or if you were tempted to take some profits (or close out losses) within the same day—enough to get flagged in violation—the hassle just isn’t worth the momentary lapse in caution. But if you inadvertently end up flagged as a day trader and don’t intend to day trade going forward, you can contact your broker who may be able to give you some alternatives to avoid trading restrictions. Regulatory guidance on flag removals is fairly strict and limited. With proper agreements in place, you may have the flag removed from your account one time. As you continue to trade, if your future trading activity constitutes pattern day trading, the pattern day trading flag will be placed back on your account, and it cannot be removed. 

If you do want to officially day trade and apply for a margin account, your buying power could be up to four times your actual account balance. You could inform your broker (saying “yes, I’m a day trader”) or day trade more than three times in five days and get flagged as a pattern day trader. This allows you to day trade as long as you hold a minimum account value of $25,000—just keep your balance above that minimum at all times.

I have a little over $25k. Can I place occasional day trades?

Before you do that, be sure you really understand your account balance, as there are many things that can affect your trade equity, such as:

• If you have no open positions, meaning no unrealized gains or losses, then your start-of-day equity is likely to be the same as your previous day’s end-of-day equity.
• If you have open positions, either unrealized gains or losses, then your opening equity will depend on how your positions are marked-to-market at the beginning of the trading day. (Marked-to-market is the value of your positions if they were to be immediately sold or bought at current market prices.)
• If you hold positions with unrealized losses, then your losses may reduce your trade equity (think of them as being marked-to-market at any given time).
• If you’re holding stocks that were bought on margin, then you may need to subtract the amount of maintenance margin from your trade equity, both cash and unrealized returns, to determine how much you actually have. If your account value falls below $25,000, then any pattern day trader activities may constitute a violation.
• If you trade futures, keep in mind that futures cash or positions do not count toward the $25,000 minimum account value.

Bottom line

Getting dinged for breaking the pattern day trader rule is no fun. Of course, if you want to be a more active trader, possibly even do a little day trading on occasion, then you might go ahead and brush up on the rules concerning margin. Otherwise, if you can steer clear of violating the rules, or simply keep your account value well over $25,000, you’ll have less to worry about should you need to execute a short-term trade.

To learn more about day trading, watch the video below.