You’re generally limited to no more than three day trades in a five-trading-day period, unless you have at least $25,000 of equity in your account at the end of the previous day. This sounds tricky, but it just means that if you want to day trade today, you had to have an account value of more than $25,000 at the end of yesterday.
Your portfolio value may fluctuate above $25,000 at some point during the trading day, but we only take into account the closing balance of the previous trading day. To verify whether you are restricted from day trading or not on any given day, click the Day Trade Counter button in your Account Report under the TRADE tab section of your trading platform. If the popup reads “No round trip limitation” and your balance is above $25,000 you are free to day trade.
The five-trading-day window doesn’t necessarily align with the calendar week. For example, Wednesday through Tuesday could be a five-trading-day period. If you place your fourth day trade in the five-day window, your account will be marked for pattern day trading for ninety calendar days. This means you won’t be able to place any day trades for ninety days unless you bring your account equity above $25,000.
