What is a day trade/round trip?
A day trade occurs when you buy and sell (or sell and buy) the same stock or option position during the same trading day. A trading day includes all pre-market, normal trading hours, and extended session hours. Selling a position held overnight and reacquiring the position the following day is not considered a day trade.
The NASD provides that a pattern day trader is any account that executes four or more round-trip day trades within any rolling five-business-day period, provided the number of day trades represents at least 6% of the total trading activity during the same five-business-day period.
If you are flagged as a pattern day trader, you'll be subject to restrictions, including a minimum equity of $25,000 at the start of any day in which day trading occurs. Pattern day-trader accounts that fall below the $25,000 minimum equity requirement and day trading will be restricted to closing transactions only for 90 days, or until the equity is brought up to $25,000.
