Pattern day trader rule
A former US rule requiring $25,000 equity for margin accounts making four or more day trades in five business days, retired by FINRA on June 4, 2026.
Why it matters
It applied to margin accounts at US brokers; cash accounts, futures and offshore brokers fell outside it. FINRA now monitors real-time intraday margin exposure instead of a fixed trade count and equity floor, though brokers have until October 2027 to fully switch over.
Example
Before June 2026, four day trades in five business days on a sub-$25,000 margin account would trigger the pattern day trader flag. Under the new intraday margin standard, buying power instead tracks real-time market exposure.
How to track it in a journal
TradeStack calculates the core performance numbers — win rate, average win and loss, profit factor, expectancy, drawdown and consistency — automatically from imported trades, so pattern day trader rule stops being something you estimate and becomes something you read.
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