Do you actively trade stocks? If so, it's important to know what it means to be a "pattern day trader" because there are requirements associated with engaging in pattern day trading. Once you ...

A pattern day trader is a trader who makes four or more qualifying day trades in a five-day period. To qualify as a pattern day trader, the individual must meet two additional criteria. The person ...

According to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a pattern day trader (PDT) is someone who trades at least four times over the course of five business days and their day trading exceeds ...

Pattern day traders must maintain minimum equity of $25,000 in their margin accounts. This required minimum equity must be in your account prior to engaging in any day-trading activities. Do you ...

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and ...

You can violate the pattern day trader (PDT) rules without realizing it. The consequences for violating PDT vary, but can be inconvenient for investors who are not actively trading. For active ...

In the past, day trading represented the wild west of the market. It was possible for day traders to move in and out of positions within the trading day and end up with no open positions. This meant ...

Pattern day trading is more a designation than a style of investing. And the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) gets to decide who is and isn’t qualified to do it. Pattern day trading is ...

Violating the pattern day trading rule can be a costly mistake for active investors. For the uninitiated, it can result in trading restrictions or a locked account. And when that happens, any holdings ...

Stock market participants are often broadly divided into two categories: investors and traders. While technically both are engaged in investing activity, it's the duration that tends to be the biggest ...

If you’re a day trader with a lower account balance or with obligations to attend to every day, making the switch to swing trading might be right for you. Swing trading is a comparable type of stock ...