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Pattern Day Trader Rule
The Pattern Day Trader (PDT) rule is a former FINRA day-trading framework (4 day trades / $25,000 equity). RN 26-10 replaced it with Rule 4210(d)(2) intraday margin, effective June 4, 2026.
The Pattern Day Trader (PDT) rule is a former FINRA day-trading framework: four or more day trades in five business days in a margin account (when those trades were more than 6% of activity) plus a $25,000 PDT equity floor. FINRA Regulatory Notice 26-10 replaced that framework in its entirety with Rule 4210(d)(2) intraday margin. Effective June 4, 2026. Members that need more time may phase in through October 20, 2027.
Current law is not PDT. Do not size, restrict, or teach from 4 day-trade counts, a $25,000 day-trade floor, or 4× day-trading buying power. Those are historical. The live term is Intraday Margin Requirements (post-PDT).
What the former PDT rule was
Until RN 26-10, FINRA Rule 4210 treated a customer as a “pattern day trader” after four or more day trades in five consecutive business days in a margin account, when those day trades were more than 6% of that period’s activity. A day trade was a same-day round trip in the same security. Designated accounts that did not keep $25,000 minimum equity faced a day-trade call and, if unmet, a 90-day restriction to cash-like treatment. That package — the count, the flag, the $25,000 floor, and the associated day-trading buying-power math — is what the notice retired.
This page keeps that description so old blogs, broker help centers, and course screenshots remain recognizable. It is not a how-to for working around a live PDT flag. There is no live PDT flag to work around under RN 26-10.
What RN 26-10 replaced
Published April 20, 2026. Effective June 4, 2026 (45 days after publication). The notice states that FINRA adopted new intraday margin standards “to replace in their entirety the outdated day trading margin requirements, including the day trade count requirements for designating a customer as a ‘pattern day trader’ and the $25,000 pattern day trader minimum equity requirement.”
The operative provision is new paragraph (d)(2) of Rule 4210. Members determine an intraday margin deficit on each customer margin account (other than a good-faith account or a portfolio margin account) for each day with an IML-reducing transaction. Real-time blocking is allowed. A single end-of-day calculation is also allowed. Regular maintenance margin is unchanged; intraday margin supplements it. Full definitions live on the intraday margin term.
Former vs current (do not mix)
| Item | Former PDT (historical) | After RN 26-10 |
|---|---|---|
| Day-trade count / PDT flag | 4 in 5 business days (and the 6% test) | None. No PDT flag. |
| $25,000 day-trade equity floor | Yes, for designated PDTs | None. Retired by the notice. |
| 4× day-trading buying power | Old PDT-associated math | Do not ship. Intraday buying power is house product, broker-dependent. |
| Margin account minimum | Often confused with $25k PDT | Typical ~$2,000 equity to use margin — broker-dependent, not a PDT rule. House rules may be stricter. |
| Intraday risk test | Count-based designation | Intraday margin deficit after IML-reducing trades (4210(d)(2)). |
| Cash account | Outside PDT (margin-only rule) | Still not 4210(d)(2). T+1 settlement / buying-power timing still applies. Do not invent cash day-trade counts. |
| Clock | Treated as current in many 2021–2025 pages | Effective June 4, 2026; member phase-in through October 20, 2027. Firm status is TODO:VERIFY — do not list brokers. |
What this page will not teach
- How to “get around PDT” with cash accounts, swing holds, or non-U.S. brokers. That was workaround literature for a retired flag.
- Building an account to a $25,000 PDT threshold. That number is not a live day-trade floor.
- 4× buying power as a sizing formula. Size from stop distance: risk calculator (crypto UI; treat the unit as shares, round down). There is no stock-native calculator on denntech.io.
Account EXAMPLE if you size anything: $10,000, not $25,000. Round shares down. See How to Use a Broker and Risk Management 101 for Stocks. Session clocks are on the 2026 U.S. session-hours page, not on this term.
Phase-in is not a license to republish PDT as current
As of August 25, 2026 the amendments are effective. RN 26-10 lets members that need more time phase in through October 20, 2027. A given firm may still show old PDT screens during that window. That is a TODO:VERIFY per firm fact, not a reason to teach 4 trades / $25,000 / 4× as live law. Ask the member what it is actually running. Do not assume DennTech can see your house buying power.
Educational only. Not financial, tax, or legal advice. Not a broker comparison. Margin and cash rules are member-implemented. Cite FINRA RN 26-10 (PDF: Regulatory-Notice-26-10.pdf). Return to the stock glossary.