Trading Profile Help - Fidelity (2024)

A Day Trade is defined as an opening trade followed by a closing trade in the same security on the same day in a Margin account. Four or more day trades executed within a rolling five-business-day period or two unmet Day Trade Calls within a 90-day period will classify the account as a Pattern Day Trader. This classification will require the account to abide by day trading rules and minimum equity requirements of $25,000 (not including type Cash market value and options).

A Pattern Day Trader designation requires a minimum Margin equity plus cash in the amount $25,000 at all times or the account will be issued a Day Trade Minimum Equity Call. Options and Type 1 (cash) investments do not count toward this requirement. A Non-Pattern Day Trade account requires a minimum of $5,000 in margin equity. All trades in Margin accounts are subject to Day Trade Buying Power Limitations.

Satisfying a day trade call through the sale of an existing position is considered a Day Trade Liquidation. Only the exchange requirement is released to cover the call. For example, to meet a $5,000 Day Trade Call, you must liquidate $20,000 worth of a fully marginable stock position. Three Day Trade Liquidations within a 12-month period will cause the account to be restricted, reducing day trade buying power for 90 days to the amount of the exchange surplus, without the use of time & tick.

The date in which the account becomes designated as a Pattern Day Trader. This requires a minimum margin equity plus a cash balance of $25,000 in the margin account at all times.

Unrestricted
Day Trade Buying Power is the amount that an account can day trade without incurring a day trade call. In an Unrestricted account, this amount is calculated by adding Core Cash to Exchange Surplus and dividing that total by the underlying exchange requirement of the security being traded, which is 25% for most stocks. Options are considered non-marginable so the underlying requirement is 100%. Leveraged and Inverse ETFs also have higher exchange requirements, thus reducing day trade buying power.

Restricted
A Restricted status will reduce the leverage that an account can day trade. An account with a day trade restriction will reduce Day Trade Buying Power to the equivalent of the Exchange Surplus without the use of time & tick for 90 days.

Day Trade Call
A Day Trade Call is generated whenever opening trades exceed the account's Day Trade Buying Power and are closed on the same day. Customers have five business days to meet the call by depositing cash or marginable securities in the account. The sale of an existing position may satisfy a Day Trade Call but is considered a Day Trade Liquidation. Three Day Trade Liquidations within a 12-month period will cause the account to be restricted. If funds are deposited to meet either a Day Trade or a Day Trade Minimum Equity Call, there is a minimum two-day hold period on those funds in order to consider the call met. Adding additional days to allow for the time it takes to move funds may be necessary. Any distributions or checks written out of the account during the open day trade call period will increase the call dollar for dollar. If a Day Trade Call of a Pattern Day Trader is not met by the due date, the account will be restricted.

A Free Riding violation occurs when a customer directly or indirectly executes transactions in a cash account so that the cost of securities purchased is covered by the sale of those same securities. This practice violates Regulation T of the Federal Reserve Board concerning broker/dealer credit to customers.

A Good Faith Violation occurs when a Type 1 (Cash) security is sold prior to settlement without having settled funds in the account to pay for the purchase. A purchase is only considered paid for if settled funds are used.

A Margin Liquidation Violation occurs when a customer liquidates out of both a Fed and Exchange call instead of depositing cash to cover the smaller of the two calls. Liquidations out of either a Fed or Exchange call is not a violation unless both occur at the same time. The penalty for three Margin Liquidation Violations in a 12-month period is a restrict from entering Type 2 buy orders unless the customer meets the 50% Reg T requirement for the order with cash or SMA (Fed surplus) for the greater of 90 days or one year from the first liquidation. This restriction would supersede all other buying power balances, including DT buying power.

A Day Trade Call is generated when an executed day trade(s) exceeds the account's day trade buying power. Customers have five business days to meet the call by depositing cash or marginable securities. The sale of an existing position may satisfy a day trade call but is considered a Day Trade Liquidation. Three Day Trade Liquidations within a 12-month period will cause the account to be restricted. If funds are deposited to meet either a Day Trade or a Day Trade Minimum Equity Call, there will be a two-day hold on those funds. If a Day Trade Call is not met by the due date, the account will be restricted, reducing the leverage of the day trade buying power for 90 days to the exchange surplus, without the use of time & tick. Creating two Unmet Day Trade Calls in a 90-day period will result in the account holder being classified as a Pattern Day Trader.