PDT Rule Day Trade Counter

How the Pattern Day Trader Rule Works

The Pattern Day Trader (PDT) rule applies to margin accounts at US brokers. If you make 4 or more day trades within any rolling 5-business-day period, your broker flags you as a Pattern Day Trader. Once flagged, you must maintain at least $25,000 in equity — or your account gets restricted for 90 days.

A "day trade" is opening and closing the same security on the same trading day. Buy 100 shares of AAPL at 10am and sell them at 2pm — that's one day trade. It doesn't matter if you made money or lost money. The count resets on a rolling basis, not on a calendar week.

This tool tracks your day trades within the rolling window and shows exactly how many you have left. It also shows when each trade "falls off" the window, so you know when you can safely day trade again. The rolling window is 5 business days — weekends and market holidays don't count.

The simplest way to avoid the PDT rule entirely: use a cash account instead of a margin account. Cash accounts have no day trade limit. The only restriction is that you must use settled funds — stocks settle T+1 (next business day), so you can trade the same capital every other day. Many active traders use cash accounts specifically to avoid PDT restrictions while still making multiple trades per week.