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Wall St day trade counter
A day trade is when you buy and sell (or sell and then buy) the same U.S. stock within a single trading day. It’s important to understand how these are counted – especially if you’re approaching the Pattern Day Trader (PDT) threshold.
Why this matters
If you make four or more day trades within five consecutive trading days and your account equity is below US$25,000, you’ll be flagged as a Pattern Day Trader (PDT) and will face ongoing trading restrictions.
Stake Day Trade Counter
To help you manage your day trading activity and avoid unintended restrictions, Stake offers a Day Trade Counter that tracks how many day trades you've made in a rolling 5-day window.
How to access
On the Stake app
Go to:
Dashboard > Manage > Account > Settings > Trading > Wall St day trade warnings
Then toggle on Day Trade Protection
On web
Click:
Profile (top right) > Settings > Trading > Wall St Day trade settings
Then enable Day Trade Protection
How it works
As you approach your fourth day trade in a 5-day window, we’ll send you a warning. While you’ll still have the option to proceed, we’ll flag the risks involved with placing that fourth trade – including the potential to be marked as a Pattern Day Trader (PDT) if your balance is under US$25,000.
What counts as one day trade?
A round trip – a sequence of buying followed by a sequence of selling – counts as one day trade, as long as there’s no change in direction. That means you don’t buy again after you’ve started selling.
Here are a few examples:
Scenario |
Example (Same Day) |
Day Trade Count |
Why |
|---|---|---|---|
Buy, Sell |
Buy 1 AAPL → Sell 1 AAPL |
1 |
One complete round trip |
Sell, Buy, Sell |
Start with 100 AAPL → Sell 20, Buy 10, Sell 10 |
1 |
Day trade = Buy 10, Sell 10 (initial sell doesn’t count) |
Buys then Sells |
Buy 5, Buy 3, Buy 2 → Sell 1, Sell 4, Sell 2 |
1 |
One direction change (buy to sell) = 1 day trade |
Buy, Hold (Not a Day Trade) |
Buy 1 AAPL → no sale on same day |
0 |
No round trip – stock wasn’t sold that day |
What counts as more than one day trade?
Multiple day trades happen when there’s more than one change in direction – like buying, selling, then buying again.
Scenario |
Example (Same Day) |
Day Trade Count |
Why |
|---|---|---|---|
Multiple round trips (one stock) |
Buy 100 → Sell 20, Sell 40 → Buy 10 → Sell 10 |
2 |
Two buy/sell sequences = 2 day trades |
Multiple stocks |
Buy 100 AAPL, Buy 20 NFLX → Sell 40 AAPL, Sell 10 NFLX |
2 |
One day trade per stock |
Hitting the 4-Day Trade Limit (PDT Flag)
If you execute four day trades within five consecutive trading days and your account equity is below US$25,000, you’ll be flagged as a Pattern Day Trader (PDT) and restricted from placing more day trades and face ongoing trading restrictions.
Example: 4 day trades in 5 days
Date |
Stock |
Trade Sequence (Same Day) |
Day Trade Count |
Cumulative Day Trades |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Monday |
MSFT |
Buy 100, Sell 100 |
1 |
1 |
Tuesday |
GOOG |
Buy 50, Sell 50 |
1 |
2 |
Wednesday |
AMZN |
Buy 20, Sell 10, Buy 5, Sell 5 |
2 |
4 (PDT Flag Triggered) |
Thursday |
NFLX |
Buy 10, Sell 10 |
1 |
5 (restricted if balance <US$25k) |
Important: Stake, trading as Stakeshop Pty Ltd, is not obligated to provide advance notice or guidance on day trading activity. You're responsible for understanding and complying with all relevant regulations and tax obligations.
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