No Open Day Trade (DT) Calls
If there are no open day trade (DT) calls on an account, the day trade requirements for a given day are determined by looking at the high water mark of the day trade requirements based on the opening trade(s) of day traded positions that were open at the same time.
For example, assume the following trades are placed in this order (all in the same day).
- Buy 10 AAPL Calls @ 2.00 ($2,000 DT requirement)
- Buy 1 TSLA Call @ 11.20 ($1,120 DT requirement)
- Sell the AAPL Calls from trade 1.
- Buy 5 AMZN Puts @ 5.00 ($2,500 DT requirement)
- Sell the TSLA Call from trade 2.
- Sell the AMZN Puts from trade 5.
The AAPL & TSLA positions were open at the same time (with a total DT requirement of $3,120). The TSLA & AMZN positions were also open at the same time (with a total DT requirement of $3,620). Since all three positions were not open at the same time, the day trade requirements for these trades would be $3,620 (the high water mark from the TSLA & AMZN trades).
1 or More Open Day Trade (DT) Calls
If there is 1 or more open DT call(s) on the account, the day trade requirements for a given day are determined by looking at the total of all the day trade requirements based on the opening trade(s) of all day traded positions.
For example, let's assume the trades from the example above. Even though all positions were not open at the same time, the day trade requirements for these trades would be the total from all day trades ($5,620).
DT Requirements for Common Strategies
Long Option:
The premium paid to open the position.
Uncovered Short Option:
The uncovered option requirement of the opening trade.
Debit Spreads:
The debit paid to open the spread.
Credit Spreads:
The margin requirement of the spread.