Pattern Day Trader Margin Question

C

cloudeleven

If my broker identifies me as a Pattern Day Trader, that means I can have 4 times the excess minimum maintenance margin requirement of $25,000. So if I have $60,000 cash in my account, my buying power is (60,000 - 25,000) x 4 = $140,000. Does this mean I could buy $60,000 worth of an ETF on day 1, sell it later on day 1 with a 0% gain/loss, and still have (approximately) $140,000 buying power for day 2? Or does the T+3 rule come into play and since the sell transaction hasn't cleared until T+3, I'll have only approximately $80,000 buying power on day 2? (This is a retail brokerage account at a regular brokerage, Interactive Brokers).
 
You are making this too complicated. If approved for 4X:

Account value: $60,000
DT buying power= $240,000
Overnight=$120,000

The next morning, they will tell you what your DT is for that day. They will take your current liquidating equity-any margin used overnight and do the same math above. If your account is all cash the next day, and you still have $60K, your DT is still $240K.

BP is based on trade date numbers not settlement.
 
Correct. Only relevant for a CASH account, not margin. In fact, when you DT, and close positions, you recapture your BP.

e.g. Buy $150,000 of SPY, sell $150,000 of SPY. You can do this all day. After you close the DT, your buying power ticks back up. The only exception is closing a position from another day. Your DT BP will never be higher than what you started that day with.

On our Lightspeed Trader software, you can monitor your BP.

https://www.lightspeed.com/trading-platforms/lightspeed-trader/platform-features/

Bob
 
Thanks. I have another question...if I buy SPY using margin at 9:45 AM and sell at 10:15 AM the same morning, am I charged interest for the full day on the margin I used, or just the portion of the day (30 minutes) I used the margin to trade with?
 
Your broker will only charge you to borrow money overnight, not for DT. Same for short stock fees. And, you are NOT borrowing funds overnight unless your debit balance exceeds your cash.

eg $60,000 account, hold $90,000 worth of stock overnight, they will charge you interest on $30,000 only, billed from settlement to settlement date.
 
So just to make sure I understand, day trades using margin where you buy and sell on the same day are never charged margin interest since you sold by the end of day and aren't holding overnight?
 
A day trade is when you buy and sell in the same day.

You only have overnight balances when you don't day trade and hold an overnight position.

You are only charged interest if you hold an overnight position that exceeds your ability to pay for it and your broker has to loan you money.

Does that square it?
 
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