Going live - PDT rule?

Hey everyone,

QC is such an amazing community! In just 2 weeks of being here, I've learnt & discovered so much! Cheers to that! Hopefully, I would be able to share my in-development strategies soon!

If I was planning to go live with a long-short hedge strategy which tries to trade many symbols on a daily basis (avg holding period of 5-30 days) - would I need to lookout for the pattern day trader rule (in USA)? Would that mean the algo needs to start with min $25k?

Also, are there any special rules related to leverage when I need to go short on a symbol?

Thanks a bunch!

PDT rule applies to any account that executes four or more instraday trades (Open and close a trade in the same trading day) within five business days. "Pattern day traders" must have atleaast $25,000 in their accounts and can only trade in margin accounts.

So it all depends on how your algo executes your trades. Another thing to consider is if you start with $25k and are deemed PDT, if your account drops under that threshold you will have to add additional funds or be restricted to cash basis for 90 days. Id check with your broker. I would also check with your broker for 'leverage rules' on shorts, as there may be increased overnight or intraday margin requirements for some symbols. Read more on PDT here:

https://www.sec.gov/investor/alerts/daytrading.pdf

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