What constitutes a day trade under the new margin rules?
A day trade is the purchase and sale or sale and purchase of the same security on the same day in a single account. Examples of day trades: q 8/31/01 Buy 500 MSFT and Sell 500 MSFT q 8/31/01 Buy 500 MSFT and Sell 200 MSFT q 8/31/01 Sell Short 300 MSFT and Buy 300 MSFT Please note that this definition revises the current interpretation that requires the sale and repurchase of a position held from the previous day to be treated as a day trade. Going forward, the sale of an existing position that was held overnight will be treated as a liquidation and the subsequent repurchase of that position as the establishment of a new position not subject to the rules affecting day trades.
