FAQ - Most Common Questions

Day trading rules are changing from a fixed trade-count model to a buying power-based approach, following recent updates approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

As part of this transition, day trades are no longer counted toward fixed limits, and accounts are not flagged as Pattern Day Trading based on the frequency of day trades. Because of this, fields such as Day Trading Buying Power and day trade counts are not displayed. Going forward, Day Trading Buying Power will not be applied to accounts anymore.

If an account was previously flagged as Pattern Day Trading and had equity above $25,000 at the start of the day, it will continue to display Day Trading Buying Power while that condition is met. If the equity falls below this threshold, Day Trading Buying Power will be permanently removed.

As part of this change, trading capacity is now evaluated based on available buying power and current positions, rather than the number of trades within a rolling period. Intraday Margin Buying Power will be introduced for eligible margin accounts in a future update. This value represents the funds available for opening positions during the trading session and may change throughout the day.

To review account metrics, locate the Account Info gadget in the left sidebar, or open the Monitor tab, select the Account Statement tab, and expand the Account Summary section.

Note: paperMoney® may not reflect all intraday margin features during this transition. Values and availability can differ from a live account.

To enable real-time stock and option quotes on thinkorswim® please log into schwab.com or Schwab Mobile where you’ll be prompted to sign your professional or non-professional agreements. Professional users can request real-time data by calling Schwab at 800-435-9050. For Non-Professionals, after you have completed your non-professional agreements, please log out of thinkorswim and log back in.

15 minutes.

Yes, to access this information, go to Monitor > Account Statement > Account Summary. Your monthly accrued interest is the difference between your Available Funds For Trading and your Option Buying Power as long as your funds are cleared for options trading.

In the example below, the account has $313.66 in Available Funding for Trading and $113.80 in Option Buying Power. The difference of $199.86 is the monthly accrued margin interest, which is debited from the cash balance on the 2nd to last business day of every month.

Account Summary

If balances and positions are not appearing, it may indicate that you currently have view only access on thinkorswim®. If you are interested in learning more about gaining access to thinkorswim, please start a chat by selecting “support” at the top of the platform or call us directly at 800-435-9050.

Yes, the Analyze tab is a great resource to simulate potential trades to see how they may impact overall margin requirements prior to placing a trade. In addition, you can calculate theoretical max profit, max loss, breakeven points, as well as the Greeks.

Click the setup button at the top right of the main thinkorswim® window. In the menu, select ‘Save workspace as…’ Once you have given your workspace a name and successfully saved it, you will now be able load and share that workspace.