1. Four (or more) day trades within five consecutive business days. A business day is any day the stock market is open. Weekends and holidays don't count. Think of this as a rolling five day period, each day starting a new five day period.
2. More than 6% of the total trades in that five day period are day trades. Examples:
If you make 100 trades, 6% of 100 is 6. So if you make four day trades, you did not meet that criteria, and are not a pattern day trade.
If you make 50 trades during that that 5 day period, 6% of 50 is three. So if four of those were day trades, you would be classified as a pattern day trader.
From a practical standpoint, unless you are an extremely active trader, it is very easy to exceed the 6% criteria. So the best thing to do is focus on the "four or more" unless you want that label.
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