Online brokerage stocks moved higher Thursday following a major regulatory change that eliminates a decades-old restriction on frequent retail trading. FINRA's amendment to Rule 4210, approved by the SEC on April 14, 2026 and published in Regulatory Notice 26-10, officially took effect today and ends the pattern day trader, or PDT, designation.
Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD) led the sector, trading up 3.62% at $85.85 with an intraday peak of $86.78 on volume exceeding 13.6 million shares. Webull Corp (NASDAQ:BULL) gained 1.66% to $6.00, while eToro Group Ltd (NASDAQ:ETOR) rose 1.76% to $39.88.
The regulatory revision removes the $25,000 minimum equity threshold and the four-trades-in-five-days count that historically triggered the PDT label. In place of that static dollar-based barrier, brokers will adopt a dynamic, technology-enabled approach: monitoring intraday risk through margin exposure relative to open positions.
Certain minimums tied to margin remain unchanged. A separate $2,000 minimum to trade on margin and the standard 25% maintenance margin will continue to apply. FINRA has given firms until October 20, 2027 to fully implement the new intraday margin framework, which means some brokerages may continue to use the old rule in the near term while they phase in updated systems and processes.
Brokers are beginning to lift PDT restrictions that dated to the dot-com era, when regulators introduced the rule following steep retail losses. Firms and industry leaders argue the move shifts enforcement from a blunt account-balance test to continuous oversight of position-level risk.
Anthony Denier, Group President and U.S. CEO of Webull, framed the change as removing an unfair barrier for smaller accounts: "Eliminating the $25,000 PDT threshold removes an arbitrary wealth barrier that has penalized smaller accounts for decades," he said. Denier added that the shift "signals that regulation is finally catching up to 21st-century technology," arguing that continuous, automated risk monitoring is "far more protective and precise than a blanket dollar amount."
The regulatory update is intended to modernize intraday risk controls by relying on ongoing exposure metrics instead of an absolute balance threshold. However, full adoption will be gradual as broker platforms update risk engines and back-office systems during the extended implementation window.
For traders and market participants evaluating broker access and product positioning, the change may alter account behavior once firms fully deploy the new margin standards. Until then, variability will exist across brokers depending on their timelines for adopting the intraday margin framework.
Valuation note - For readers tracking Robinhood specifically, tools are available that aggregate multiple valuation models to provide a fair-value assessment, though market prices and individual appraisals will vary.