Robinhood rises 7%, Webull climbs amid day trading rule repeal

The pattern day trader rule, a relic of the dot-com hangover era, is officially dead. And the stocks of brokerages that cater to retail traders are throwing a party. Robinhood shares jumped roughly 7% on the implementation of the SEC’s decision to eliminate the PDT rule, while Webull climbed around 4%. The gains reflect Wall Street’s bet that removing the $25,000 minimum equity requirement for day trading will unleash a wave of activity on platforms built for exactly that kind of user. What the PDT rule was, and why it mattered The pattern day trader rule was established in 2001, right after the dot-com bubble left a trail of blown-up retail accounts in its wake. FINRA’s logic was straightforward: if you wanted to make more than three day trades within a five-business-day window, you needed at least $25,000 in your margin account. Fall below that threshold, and your account got flagged with restrictions that could last 90 days. The SEC approved FINRA’s proposal to repeal the rule on April 14, 2026. The new framework took effect on June 4, 2026, replacing the old binary threshold with intraday risk-based margin standards under FINRA Rule 4210. Why brokerages are the immediate winner...