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Margin
A margin account allows an investor to borrow money against other securities currently held in the account, such as cash or stock. Funds may be borrowed to make additional trades or they may simply be withdrawn from the account as cash. As with any loan, interest will be charged on any borrowed funds. Explore our current Margin Interest Rates
Keep in mind, industry regulations require that all margin accounts maintain a minimum of $2,000 in equity at all times. If this minimum isn’t maintained, borrowing on margin will no longer be available to the account.
Finally, there are risks to using margin. Although it's nice to have the ability to borrow money that will potentially allow you to trade more shares of stock and achieve larger profits, choosing to trade on margin also opens yourself up to the possibility of incurring larger losses which could potentially exceed your initial investment. Learn about additional risks of trading on margin
Apply online to add margin to your account. Keep in mind, under Federal rules, there is a $2,000 minimum equity requirement for margin eligibility. If your balance is below $2,000, your account is treated as a cash account, even if approved for margin.
Email us at support@invest.ally.com to remove margin. Include an attachment of a pen-signed and dated letter, with explicit instructions to remove margin. Or, call us at 1-855-880-2559. We're here 24/7.
Individuals labeled as pattern day traders aren't eligible to remove margin, and must open a new cash account to journal over the funds.
Buying power is the total amount of cash and margin you have available in your account to purchase securities. Learn more about margin accounts and buying power.
Trading on margin involves leverage and allows you to extend your financial reach by investing borrowed funds while limiting how much of your own cash you expend. For this reason, trading on margin carries a higher degree of risk, and losses could exceed the principal invested. Please be sure to review our margin disclosure for full details about our policies.
By having a margin account with at least $2,000 in account value, you may bypass the settlement rules cash accounts must follow. However, there may be restrictions on how frequently you can open and close positions in your account on the same day, depending on your account value.
Margin accounts will either have the ability to make day trades on an unlimited basis or they will be limited to a maximum of three day trades within any consecutive five-business-day period. Determining which rule you can follow depends upon the value of your account and whether or not your account has been labeled as a pattern day trading account.
Our Margin department determines pattern day trade (PDT) status removal on a case-by-case basis.
Before beginning the removal process, your account must hold PDT status for more than 90 calendar days. After meeting the holding period, submit a written request to our Margin department, for review. Be sure to include the statement, "I understand the definition of PDT, and will not engage in future pattern day trading."
Ally Invest
P.O. Box 30248
Charlotte, NC, 28230
If further pattern day trading is engaged in after PDT status is removed, your account’s PDT status becomes permanent.
Pattern day trading is a coding that’s added to any margin account once that account makes more than three day trades within any consecutive five business day period. Once labeled, the pattern day trader account may continue to make day trades only if that account begins the day with $25,000 or more in account equity (stock value + cash). Should a pattern day trading account begin the day under the required $25,000 in account equity, no day trading will be permitted. Should a day trade need to be made, a broker can assist with that trade over the phone.
No. Short selling stock involves selling securities that you have borrowed. Cash generated from short selling is reserved in your account for the future re-purchase of the stock that was sold short. This isn’t a free cash credit and therefore isn’t eligible to earn interest. The amount of cash held for the repurchase of short stock will be adjusted to the market weekly.
