So I recall reading that stock transactions take 3 days to settle, does that mean if you bought a stock, you can’t sell it for at least 3 days?
No, you can sell it 5 minutes later cuz it take the sale 3 days to settle, too.
Yes. That is known as the good faith SEC regulation. Way back when. Crafty traders would buy a stock hoping the price would rise inside of 3 days and then sell it without having to put up any cash. The custodian we use has this rule even with margin accounts. I don’t know if it is univeral among all firms/custodians.
So if you’re purchasing using an online platform, the stocks would appear in your account as soon as the trade is executed?