Can I sell a stock the day after I buy it?

Question

or do I have to wait a few days for my purchase to settle before I sell it?

Answer 1

You can sell it the next day. Where most people get confused is that after you sell that stock, you can not use those proceeds from that stock, to purchase another stock, for three days if you are using a cash account. Otherwise you will be violating the free-riding rule.

This is why most active trades will use a margin account instead of a cash account. Margin accounts allow you much more flexibility when trading.

Answer 2

This is called market timing. It sounds pretty enticing, but it never works. First, the expenses involved in all that trading would eat into any profits you might have. In addition, even though you may guess correctly from time to time, you just can't time the market and make money consistently. It is so dangerous that even mutual funds are prohibited from doing it. Search the internet for articles on "market timing", and don't be fooled by people who say that it's easy or that they have made a fortune doing it. Look for legitimate sites that discuss the facts of market timing, not the sites that try to sell you some kind of market timing system.

Answer 3

As long as you are not old school and having a stock certificate mailed to you (you keep stocks in the street name), you can sell the same day you buy.

Answer 4

There are some stocks which are traded on T2T ( Trade to Trade ) basis, those shares can not be traded the next day, you have to wait till it gets delivered to your DP account. In general, most of the stocks are tradable same day or next day, even before it gets delivered.

Answer 5

you can sell stock any time you like. you do not need to wait.
If you have arrangements with your broker you can even sell stock you don't own .. and that is called "shorting" .. so you actually only buy after you have sold the stock. But you will have to pay interest for how long you are short the stock.

Answer 6

You can sell it seconds after buying it. Haven't you ever heard of Day Trading?

Actually -- you can sell it BEFORE buying it. That is called Selling Short.

Answer 7

NO! You technically need to wait for the stock to settle in your account. T-3 (Trade + 3 business days)
If you have an online brokerage account, it is technically possible to sell it immediately, but if it happens a few times, your brokerage will give you a warning, and if it continues after that, they could freeze your account.
And Day Traders need to have $25,000 in their account to be a day trader... But Fordman didn't tell you that...

Answer 8

Have you heard of Day Traders? That is how they got their name. They'll buy it in the morning and sell in the afternoon.
Hopefully, when the accounts are settled, you will have a profit.

Good luck.

Answer 9

You can sell it 2 seconds after you buy it.

Answer 10

You can sell it immediately, but it has to be with the same broker.