it can take up to 3 days for a trade to "settle". Settlement time is the time it takes for the money to change hands. It can take less time in some cases.

I have been trading stocks and i am a bit confused because sometimes when i sell a stock it takes a couple of days before i see it on my buying power balance, but then there are times when i sell a stock and the profit i made will show on my buying power balance right away.. can anyone explain the reason this happens?

Thank you,