rpoet: With Fidelity, if you drop off a personal check, it will clear in 2 hrs.and you can trade. They also tell me you can use your Smart phone to transfer funds for immediate use. You just have to add a Fidelity app. I haven't done it yet, but I will.

Otherwise, unfortunately, if you transfer funds online, it takes about 2 days to clear This applies to both Ameritrade and Fidelity. It's a bummer.