CW..I can use my money 24 hrs after Scottrade receives my check or money order. It is one mailing day from house so two days to be in my account. It shows up in my account between 11:30 AM and 1:00 PM.
coolwhip, if you did a wire transfer you could use it today, but if you just did the transfer from say your bank checking account to your broker then they make you wait the 3 biz days for that transaction to clear, at least that's how a couple of my brokers do it~