I dont know much about ameritrade but I do know that I was allowed to buy fcdh as soon as my money arrived in my account at scottrade. Hope this helps and good luck to ya
With Ameritrade you need to bank wire the money and you can trade the same day....usually you need to go to the bank and fill out the form the first time and then some banks will keep the info on file and you can then do a bank wire by phone....the wire will cost you $10.......if you use the auto transfer thing with AT, you have to wait the 5 days.
I have a Harrisdirect account. They have an online oney transfer thingy with your checking account. As soon as you click submit 30 seconds later the money is in your account available for trading. No waiting for funds to clear.