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Glossary / Market structure

Settlement

Definition

The date funds and securities actually change hands.

Why it matters

Cash accounts can only reuse settled funds, which limits how often you can trade without a margin account.

Example

US equities settle T+1, so cash from a Monday sale is available Tuesday - relevant only for cash accounts, not margin.

How to track it in a journal

TradeStack calculates the core performance numbers — win rate, average win and loss, profit factor, expectancy, drawdown and consistency — automatically from imported trades, so settlement stops being something you estimate and becomes something you read.

Related terms

Slippage
The difference between your expected fill price and the price you actually get.
Spread
The gap between the best bid and the best ask.
Liquidity
How much size a market can absorb without moving price.
Volatility
How much price moves over a given period.

Questions that use this term

Keep reading

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Expectancy calculator
Expected profit per trade from your own numbers.
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Step-by-step exports for Tradovate, NinjaTrader, IBKR and more.
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