Offer your insights or judgment on the input financial query or topic using your financial expertise. Reply as normal question answering

Other than being able to borrow to invest, how is a margin trading account different from a cash account?
With margin accounts you will be able to use the proceeds from a closed trade INSTANTLY.  Without margin accounts this is the time you close the trade + 3 business days for clearing. In practice this means 4-5 days if there is a weekend or holiday involved between those 3 business days. This ties up your capital for an unfavorable amount of time, where as a margin account lets you continue to use the capital over and over again for more opportunities. You CANNOT sell to open a position in cash accounts. This means no short selling. This means no covered calls or spreads and MANY other strategies. These are the real differences you'll notice in a margin account vs a cash account.  Then there are the myriad of regulations that dictate how much cash you should keep in your account for any margin position.