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Market order

An order to buy or sell immediately at the best available price, with no price guarantee.

Market, limit and stop ordersA price track crossing a resting limit order below the market and a stop order above it.10410210098PriceTime (the market moves left to right)priceSTOP BUY at 103.00waits above the market; becomes a market order when touchedtriggers hereMARKET ORDERfills at once at 100.60filled hereLIMIT BUY at 98.50rests below; fills only at 98.50 or better
Market, limit and stop orders. A market order buys straight away at whatever price is there. A limit order waits below until the price comes to it, and a stop order sits above and turns into a market order the moment price touches it.

A market order prioritizes speed over price. It takes whatever is on the other side of the order-book: the ask if buying, the bid if selling, then the next levels if your size is bigger than what is quoted.

It guarantees a fill in a normal market but not a price. In thin or fast markets the slippage can be large.

Example: you send a market buy for 2,000 shares. 800 fill at $15.10, 700 at $15.12, and 500 at $15.15. Your average is $15.12, above the $15.10 you saw on screen.

Related: limit-order, slippage, fill, bid, ask

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