Market order
An order to buy or sell immediately at the best prices currently available, which guarantees speed but not price.
A market order is matched straight away against the waiting orders on the other side of the order book. If the best order is too small, the rest fills at the next prices, so a large market order can have an average price worse than the last traded price.
Market orders are risky in thinly traded shares and in fast-moving markets.
Learn more in these lessons
- Market orders and limit ordersWhat is the difference between a market order and a limit order?
- Stop-loss and stop-limit ordersHow does a stop-loss order work?
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