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Market Order

In short

Buy or sell immediately at the current best available price

A market order says 'buy this stock right now at whatever price it's selling for.' You get filled immediately but might pay slightly more than you expected, especially for less liquid stocks.

Market orders execute immediately at the best available price. They guarantee execution but not price. In illiquid stocks or fast markets, you may experience significant slippage between the quoted price and your fill price.

Related concepts

  • Limit Order — A limit order says 'buy this stock, but only if the price drops to $50 or less.' You control the price but risk not getting filled if the stock never hits your target.
  • Slippage — You see a stock at $50 and hit buy. By the time your order fills, it's $50.08. That $0.08 is slippage — the price moved between when you decided to buy and when the order actually filled.
  • Bid-Ask Spread — The bid is what buyers will pay; the ask is what sellers want. If the bid is $99.95 and the ask is $100.05, the spread is $0.10. Every time you trade, you pay this spread as a hidden transaction cost.
  • Order Status — After placing an order, it goes through stages: pending (just submitted), open (waiting to fill), partial (partly filled), filled (complete), or cancelled. You can monitor these in your order history.