Market order

Used in the context of general equities. Order to buy or sell a stated amount of a security at the most advantageous price obtainable after the order is represented in the trading crowd. You cannot specify special restrictions such as all or none (AON) or good 'til canceled order (GTC) on market orders. See: Limit order.

Market Order

An order to buy or sell a security at the best price available when the order is made. Brokers who execute these orders must make a good faith effort to find the best possible price. It is also called an at-the-market order.

market order

A customer order for immediate execution at the best price available when the order reaches the marketplace. This, the most common type of order, has the advantage of nearly always being filled because no price is specified. Compare limit order. See also elect, stop order.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.

Market order.

When you tell your broker to buy or sell a security at the market, or current market price, you are giving a market order. The broker initiates the trade immediately.

The amount you pay or receive is determined by the number of shares and the current bid or ask price. Market orders, which account for the majority of trades, differ from limit orders to buy or sell, in which a price is specified.

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References in periodicals archive

It may even require a policy of limit orders only so that investors are not whipsawed by price discontinuities or bedeviled by the question of what exactly constitutes a market order and how long those are good for.

A Forecast: Trading in 2001: Of Markets and Mania

I'm not sure whether this weakening of anti-capitalist rhetoric is ironic, but it is worth thinking about as the century in which the market order overcame its most powerful challenges draws to a close.

Isn't it ironic?

Stop order: An order that becomes a market order to buy (buy stop) or to sell (sell stop) when a stock trades at a specified price, known as the stop price.

Setting limits