What is Limit order?
An order that only executes at your price or better, and can sit unfilled.
A limit order adds liquidity to the book and protects you from slippage, at the cost of uncertainty: the market may never reach your price.
A market order does the opposite — certain to fill, uncertain price. Which one is right depends on whether you care more about execution or certainty.
Related terms
- Market orderTrading
An order that executes immediately at the best available price, consuming the book.
- Order bookTrading
The standing bids and asks at each price on an exchange, and the size waiting there.
- SlippageTrading
The difference between the price you expected and the price you got, from moving the book yourself.