You can use market data to help determine a fair price for your buy order. The Open Orders table shows current buy and sell orders, while the Recent Trades table shows completed transactions.
Here’s how to use that data:
Orders match when your buy price equals or exceeds someone’s sell price
Buy Orders reflect what other investors are currently willing to pay
Sell Orders reflect what other investors are asking to receive
To buy shares quickly:
Set your buy price at or above the lowest listed sell price. For example, if the lowest sell order is $11.20, placing your buy order at $11.20 (or higher) increases your chance of an immediate match.
To buy at a better price:
You can place a buy order at a price between the highest current buy order and the lowest sell order. These orders may take longer to match, depending on market activity.
To buy a lot of shares:
Set your price at or above the lowest price where enough shares are available.
Other tips for placing your order:
Orders far from current prices may take longer to match, or may not match at all during the trading window
All orders are limit orders, meaning they’ll only execute at your specified price or better.
Once orders are matched, they cannot be cancelled.
Any orders not matched during the current trading window will be cancelled at the end of the week.