What Is Market Order?
A market order is an instruction to buy or sell an asset immediately at whatever price the market is offering. Execution is virtually guaranteed on liquid instruments, but the fill price can vary from the displayed quote — especially in fast markets or thin order books.
The risk of market orders is slippage: getting filled at a worse price than expected because liquidity at the desired price level wasn't sufficient. On a liquid stock like SPY, slippage is typically a fraction of a cent. On illiquid altcoins or small-cap stocks, slippage can be several percent.
Market orders are appropriate when speed matters more than price — for example, exiting on a stop-loss trigger or entering a fast-moving breakout. For position entries with time to spare, limit orders almost always produce better fills.
Related terms
- Limit Order — An order to buy or sell at a specified price or better — guarantees price, not execution.
- Slippage — The difference between the expected fill price of an order and the actual execution price.
- Liquidity — The ease with which an asset can be bought or sold without significantly affecting its price.