What types of real-time trades are available through ShareBuilder?

When placing a real-time trade, you can choose between market, limit, and stop-loss order types. These types of orders are explained below:

Market Orders

A market order is an order to buy or sell a security at the available market price. When placed during market hours (9:30am to 4:00pm ET), a market order will be processed immediately. Market orders placed during non-market hours will be entered when the market opens.

Note: There may be a short delay between the time your trade is completed and the time your positions are updated online.

Limit Orders

A limit order is a request to buy or sell a security once a customer-specified price has been reached or surpassed. Once the target price has been reached or surpassed, ShareBuilder will execute the trade. A limit order is not the same as a stop-loss or stop-limit order.

Important: In certain circumstances, it may not be possible to fill a limit order in a single market day. In these cases, ShareBuilder may partially fill the order over multiple days, which can lead to multiple charges of the real-time trade commission.

Stop-Loss Orders

A stop-loss order is a request to sell a security once the market price reaches or falls below a customer-specified price. Once the target price has been reached or surpassed, ShareBuilder will then trigger a market order. A stop-loss order is typically used to sell a security to lock in profits if a security’s price falls or to limit losses on a security.

Note: Stop-loss orders are only available when selling a security to close a position.

For full commission details, please see the ShareBuilder Pricing & Rates.