Real-Time Trades

For investors who would like to place an order subject to the ongoing markets, ShareBuilder offers the ability to Trade Now. Orders placed during non-market hours will be entered when the markets next open.

To Trade Now, please follow the instructions below:

1. Navigate to Trade > Trade Now (sign in required).
2. Select an Action (Buy or Sell).
3. Enter the Symbol and # of Shares you want to trade.
4. Select an Order Type.
5. Select a Funding Source.
6. Click Next to review order details.
7. Once you have verified your order, click Place Order.

Once you have placed your order, you can check its status by navigating to Trade > Order Status (sign in required).

Note: For buy orders, funds must be available at the time the order is placed unless you are using Express Funding. For full commission details, please see our pricing and rates.

Online trades – real-time buys and sells of stocks and ETFs (exchange-traded funds) – are $6.95. Old school phone trades cost $19.95. Other costs may apply. For more details, see our Pricing & Rates.

When placing a trade, you can choose between market, limit, and stop-loss order types. Click here to learn more about them.

A market order lets you buy or sell a security at the price currently available in the marketplace. When you place an order during normal market hours (9:30 AM to 4:00 PM ET), a market order typically executes within seconds. When you place a market order during non-market hours, we'll enter it when the market opens, so it executes as soon as possible. When you place a market order you are not guaranteed that the order will execute at any specific price.

Tip: You may see a short delay between the time you complete your trade and the time your holdings update within your ShareBuilder account.

The transaction cost for placing a market order depends on the pricing program you've picked. For full transaction cost details, please see our Pricing & Rates.

When you set a specific price to trigger a buy or sell order, it's called a limit order. For example, let's say you want to buy a stock for $5.00 or less. You can enter a buy limit order at $5.00, and we'll only purchase the stock if it trades at $5.00 or less per share. If the stock trades above that price, the order won't fill.

For a sell limit order, let's say you want to sell a stock at $10.00 or higher per share. You can create a sell limit order, and we'll sell your shares if the stock is trading at $10 or above.

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.

For full transaction cost details, check out our Pricing & Rates.

If you would like to sell, you must do so through the Trade Now section (sells are not permitted in the Automatic Investment Plan).

To place a sell order, please follow the instructions below:

1. Navigate to Trade > Trade Now (sign in required)
2. If you have more than one account, select the appropriate Account from the drop-down.
3. For the Action, select Sell.
4. Select the Symbol from the list of available stocks and enter the Number of Shares you want to trade (or check Sell all).
5. Select the Order Type (Market, Limit, Stop-Loss, or Stop-Limit).
6. If you selected Limit, Stop-Loss, or Stop-Limit, enter the limit and/or stop price as necessary and select the Order Expiration.
7. Click Next to review order details.
8. Click Place Order if all of the details are correct.

Once you have placed your order, you can check its status by navigating to Trade > Order Status (sign in required). Orders placed during non-market hours will be entered when the markets next open.

If you would like to withdraw the funds after your sell order has processed, you can submit a request by navigating to Accounts > Transfer Money > Deposit & Withdrawal (sign in required); the request will be processed after the trade's settlement date.

Notes:

• Bank-only holidays such as Columbus Day and Veterans Day are not considered settlement days. To view a list of all market holidays, see our Holiday Calendar.
• If you are selling less than one full share of stock in total and your request is received during market hours, the partial share will be sold at the closing price for that market day. If a request is received after the market has closed, it will be processed at the closing price for the following market day.
• For sell orders where the proceeds are less than the commission, the entire proceeds less $0.01 are taken as the commission. In other words, even if the stock is worth less than the commission, you will still receive $0.01 in exchange for your shares.

For full commission details, please see our pricing and rates.

A limit order will not execute until after the bid or ask price (for sells and buys, respectively) has been met or surpassed. When this happens, ShareBuilder will attempt to complete your trade. If all shares can be traded, then the order will be filled and a trade confirmation will be generated.

In some cases, the price of the security may fluctuate before all shares of the limit order can be traded, particularly for large share amounts. If this occurs, we'll leave the order open to see if the price returns to the limit parameters. If it does, then we will continue to fill the order. If it does not and the end of the market day is reached, then the partially filled limit order is closed for the day. The ShareBuilder account portfolio positions are updated, a trade confirmation is generated for that day's activity and the real-time trade commission is charged.

The next steps are determined by the order expiration settings:

• Order set to expire at end of day: The order is closed and no further action will be taken. You may set up a new limit order if you wish to continue trading.
• Order is set as "Good Until Cancel": We will continue to fill the remainder of the order on subsequent market days until the order is completely filled or until the default expiration date is reached (60 days after the order was placed) or until the order is manually canceled online. For every day that trading occurs for this open limit order, a trade confirmation will be generated and the real-time trade commission will be charged.

If you'd like to view recent trades within your ShareBuilder account, go to Trade > Order Status (sign in required). The default setting lets you view every order you've made during the past 60 days (although you can change these settings).

The possible order statuses are:

• Open – You've sent the order to market. But, the order hasn't filled yet. With the exception of market orders placed during market hours, orders with a status of open may be cancelled.
• Execution Received – This means that all or a portion of your order has been filled. Review the Details link to determine how many shares (or contracts) have been executed.
• Posted – We've filled your order. To view a trade confirmation, go to Trade > Trade Confirmations (sign in required).
• Canceled – Your order is cancelled. In the case of buy orders, any funds reserved by this order are now available for other uses.

If your order status is Open, (i.e. all or a portion of the order has yet to be filled) you may be able to submit a cancellation request. Here's how to do it:

1. Navigate to Trade > Order Status (sign in required)
2. Locate the order you want to cancel and click the Detail link.
3. On the Order Details screen, click the Cancel Order link.

Note: You will know that the order was successfully canceled once the status indicator changes to "canceled." All cancellations are subject to prior execution.