Season 1Episode 142:05
Market, limit, cancel: what does each one solve?
Your next step
Fees, minimum orders and withdrawal routes differ between exchanges. Compare them side by side before you choose.
Key takeaways
A market order fills fast at the prices available now; the final price can move.
A limit order caps your price, but it may not fill.
Cancel only affects the unfilled part; what already filled stays.
Quick check
Your limit order is half filled and you cancel it. What happens?
Try it yourself
Place a virtual limit order, watch it partly fill, then cancel the remaining quantity.
Show the answer
Even at a suitable price, filling depends on available quantity and more. A cancel can't reverse what already filled.
Transcript
- Sam
I hit Buy. Why isn't it filling?
- Nexubo
A market order tries to fill quickly at the prices available now, but the final price can move. A limit order says 'buy no higher' or 'sell no lower' than a set price. It isn't guaranteed to fill.
- Narrator
If you want to buy below the current price, you may have to wait. On the other hand, a limit order that already meets the other side's price can fill right away. Not every limit order has to wait in line.
- Sam
So does cancelling undo what I already bought?
- Nexubo
No. Cancel only affects the part that hasn't filled. What already filled stays. It doesn't rewind.
- Narrator
Read the status before you act. Whether you're the maker or the taker depends on how the trade actually filled. Choosing 'limit' doesn't automatically get you a certain fee.
- Sam
No.
- Nexubo
Choosing an order type is choosing how it executes. It's not making a wish.
- Narrator
A green candle. Does it mean the next one goes up too? Next episode.
- Narrator
Understand first, then act.