Fill
Basics
What it means
The moment your order is matched and executed. The fill price is the actual price you got, which may differ from the price you saw.
Example
You place a market buy for 100 shares when the screen shows $150.00. The fill comes back at $150.12 because the asks were thin and the price slipped as your order consumed them.
Mistake beginners make
Beginners assume the fill equals the price they saw on screen. It rarely does, especially on market orders in fast or thin markets.
Related terms
- Order — An instruction you send to your broker to buy or sell an asset. The order specifies what t…
- Execution — The whole process of getting your order filled: routing it, matching it, and reporting the…
- Slippage — The difference between the price you expected and the price you actually got. It happens w…