Stocks and other securities go up and down in price all day long. If you happen to order yours at the close of the market (at the end of business hours), you have an at-the-close order, and you'll generally be paying the closing price for the day (this can be bad news or good news, depending on what the closing price was).
It may be easier to think of it in terms of fast food: If Big Mac prices changed every minute, and you ordered one at the close (midnight at your local McDonalds), the burger flippers' clerk would scream your name at 11:59PM. Whatever the price for Big Macs was at that moment would be the price you'd be charged.
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Finance: What Does "Away from the Market...3 Views
finance a la shmoop what does away from the market mean? limit orders that's what
this one's about you want to buy a hundred shares of amazork the finest [Person on computer looking at amazork]
seller of werewolf catching nets on the web but you don't want to pay more than
a grand a share for them and those shares are volatile, on days when there's
a full moon the stock shoots to 1,200 on days when the moon barely shows up the
stock often craters to right around a thousand so you put in your limit order
which is away from the market... Amazork is trading at $1,187 a share
this moment thanks to a half moon and you think it'll be two thousand dollars [Line increasing on graph of Amazork shark price]
a share in five years if what all those crazy astronomers are saying actually
holds water well but you want to be able to buy it at the right price you'll feel
like an idiot if you just pay 1,187 and then three months from now it's at 998
and you overpaid by 20-ish percent so you put in a limit order that is away [Man discussing limit orders]
from the market and note that away from the market can also work on a sell order
that's higher than market and you think about that for when the stock gets to
2000 so you wait and you wait preferably indoors and you know away from any open [Woman sitting by window and werewolf appears]
windows
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