Not-Held Order

A waiter asks you what you want for dinner. You say, "whatever you think is best." You figure...he's the expert. He works at the restaurant every day. He's tasted all the food...or at least seen it all get made. He's in a better position than you to decide what meal is the tastiest.

That’s the food equivalent of a not-held order.

The financial equivalent involves an investor giving their broker wide leeway in buying stocks (or other securities) on their behalf. Basically, you tell your broker, "whatever you think is best."

The not-held order gives your broker the ability to pick the time and price at which to fill the order. You might say, "Get me 100 shares of AMZN." If it's a not-held order, the broker can than wait to pick the best spot to buy the 100 shares. So you might not get the shares at the current market price; the trader might wait for a better time to get the stock at a better price.

With a not-held order, the broker isn't liable for any mistakes they might make. If they think they can get a better price by waiting, and shares go up in the meantime, you can't sue them for missing out on the lower price. You put your faith in them, and you have to trust that they did the best they can. (Unless, of course, you can prove actual negligence or fraud...but if they made a good-faith effort to get you the best price, they aren't liable for an adverse turn of events.)