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When only some of the shares in your order get bought or sold, leaving the rest unfilled.
Why It Matters
You won't always get every share you asked for at once. If you place a limit order for 100 shares but only 60 are available at your price, you get a partial fill of 60, and the remaining 40 stay open until they fill, get cancelled, or expire. Partial fills are most common on thinly-traded stocks or large orders. An 'all or none' instruction tells the system to reject the order unless it can fill completely.
Key Points
- You receive some shares now, the rest stay open
- Most common on low-liquidity stocks or large orders
- An 'all or none' instruction prevents partial fills
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How Stock Orders Work
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Related Terms
Common Questions
When only some of the shares in your order get bought or sold, leaving the rest unfilled. You won't always get every share you asked for at once. If you place a limit order for 100 shares but only 60 are available at your price, you get a partial fill of 60, and the remaining 40 stay open until they fill, get cancelled, or expire.
You won't always get every share you asked for at once. If you place a limit order for 100 shares but only 60 are available at your price, you get a partial fill of 60, and the remaining 40 stay open until they fill, get cancelled, or expire. Partial fills are most common on thinly-traded stocks or large orders. An 'all or none' instruction tells the system to reject the order unless it can fill completely.
You receive some shares now, the rest stay open
Most common on low-liquidity stocks or large orders
An 'all or none' instruction prevents partial fills