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 are Limit Order, Sell Limi...7 Views
Finance a la shmoop what is a limit order? you want to sell a thousand shares
of Colonel electric it was demoted after they cut their dividend the shares have [Scissors cuts dividend in half]
been trading wildly between $15 and $25 a share you don't want to feel like a
moron for having sold them at fifteen bucks when six weeks later they kissed
25 with tongue so what do you do well you put in a limit order that is you put
a limit of a minimum price of 25 bucks a share for Colonel Electric such that [Pile of stocks appear]
those shares will simply sit in your account unsold maybe forever until
somebody out in the wild blue yonder of Stockland is willing to pay twenty five [Woman standing at a colonel electric stand]
dollars or more for the shares where you have a minimum price limit of 25 bucks a
share in your order so here's to hoping they sell and don't get further demoted [Man carries stock into car]
Sargent Electric is just a place you don't want to go
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