What is a market order for options?
Last updated: 12 August 2026
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A market order is an order to buy or sell a stock at the market's current best available price at the time of entry. Investors use market orders when execution speed is a priority over the price of execution (or they wish to ensure execution that may not occur with a limit order).
When choosing a market order for options, you must have buying power equal to at least 1.3x the price of the security. This ensures you can cover any increase in the price due to a sudden market move upon placing your order. For example, if an option is trading at $100 per contract, you would need $130 in available buying power to place a market order.
Market orders entered after hours will execute when the market opens the following day. It is important to consider the opening price of a security may be vastly different from the previous day's close for various reasons like news or events.
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