What Is a Limit Order Book? Definition and Data (2024)

What Is a Limit Order Book?

A limit order book is a record of outstanding limit orders maintained by the security specialist who works at the exchange. A limit order is a type oforderto buy or sell a security at a specific price or better. A buy limit order is an order to buy at a preset price or lower while a sell limit order is an order to sell a security at a pre-specified price or higher.

When a limit order for a security is entered, it is kept on record by the security specialist. As buy and sell limit orders for the security are given, the specialist keeps a record of all of these orders in the order book. The specialist executes the orders at or better than the given limit price when the market moves to the pre-specified price.

Key Takeaways

  • A limit order book is a record of outstanding limit orders maintained by the security specialist who works at the exchange.
  • A limit order is a type oforderto buy or sell a security at a specific price or better.
  • When a limit order for a security is entered, it is kept on record by the security specialist.
  • As buy and sell limit orders for the security are given, the specialist keeps a record of all of these orders in the order book.

Understanding a Limit Order Book

The specialist running the limit order book has the responsibility to guarantee that the top priority order is executed before other orders in the book, and before other orders at an equal or worse price held or submitted by other traders on the floor, such as floor brokers and market makers.

The specialist earns a profit off of the spread between the difference in prices between the bid and ask orders on their book as they execute the orders. With the advancements in trading system technologies, the process has shifted from a manual process to one that is largely automated.

Tracking Limit Orders

In 2000, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began to create a centralized limit order book that keeps track of limit orders on exchanges electronically. This electronic order tracking system automatically matches for the execution of the best possible pair of orders in the system. The best pair is made up of the highest bid, and the lowest ask orders.

The bid is the price the specialist or exchange will sell a security or the price at which an investor can buy the security. The ask or offer is the price at which the specialist or exchange will buy a security or the price at which the investor can sell the security.

When a limit order is entered into a trading system and fielded by either a specialist working the book or an electronic database of orders, it will stay on the books until it can be matched with a suitable trade and executed. Buy limit orders are placed with an upper price threshold. The investor would say "I don't want to pay more than $X for this share." Sell limit orders are placed with a lower price threshold. The investor would say "I don't want to sell this share for less than $X."

Limit Order Qualifiers

A limit order may include "qualifiers." Without qualifiers on an order, the request will be valid only for the market day, considered a "day order," and may expire without any purchase, or with only a partial fulfillment of shares.

If an investor's order states, "buy 10,000 shares of XYZ common @32," they have requested to buy 10,000 shares at $32 or a better price, the qualifier for this order.

If the investor's strategy requires 10,000 to be filled at any time at the requested price or better, it may be entered as "buy 10,000 shares XYZ @32 GTC." A "Good 'Til Cancelled" order instructs the market to acquire those shares until the order is canceled, even if the purchase is completed 100 shares at a time and over several weeks. The investor wants the order completed regardless of how long the market takes to fill the order.

Another qualifier is the AON, or "All of None." Investors may not want to risk only partially completing the order, so they use this qualifier to instruct the market to fill this order with all 10,000 shares as requested or buy none.

There are other types of order qualifiers that allow an investor to ensure the transaction is executed exactly in the manner that suits their particular investment objective, and in each case, define the "limits" the investor is putting on the market to make the trade.

Special Considerations

Investors are guaranteed to get the price if the order is triggered after the market moves to the specified level. However, there is no guarantee that the limit order will be executed. In other words, the order can only be filled if the price hits the price level. Limit orders are helpful to investors because they help ensure that they don't pay more for a security than the pre-set price initially established with the order.

What Is a Limit Order Book? Definition and Data (2024)

FAQs

What Is a Limit Order Book? Definition and Data? ›

A limit order book is a record of outstanding limit orders

orders
A stop-loss order is an order placed with a broker to buy or sell a specific stock once the stock reaches a certain price. A stop-loss is designed to limit an investor's loss on a security position. For example, setting a stop-loss order for 10% below the price at which you bought the stock will limit your loss to 10%.
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maintained by the security specialist who works at the exchange. A limit order is a type of order to buy or sell a security at a specific price or better.

What is the best definition of a limit order? ›

A limit order is an order to buy or sell a security at a specific price or better. A buy limit order can only be executed at the limit price or lower, and a sell limit order can only be executed at the limit price or higher.

What is limit order with example? ›

A limit order is the use of a pre-specified price to buy or sell a security. For example, if a trader is looking to buy XYZ's stock but has a limit of $14.50, they will only buy the stock at a price of $14.50 or lower.

When should you use a limit order? ›

A limit order works better when:

If you're looking to get a specific price for your stock, a limit order will ensure that the trade does not happen unless you get that price or better. You are able to wait for your price.

What are the levels of order book data? ›

While L1 data provides valuable insights into the best bid and ask prices, CoinAPI's Level 2 (L2) data takes it further by offering a more granular view of the order book. L2 data includes all bids and asks at different price levels, providing traders with a comprehensive understanding of the market depth.

How does limit order book work? ›

A limit order book is a record of outstanding limit orders maintained by the security specialist who works at the exchange. A limit order is a type of order to buy or sell a security at a specific price or better. When a limit order for a security is entered, it is kept on record by the security specialist.

What is the simplest definition of a limit? ›

limit, restrict, circ*mscribe, confine mean to set bounds for. limit implies setting a point or line (as in time, space, speed, or degree) beyond which something cannot or is not permitted to go. visits are limited to 30 minutes.

What are the 3 types of limit orders? ›

Limit Orders
  • Buy Limit: an order to purchase a security at or below a specified price. ...
  • Sell Limit: an order to sell a security at or above a specified price. ...
  • Buy Stop: an order to buy a security at a price above the current market bid. ...
  • Sell Stop: an order to sell a security at a price below the current market ask.

Why would you use a limit order? ›

The biggest advantage of the limit order is that you get to name your price, and if the stock reaches that price, the order will probably be filled. Sometimes the broker will even fill your order at a better price.

What is the key advantage of a limit order? ›

A buy limit order ensures the buyer does not get a worse price than they expect. Buy limit orders provide investors and traders with a means of precisely entering a position. For example, a buy limit order could be placed at $2.40 when a stock is trading at $2.45.

What is the disadvantage to using a limit order? ›

Limit order risks

Risk of no execution – Limit orders allow you to seek a specific price or better, but they do not guarantee that an execution will occur because the price may never reach your limit price.

What are the two types of limit orders? ›

A buy limit order can be executed only at or below the limit price; a sell limit order can be executed only at or above the limit price. This means you're guaranteed to get your limit price or a better price if your order is executed. However, there's a chance your order doesn't get executed at all.

What are the risks of a limit order? ›

If not, you continue to hold your shares unless you set a new limit order or use a market order to sell your holdings. The biggest risk of using a limit order instead of a market order is that a trade might never execute. A stock's price could suddenly rise or sharply decline based on a variety of factors.

What is the limit order book level? ›

The Limit Order Book allows traders to see the market depth, which is the number of orders that are available at each price level. This information can help traders to identify support and resistance levels in the market, which can be used to make trading decisions.

What is the order data? ›

Order Data means all data and information relating to Orders, including, without limitation, the specifics of a given transaction.

What is level 1 order book data? ›

Level 1 data, also known as Top of Book data, includes the best bid and best ask. If you are chart trading, this is the data you are using. Level 2 data, also known as Depth of Market data, includes 5-10 of the best bid and ask prices so you can see sell and buy orders waiting to be placed.

What is the official definition of a limit? ›

The formal statement says that the limit L is the number such that if you take numbers arbitrarily close to a (or, values of x within delta of a ) that the result of f applied to those numbers must be arbitrarily close to L (or, within epsilon of L ).

What is a limit order to buy quizlet? ›

A buy limit order can only be executed at the limit price or lower. For example, if an investor wants to buy a stock, but doesn't want to pay more than $20 for it, the investor can place a limit order to buy the stock at $20.

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