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How to Buy Stocks at Level 2

Posted by at 1:16 AM Read our previous post

1. Open up the level II trading window of the trading platform.
2. In the box for 'Symbol' enter a stock symbol.
3. In box for 'Position Size' or 'Shares' enter amount of shares to be purchased or sold.
4. To buy, choose a price to buy at and click on any box on the 'Ask' column. This will create an order to be sent at the price and destination clicked. Depending on the settings of the level II account, the order will create a pop-up of a summary of the order that the trader needs to confirm, or it will automatically send the order.
5. Selling is the exact method of Step 4, but the order is sent to the 'Bid' column.
6. A limit order is an order to buy or sell at a price different from the current best bid/ask.
For example, if the best bid from Stock XYZ is 99.50, that is the best current price to buy at. If you want to buy at 99.40, you need to enter a buy order at 99.40. To do this you can't click on the bid column at 99.40, since this will create a sell order. Therefore, you need to click on the desired price plus another key at the same time. Depending on the trading platforms, the 'other key' is usually 'alt,' 'control' or 'shift.'

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