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In most cases the average investor wouldn’t burden himself with the spread. If you want to buy or sell a number of shares, figure out what you are willing to pay and place the order for that price, or just buy or sell the shares at the going market rate. We will cover this in the next section.

Ford Motor Company (F)

Order Specifications

Buying or selling stocks is as easy as contacting your stockbroker and placing the order, whether on the phone or online. However, when you place an order there are choices available to you to make sure your order is carried out exactly as you would like. One such choice is the amount you are willing to pay or to receive per share when you buy or sell. For that there are four options open to you:

• Market Order — Here you specify to buy or sell shares at the going rate when you place the order. This is the simplest of all orders and usually translates to immediate execution provided …