I rarely use MKT orders, but when I do, they seem slower on the NYSE & AMEX the nasdaq is close, if I remember
I'd like to know the answer to that also. I plan on checking it out by putting in identical orders but off by one hundred, so I can tell which is which , of stop and stop limit orders and see how they fill. After ten or twenty trades like this I should know the answer. I know one should always use multiples of one hundred share lots all the time or else the routing changes. I have a feeling that although market orders are supposed to take precedence, the latitude it can give market makers to wait on your order can actually result in slower or worse order execution. This is especially true in thinner/faster markets. There is probably no simple answer to your question. *********************************************** "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." - Ernest Hemingway
Limit orders are handled electronically, and therefore have the potential to be executed immediately, whereas Market orders go through a human, and would generally be slower