The quickest order (but usually not the best) is a market order. This is an order to buy or sell at the current bid(buy) / ask(sell). Market orders are filled according to the time they reach the exchange. A 9:32 market order on XXXX stock will be filled before a 9:33 market order on XXXX.

Nasdaq stocks are all bought and sold electronically. That is, when an order is placed to buy or sell a stock it is immediately matched up with the best priced Market Maker or ECN Electronic Communication Network).

The New York Stock Exchange is a specialists exchange. That is, your order goes to an individual on the floor of the NYSE. It is his job to maintain order and liquidity in the stock he specializes in AND put money in his pocket (they never tell you that).

Now here comes the problem for little online stock buyer...YOU.

You see stock XXXX trading at $50 so you call your broker or click on your buy button at your online account for a market order to buy XXXX at $50 for 200 shares and boom, your confirmed at 50.18 or even worse.

What happened? You just paid full Retail for the stock. Extra $36 bucks right out of YOUR pocket. The price was actually 50 bid and 50.18 ask on XXXX stock. You seen $50 on your quote "streamer" but you placed a market order to buy. And where do you buy...that's right from the best priced seller(ask), which in this case is $50.18

Can you imagine what happens when your order is placed in "the hand" of someone on the NYSE floor? Lets just say he is not looking out for your best interest.

Now if you had used a LIMIT order to buy 200 shares of XXXX at 50.01, guess what. Yep, your order is placed as the best BID (50.01 is better than 50) and the first rookie trader that comes along and places a market order to sell his XXXX stock is boom...confirmed at your best bid (50.01) when he could have gotten a higher sales price.

Get the picture, now your taking the money instead of giving it. You could have also used a stop buy, a stop sell, a stop limit buy or a stop limit sell. If you ever buy or sell a stock you need to at least know the basics.