When you want to buy or sell a security, you need to choose between Value order or Number of shares.
- When you select "Value", this is the monetary value of the buy/sell order, i.e., the amount you want to receive when selling or spend when buying.
- If you select "Number of shares", this is the quantity of the order you're placing.
To switch between the two types when placing an order, tap on the arrow 👇
Why can't I choose the quantity I want?
Number of shares
When you're buying, if the quantity you're including is too close to your total free funds, the order will be converted from "Number of shares" into "Value". This is done to protect you from buying more than you can afford in case the price goes up quickly.
💡 Example
You're trying to place a quantity worth nearly 95% of your free funds. The slider will round it down to protect you from a negative balance. If you input a quantity worth more than 95% of your free funds, the slider will round it up to 100% and convert the order into a "Value" order.
Value order
When selling, selecting a value worth more than 95% of your position size will result in rounding the value to 100% by converting your 'value' order to a 'number of shares' order. Since a change in the price of the instrument changes the value of the order, this lets you close your entire position without being impacted by price changes.
How do I invest all of my free funds?
Number of shares
Dragging the slider to the maximum amount will convert the order to value order, utilizing all of your free funds and protecting you from a negative balance in case of a sudden market movement.
Value
Dragging the slider to the max amount will utilise all your free funds.