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SIE Orders and Strategies

Orders and strategies tests order types and what each guarantees. A market order guarantees execution but not price; a limit order guarantees price but not execution. Stop orders convert to market or limit orders once triggered, and the exam consistently checks which side of the market each protects.

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Understanding Trading, Customer Accounts and Prohibited Activities · 31%151 questions11% hard
31%of the exam is Understanding Trading, Customer Accounts and Prohibited Activities, the section this topic sits in.
151questions on this topic in the PrepScore bank.
36%are understand-level questions — the dominant cognitive demand here.
7are EXCEPT / NOT items, where the answer is the odd one out.
What the SIE asks

What you actually need to know

  • Market versus limit: which guarantees execution and which guarantees price.
  • Buy stops above the market, sell stops below — and the positions each protects.
  • Stop-limit orders, and how they can fail to execute in a fast market.
  • Order qualifiers: day, GTC, all-or-none, fill-or-kill, immediate-or-cancel.
How this topic behaves

What 151 questions on it look like

31% of the questions are straight recall. Flashcards move this topic faster than working problems does.

sequence100%

Question-type mix across the 151 questions in this topic.

From the bank

Three real orders and strategies questions

With the explanation — which is the part that teaches.

sequence · easy · understand

Which characteristic best describes a market order?

  1. AIt guarantees the customer a specific execution price but not execution itself
  2. BIt remains dormant until a trigger price is reached
  3. CIt guarantees execution but not a specific pricecorrect
  4. DIt guarantees both a specific price and immediate execution
Why C is correct

A market order prioritizes speed and certainty of execution; it fills immediately at the best available price but does not guarantee any particular price. Only stop orders sit dormant until triggered.

sequence · easy · analyze

An investor's primary goal is to be certain her order fills before the market closes, and she is willing to accept whatever the prevailing price is. Which order type best matches this objective?

  1. AA sell stop order
  2. BA stop-limit order
  3. CA market ordercorrect
  4. DA limit order
Why C is correct

When certainty of execution matters more than the exact price, a market order is appropriate because it fills immediately at the best available price. Limit and stop-limit orders may go unfilled if the price condition is not met.

sequence · easy · understand

What does a limit order prioritize, and what is the associated trade-off?

  1. APrice, at the cost of an uncertain execution that may never fillcorrect
  2. BBoth price and execution, with no trade-off
  3. CSpeed of execution, at the cost of an uncertain price
  4. DAnonymity, at the cost of a delayed report
Why A is correct

A limit order sets the maximum price for a buy or the minimum price for a sell, prioritizing price. The trade-off is execution certainty: if the market never reaches the limit, the order does not fill.

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FAQ

Orders and Strategies questions

What does a market order guarantee?

Execution, not price. It fills at the best available price, which in a fast-moving market may be well away from the quote the customer saw.

What is a sell stop used for?

Protecting a long position or limiting loss on it. It sits below the current market and becomes a market order once the stop price is touched.

Can a stop-limit order go unfilled?

Yes. Once triggered it becomes a limit order, so if the market moves past the limit price it may never execute.
Last reviewed 2026-08-28. Exam facts sourced to FINRA’s SIE exam page and the FINRA SIE content outline. Question counts describe the PrepScore bank, not the exam.
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