Generally, we are able to sell a stock at the same price that we asked to. Though, in significantly volatile market, sometimes, it can be a matter of seconds which can lead us to a huge financial loss. For example: Everybody sells just a second before you close your “buy” order. If you wanted to close the security for 783.61, it might actually close for 710.21, leading to a significant loss.
The financial market operates solely by the buying and selling activity of the traders. If the number of buyers is increasing (high demand), then the price will be going up. And, similarly, if the number of sellers is increasing (low demand), then the price goes down. It’s as simple as that. In case everyone is selling the stock at the same time, not everybody is going to get to sell the stock at the same price.
It is possible for a stock to have no buyers at all. The situation seldom strikes Forex Markets, and the stocks on a major exchange like the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ. Tokyo Stock Exchange. Typically, this happens in thinly traded stocks on the pink sheets or over-the-counter bulletin board (OTCBB).
When there are no buyers at all in the market, you won’t be able to sell your shares. You’ll be stuck until there is at least some buying interest from other investors. A buyer could appear within a few seconds, or it could even take hours, days, or even weeks in case of most “thinly traded” stocks.
Usually, in each and every moment, someone is willing to buy somewhere. Though, it just may not be at the price the seller wants. There will be a huge supply of stocks, causing the prices to drop by a big margin. And, in order to seek those stocks there will have to be buyers. And, the most important question: Why are those people selling?
- If they are selling the shares because of recent news, it is unlikely that anybody is going to buy them unless the price shows any appealing signal to get corrected towards its up.
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This happens regardless of the broker. The only thing a broker does, is to place your order in the marketplace so it can transact with other orders. The broker itself does not typically try to solicit a trade in a stock. Meaning that your decisions to buy and sell are up to you, and the broker just facilitates those decisions.
Most of the market makers are not going to buy something if they don’t think they can make any profit on it, which means prices will drop as far as they have to, in order to entice buyers back in.
