An order to buy a stock or security at a specific price above the current market price. This sort of order can help you avoid losses if a stock goes up a lot after a short sale.
Example
You shorted MSFT at $24. If it goes up a lot, you don't want to be crushed. So you put a buy stop at $27 so that the most you can lose (forgetting the cost of the borrow and commissions) is $3 a share.
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Finance: What are Limit Order, Sell Limi...7 Views
Finance a la shmoop what is a limit order? you want to sell a thousand shares
of Colonel electric it was demoted after they cut their dividend the shares have [Scissors cuts dividend in half]
been trading wildly between $15 and $25 a share you don't want to feel like a
moron for having sold them at fifteen bucks when six weeks later they kissed
25 with tongue so what do you do well you put in a limit order that is you put
a limit of a minimum price of 25 bucks a share for Colonel Electric such that [Pile of stocks appear]
those shares will simply sit in your account unsold maybe forever until
somebody out in the wild blue yonder of Stockland is willing to pay twenty five [Woman standing at a colonel electric stand]
dollars or more for the shares where you have a minimum price limit of 25 bucks a
share in your order so here's to hoping they sell and don't get further demoted [Man carries stock into car]
Sargent Electric is just a place you don't want to go
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