# Placing a market order

A [Market Order](https://app.gitbook.com/s/wWEmmwfu1OHqqV59CxFM/trading-basics/order-types#market-orders) is an order to buy or sell a financial asset that will execute immediately at the current market price determined by the orderbook at the time an order is processed by the matching engine. 

## Placing a market order

To execute a market order:

1. Click **Buy** or **Sell**.
2. In the *Amount* field, click the **Select Instrument** drop-down list to select the proper instrument for your trade. After selecting the instrument, the screen presents the *Amount* and *Collateral* fields.
3. Type an amount to trade in either the *Amount* or *Collateral* field. Only type in one field. Typing in one field will auto-complete the other field.
4. Drag the **Leverage Slider** to your desired position leverage, up to 10x.
5. Click the **Slippage** percentage amount from the selections presented or click **Custom** to type a custom percentage.
6. (Optional) To use the Export Mode options, see [Add Expert Mode Order Options](#expert-market-order-options).
7. Review your order summary to confirm your selections.
8. Click **Place Order** to execute your order.

*Note: Market orders* *do not guarantee execution at a specific price, as the price may fluctuate before the order is processed by the matching engine. Therefore, the price at which a market order is filled may differ from the estimated price displayed on the website.*

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### Adding expert mode order options

By selecting the expert mode option, you have the ability to adjust your trade by TWAP or VWAP algorithms.

* **TWAP**: TWAP stands for "Time-Weighted Average Price". The TWAP algorithm is used to execute trades over a specific period of time, such as a day, by dividing the trade into smaller orders and executing them gradually over time.
* **VWAP**: VWAP stands for “Volume-Weighted Average Price”. The VWAP algorithm calculates the average price of an asset based on the total volume of trades that occur during a specified time period. The VWAP is calculated by dividing the total value of trades by the total volume of trades, which gives an average price for the asset based on its trading volume.

To add expert mode settings to your trade:

1. Follow the steps in [Place a Market Order](#place-a-market-order).
2. Before completing the order (that is, do not yet click Place Order), select the **Expert Mode** toggle to enable this mode.&#x20;
3. Select from the following options under *Algo parameters*:
   1. Select either **VWAP** or **TWA**.
   2. *Now* is the only option in the center menu.
   3. Select a time frame from the right dropdown list. The default is 8 hours.
4. Click **Place Order**.