Real-time trading explained
Real-time trading means buying and selling on live prices that update the moment trades happen, instead of quotes delayed by 15 to 20 minutes. Orders fill at the current price in seconds, so speed, spreads and slippage matter.
Real-time versus delayed quotes
Exchanges sell real-time data; many free sites show prices 15 to 20 minutes old. For long-term investing that hardly matters. For day trading it's the difference between seeing the market and seeing where it was.
What happens when you place a trade
A market order fills straight away at the best available price. A limit order waits until the price reaches your limit. In a fast market the price can move between the moment you click and the moment the order fills, which is slippage.
Practising real-time trading
In Journey Shares every trade fills instantly on a bonding curve and moves the price the moment it lands, so you can watch your own order push a price up or down. Big orders relative to the pool show slippage clearly.
Common questions
Is real-time trading the same as day trading?
No. Real-time trading means trading on live prices; day trading is a strategy of opening and closing positions within one day. Day traders need real-time data, but so does anyone who wants current prices.
Are prices in Journey Shares real time?
Yes. Trades fill instantly and move the price immediately. The prices come only from players' trading, not from real stock markets.
Key terms
- Real-time quote
- : A real-time quote is a stock's current price as trades happen, as opposed to a delayed quote that lags by 15 to 20 minutes.
- Market order
- : A market order buys or sells straight away at the best price available, trading certainty of filling for certainty of price.
- Limit order
- : A limit order buys or sells only at a set price or better, so you control the price but it may never fill.
- Slippage
- : Slippage is the difference between the price you expected and the price you actually got on a trade.
- Bid-ask spread
- : The bid is the highest price a buyer will pay right now, the ask is the lowest price a seller will accept, and the spread is the gap between them.
- Day trading
- : Day trading is buying and selling within the same day to profit from short price moves, closing every position before the market closes.
- Liquidity
- : Liquidity is how easily something can be bought or sold quickly without moving its price much.
See also
- Today's biggest movers
- Live prices
- How to learn to trade stocks without risking money
- Free stock market simulator: what to look for
- Paper trading vs real trading
- Streamer stocks: trading Destiny, Hasan Piker and other commentators
- Economics glossary for college students
- How stock prices are set
- Teaching economics with a stock market game
Practise with $10,000 in play money
Free. No real money involved.
For learning only. This isn't financial advice.