Brokerage FAQs

You can trade stocks & ETFS, mutual funds, and options by clicking on the Transactions drop down at the top of page after logging in. A prominent Trade screen with tabs for Stocks & ETFs, Mutual Funds or Options order entry pages will display. If you have multiple brokerage accounts, you will be prompted to select the appropriate account from the drop-down menu. You may then fill in the necessary fields to complete the desired trade.

Open orders as well as transaction history are located on the Activity page after logging into your account.

All stock trades settle the following business day, in or out of the accompanying money market sweep account. For example, a stock sold Monday would be processed during Tuesday's overnight cycle; it would then be visible in the sweep account the following day on Wednesday, after Tuesday's overnight cycle is completed.

Option trades and many mutual fund trades settle the following business day. Prior to settlement, pending debit or credit balances are represented on Account Details in the Key Values table as Trade Date Balance.

To identify a specific lot of shares when placing an order to sell, select Change to the right of the cost basis method shown under the Symbol entry box on the new order screen. This option will only appear after the symbol and quantity of your trade have been entered. 

While T. Rowe Price Brokerage provides trading capabilities for many mutual funds, mutual funds subject to a front-end or back-end load (sales charge) cannot be traded online. As of January 1, 2018, T. Rowe Price Brokerage does not allow new load fund purchases, but investors who previously purchased a load fund or transferred a load fund position to T. Rowe Price may purchase additional shares of that fund only, and redeem any load fund position help in their account. Contact a T. Rowe Price representative to place a to place a load fund transaction.

A market order indicates that you want to buy or sell a stock at the next best available price. A market order does not guarantee a price, but generally guarantees an immediate execution if placed during market hours (9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. ET). As such, a market order entered during market hours can rarely be canceled. By definition a market order is executed as soon as possible at the prevailing market price, subject to fluctuations of the market. A market order placed after hours may be executed at a price significantly different from the closing price. You may consider placing a limit order in lieu of a market order if you want to ensure that your order does not get filled at a price dramatically different than the current price Note: Market orders are only accepted with a time in force of one day. Market orders entered after market hours are routed to the appropriate exchange prior to market opening and are generally entitled to the opening price. 

A limit order indicates that you want to buy or sell a stock at a specific price or better. Limit orders do not guarantee execution, but may be employed to avoid exposure to market fluctuation. Enter a limit order in lieu of a market order if you are comfortable risking that the order may not execute, but want to ensure that the order does not get filled at a price dramatically different than the current price. A limit buy order must execute at or below its prescribed limit price, a limit sell order at or above the sell limit price. Limit orders must be entered in whole numbers and decimal format, in multiples of .01. Note: T. Rowe Price Brokerage accepts limit orders with duration one day or Good till Canceled (good for 90 days). Other types of limit orders are Limit Fill or Kill which is the ability to assure an order is filled immediately and completely at the same price or not at all. If the order is not immediately filled in its entirety, the order will be cancelled and Limit All or None is the ability to assure an order is filled completely at the same price, or not at all. If the order is not filled entirely at the close of market, the order is cancelled.  

A stop order indicates that you want to buy or sell at the market price after a stock has traded at a specific price. Once a stock price moves to or through the stop price, a stop order becomes a market order to buy or sell. This guarantees execution of the order, but does not guarantee the price. For a listed stock, a stop order becomes a market order only once the stock has traded at a price equal to or better than the stop price. For OTC securities, however, a stop order becomes a market order when the inside bid or offer is equal to or better than the stop price. An inherent risk of a stop order is that it may be triggered by a temporary market movement and executed at a price higher or lower than the stop price if there are market orders ahead. For this reason, stop orders are sometimes called stop loss orders because they are often employed to protect a profit or avoid a loss, and it is generally recommended that a stop order be placed away from the current bid or ask price to avoid immediate execution. Stop orders must be entered in whole numbers and decimal format in multiples of .01. T. Rowe Price Brokerage accepts stop limit orders with a time in force of one day, or good for 90 days.  

A stop limit order is combination of stop and limit order, a stop limit specifies that a buy or sell order is to be executed at a specific price or better, but only after a given stop price has been reached. In contrast to a stop order, a stop limit becomes a limit order at the limit price once the stock trades at the stop price. This guarantees that the order is only to be filled at the limit price or better, but does not guarantee an execution. As such, stop limit orders are not always effective in protecting a profit or avoiding a loss. For a listed stock, a stop limit order becomes a limit order only once the stock has traded at a price equal to or better than the stop price. For OTC securities however, a stop limit order becomes a limit order when the inside bid or offer is equal to or better than the stop price. An inherent risk of a stop limit order is that the stop component may be triggered by a temporary market movement, but not executed if there are limit orders ahead. Stop limit orders must be entered in whole numbers and decimal format, in multiples of .01.

Cash is the standard account type for which stock transactions must be settled in full by the next business day. Any trade not executed on margin is considered to be in the cash account, and if the account has not been approved for margin trading, only Cash will be displayed as a valid account type. 

Note: You must have sufficient funds in your Money Market Sweep account or sufficient shares in your Brokerage account when placing online orders in your cash account. 

Margin Indicates that you want the order entered and settled in the margin account, and/or to buy stock partially with money borrowed from T. Rowe Price Brokerage. IRAs and other retirement accounts are not eligible for margin trading. To have a nonretirement account approved for margin, you must complete and submit a margin agreement. After approval, the account will be appropriately coded for margin transactions, and margin will appear as an account type option on the initial order entry page. 

Short All short sales and buy to cover transactions must be entered in the Short account type

The bid price represents the price potential buyers are willing to pay for a security, while the ask price is the price at which a security is offered for sale. In a stock quote, for example, there is a bid/ask spread, which conveys the difference between what buyers are willing to pay and what sellers are asking. The rule of thumb is that if you are selling a stock, you will generally receive the current bid price. If you are buying, you must pay the current ask, or offer, price. For additional information regarding the bid/ask spread, contact a Brokerage representative at 1-800-225-7720.

All online stock and ETF trades are $0 commission.

Representative-assisted are $9.95 for clients who qualify for the Enhanced Personal Services tier of our Summit Program² program, or $25 for all others.

View Commission and Fee Schedule

There is no commission for stock trades entered online, but there would be a separate commission charge for rep-assisted. For example, if you place an order to buy 100 shares of MSFT at 10:20 a.m., and another order to buy 100 shares of MSFT at 2:30 p.m. and both trades execute, you will be charged a separate commission for each transaction ($25.00 or $9.95 per trade, contingent on whether you qualify for our lower commission tier), since the original order presented to the market center was not modified or canceled.

No. For example, if you place a limit order to buy 1,000 shares of GE, and the order is executed in two 500 share lots during the same day, you will only be charged one commission for both executions ($25 or $9.95 per trade, contingent on whether you qualify for our lower commission tier), since the original order presented to the market center was not modified or canceled.

Yes. For rep assisted orders entered via a phone channel, you will be charged a commission on the initial partial execution and another commission if your edited order executes. For instance, you might place a limit order to buy 1,000 shares of IBM, and only 500 shares may execute initially. For the 500 share execution, you will be charged a commission. If you then change the price or quantity of the remaining open limit order, it's presented to the market center again as a new order and is therefore subject to another commission charge if executed ($25.00 or $9.95 per trade, contingent on whether you qualify for our lower commission tier).

Yes. For rep assisted orders entered via a phone channel only. If you place a limit order to buy 1,000 shares of GE, and only 500 execute the first day, you will be charged a commission for the first day's execution and an additional commission for each subsequent day's execution ($25.00 or $9.95 per trade, contingent on whether you qualify for our lower commission tier).