A question about the bid/ask size?

Question

I want to know if it is possible to buy more shares of a stock than what the ask/size says there are available. For instance, if I wanted to buy $10,000 worth of shares but there is only $7000 worth being offered is it possible as an investor to buy those extra shares at all on a given day? I hope this makes sense.

Answer 1

No you can NOT buy something that is not available. If I have 2 cars and you want 3. I can not give you a car I do not have. However you can put in a bid(offer to pay a fixed amount that is held open for a period of time) in a paper for a car I or someone else might get.

However in current markets(assuming we are talking about major markets) it is highly unlikely to find a situation where you have a hard time not being able to buy a certain stock. Stocks which have a big difference between ask and bid are usually not good investments. These are also the type of stock where you are more likely to find your situation.

Answer 2

Any time you use a "limit order" specifying the maximm you are willing to pay there is a chance that you will not get any shares or that you will get a partial fill, regardless of what the ask size is. In the amount of time it takes you to complete the order form the ask pr ice and size could change.

If you use a "market order" your order will be filled, but the price at which it is filled may be higher than the ask quote.

Remember the ask size is the number of shares available at that price. The may (or may not) be many more shares available for a little more per share.

In most cases, if you put in a limit order at the ask price there is an excellent chance that you will get the entire ordered filled even if number of shares is greater than the ask size. Remember when you put an order in at the ask price you are, effectively, saying "As of this moment I am willing to pay more than anyone else in the world for these shares." Consequently, if anyone else decides to sell their shares they will be selling them to you until someone else puts in an order with a higher bid.