What is fill or kill?

This is a type of order issued by a buyer or seller to a broker. It is an immediate request, meaning the order must be completed at a certain price straight away. If this is not possible, the order must be cancelled.

Where have you heard about fill or kill?

Often abbreviated to FIK, these type of orders are sometimes used when a trader wants to buy or sell a large amount of stock at a guaranteed price.

What you need to know about fill or kill.

If as an investor, you decide you want to buy 500,000 shares in a certain company at no more than £10 per security, you could issue a fill or kill order to a broker. They would then try to fill this order immediately. If they could offer the correct number of shares but at a higher price, the order would be cancelled. If they could offer the desired price (or lower), but an insufficient number of shares, the order would also be killed.

Find out more about fill or kill.

An immediate or cancel order is a similar concept - read our definition here.