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Trading stocks
Step 1: Open Backpack and Find a Stock or ETF
Go to Backpack Exchange and log in to your account. From the Stocks home page, find the stock or ETF you want to trade, or search by company name or ticker.
New to Backpack? Create an account to get started.
Step 2: Choose Buy or Sell
Use the Buy / Sell toggle at the top of the order form.
Enter the number of shares you want to trade.
The order form displays your available balance:
Buy
Available USD balance
Sell
Available shares of the selected stock or ETF
Quick Amount Shortcuts
On the Buy side, you can choose:
25%
50%
75%
Max
These shortcuts size your order based on your available USD balance.
Fractional Shares
Fractional shares are available during regular trading hours (9:30 AM–4:00 PM ET, Monday–Friday).
Some eligible securities also support fractional share trading during weekends and U.S. market holidays.
If fractional shares aren't available, you'll see:
Fractional shares are only available during market hours. To trade now, buy in whole shares.
For the full trading schedule, see Trading Hours & Fees.
Step 3: Enable Trading (First Trade Only)
Before placing your first stock trade, you'll need to accept a one-time User Agreement.
The first time you trade:
Select Enable Trading
Review the agreement
Check the confirmation box
Select Acknowledge
After completing this step, future orders go directly to Preview.
Step 4: Review the Quote
Select Preview to request a live quote.
Backpack retrieves the quote when you click Preview—not while you're entering a quantity.
You'll briefly see:
Routing for best execution...
Once the quote is available, you'll see an order summary including:
Estimated Price
Total
Step 5: Place the Order
Confirm the trade.
One of the following outcomes will appear:
Trade Successful
The order filled successfully
Order Pending
The order is still being processed
Order Failed
The quote expired or market conditions changed before execution
Common messages you might see
Fractional shares aren't available during the current trading session. To trade now, buy whole shares instead
Fractional shares aren't available for this security during the current trading session.
Trade in whole shares, or wait until fractional share trading is available.
Minimum quantity is {N} / Maximum quantity is {N}
Your quantity is below or above the allowed size for this order.
Adjust the quantity to within the stated range.
Quantity must be in increments of {N}
The quantity has to step in a specific size.
Enter a value that fits the increment.
No quote available
The broker didn't return a price within a few seconds — usually because the market is closed, the stock is thinly traded, or a brief hiccup.
Wait a moment and request the quote again.
Order pending for a while
Most orders fill in seconds; a longer pending order is filling slowly or has timed out.
If it doesn't resolve, request a new quote and place the order again.
Order failed
The price moved past your quote, the order timed out, or funds were moved before settlement.
Request a fresh quote and try again.
Trading Stock Perpetuals
Step 1: Find a Stock Perpetual
Go to Backpack Exchange and log in to your account.
New to Backpack? Create an account to get started.
You can find available Stock Perpetuals in either of the following ways:
From the Stocks home page, browse for the stock or ETF you want to trade, or search by company name or ticker. Select it to open the details page.
From any market page, open the market selector, choose Futures → TradFi, and select the product you want to trade.
Step 2: Place Your Order
Place your order as you would for crypto futures. For more details, see Futures.
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