2025 Guide: Mixed Lot Trading Explained with Costs and Benefits

Thomas J Catalano, a Certified Financial Planner and Registered Investment Adviser in South Carolina, founded his advisory firm in 2018. His extensive expertise covers investments, retirement planning, insurance, and comprehensive financial strategies.

Understanding Mixed Lot Orders in 2024

A mixed lot order combines both round lot and odd lot shares in a single transaction. Round lots are standardized blocks of 100 shares, while odd lots are any share quantities less than 100. Mixed lots include a combination of these to fulfill specific trading amounts.

Key Insights

• Mixed lot orders consist of both round and odd lots.
• Trading commissions on mixed lots are generally higher than round lot trades, potentially impacting net returns.
• Unlike standard round lot trades, mixed lot transactions do not influence bid or ask prices and often have longer settlement periods.

How Mixed Lots Operate

In stock trading, orders are typically placed in round lots of 100 shares for ease of execution. When an investor wants to trade a quantity that is not a multiple of 100, such as 425 shares, the order is split into a mixed lot: 400 shares as a round lot and 25 shares as an odd lot.

Brokers usually charge commissions based on standard round lot sizes. Because mixed lots include odd lots, which require additional handling, the fees—known as odd-lot differentials—tend to be higher. These trades must be executed simultaneously, often with odd lots piggybacking on round lot transactions.

Mixed lot trades also differ by not affecting the bid or ask price, the prices buyers offer and sellers accept. Additionally, their settlement period can be longer than the typical two business days required for standard trades, especially if no round lot is involved.

Important Regulatory Notes

According to New York Stock Exchange regulations, round lot, mixed lot, and odd lot orders all receive equal priority without preference in execution.

Advantages of Round Lots Compared to Mixed Lots

Stock exchanges primarily process round lot trades, which appear in bid and ask price data used by traders to gauge market supply and demand. Odd lot orders, including those within mixed lots, are excluded from these data feeds, making them less visible.

Round lot orders can also be routed through off-exchange trading venues, potentially offering investors better pricing and faster trade execution.

Prevalence of Round, Mixed, and Odd Lot Orders

The majority of stock trades are placed in round lots of 100 shares. Investors occasionally trade odd lots or mixed lots when dealing with quantities below 100 or non-multiples of 100, though these are less frequent.

Investor Sentiment Reflected in Odd and Mixed Lot Trading

Patterns in odd and mixed lot orders often reflect the behavior of individual investors rather than institutional players, as these smaller trades are common in personal and retirement accounts.

Why Trading Mixed and Odd Lots Costs More

Mixed and odd lot trades usually incur higher transaction costs due to lower liquidity and fewer market makers willing to facilitate these smaller trades, making them more expensive than standard round lot transactions.

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