Mechanics
How orders fill in the Stock Market Game
An orientation to end-of-day execution — and a clear note about which details you must check against your own rules.
Last updated: September 6, 2026
End-of-day execution
The Stock Market Game settles orders at closing prices rather than live ones. An order entered while the market is open fills at that session's 4:00 PM ET close. An order entered after the close fills at the next trading day's close.
Until the close arrives, orders sit pending and can be cancelled. There is no earlier deadline to beat.
What this changes
The price you see is not the price you get. A stock up 40% at 11:00 AM may be up 12% at the close, and 12% is your number. Reacting to an intraday chart is reacting to information you cannot trade on.
Only the regular session matters. Pre-market and after-hours moves affect where the next close lands, but you never transact in them.
Research has a deadline. Anything that reaches you after 4:00 PM ET applies to tomorrow's close at the earliest. This is the entire reason Zenith's daily thesis lands around 3:30 PM ET — late enough to reflect the session, early enough to still act on.
Slippage and spreads mostly disappear. Everyone gets the same closing price, so execution skill is removed from the game and the decision is purely directional.
What you must check yourself
This page describes the end-of-day model in general terms. It does not describe your competition's specific rules, and those vary by chapter, event and year.
Whether short selling is allowed at all, which securities are eligible, minimum share prices, commission and margin treatment, and how the ranking is calculated are all things that differ between versions of the game and change between years.
Get them from the official rules you were issued and from your advisor. Zenith is not affiliated with DECA Inc. or the SIFMA Foundation and is not a source of truth about their rules.
Related
- How to short a stock in the Stock Market Game
- Why stocks often fall after a big one-day spike
- A strategy primer for the DECA Stock Market Game
- A short-selling glossary for the Stock Market Game
- The SIFMA Foundation, DECA, and the Stock Market Game
Not investment advice — an educational tool for the DECA Stock Market Game. Terms.