Understanding when M1 initiates trades is essential for managing your investment account effectively. This article explains the various scenarios that trigger buy and sell orders, how they relate to M1's trading windows, and how you can control these settings.
Trade windows and execution timeline
M1 executes all trades during either the AM or PM trading windows:
When a buy or sell is triggered by any of the scenarios below, the trade will be queued for the next available trading window. Orders placed after a trading window has begun will be processed during the next day's window.
M1 places buys in several situations:
Auto-invest
When the cash balance in your account exceeds your chosen minimum cash balance by $25 or more and Auto-invest is enabled.
Common cash sources that can trigger Auto-invest:
Deposits
Dividends received
Proceeds from manual sell orders
Dividend reinvestment
When dividends are received and your dividend handling preferences are set to automatically reinvest.
Cash control threshold
When your cash balance exceeds your configured cash control threshold.
Portfolio rebalancing
When you manually initiate a portfolio rebalance or when dynamic rebalancing occurs.
Manual buys
When you manually initiate a buy order for specific investments or slices of your Pie.
M1 places sells in several situations:
Withdrawal requests
When you request a withdrawal that exceeds your available cash balance.
Removing Pie Slices
When you remove a slice from your portfolio by changing its target percentage to 0%.
Note: The proceeds from removed slices will automatically be reinvested in your portfolio according to your remaining allocation targets, regardless of your Auto-invest settings.
Portfolio rebalancing
When rebalancing requires selling overweight positions to purchase underweight ones.
Margin interest coverage
If you've run out of available cash and available margin in an investment account with a Margin Loan, investments will be sold to cover interest costs as a last resort.
M1 Platform Fee coverage
If the platform fee is charged to an investment account with less than $3 cash available, investments may be sold to cover the fee. For more details, see our Platform Fee disclosures.
Manual sells
When you manually initiate a sell order for specific investments or slices of your Pie.
Brokerage accounts on the M1 platform are either fully disclosed to APEX Clearing or cleared through M1 Finance LLC. Please look at your account statement to determine how your account is cleared.
All investing involves risk, including the risk of losing the money you invest. Past performance does not guarantee future performance. Using margin can add to these risks. Users utilizing APEX cleared margin accounts should review the APEX margin account risk disclosure before borrowing. Users utilizing M1 cleared margin accounts should review the M1 margin account risk disclosure before borrowing. M1 Margin Loans are available on margin accounts with at least $2,000 invested per account. Not available for Retirement or Custodial accounts. Margin rates may vary.
Brokerage products and services are offered by M1 Finance LLC, Member FINRA / SIPC, and a wholly owned subsidiary of M1 Holdings, Inc.
This content was generated using artificial intelligence and is intended for informational and educational purposes only. While reasonable efforts are made to ensure accuracy, AI-generated outputs may omit key context; and should not be construed as financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Users should independently verify all information and consult a qualified professional before making any financial decisions.
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