Showing posts with label limit orders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label limit orders. Show all posts

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Different Types Of Limit Orders

LIMIT ORDERS (LMT):

Limit orders is an order that can be used to enter or exit a trade. It specifies a price that the trader is willing to pay or accept (or better). A buy limit order is placed below the current market price and states the highest price the trader is willing to pay for a purchase. A sell limit order is placed over the current market price and is the lowest price the seller is willing to accept.

If you already have a position in the market - you were long the market, you could use a limit order to tell the broker at what price you wanted to sell once your price objective had been reached. You could also use the order to tell the broker at what price you want to enter the market. If ABC Company was trading at 44.00 and you wanted to buy that company at 43.00 you could use a buy limit order to take you into the market.

Limit orders are orders to buy or sell a stocks at a specific or better price. Limit orders may or may not get filled depending upon how the market is moving, but if they do get filled it will always be at the chosen price, or at a better price if there is one available. For example, if a trader placed a limit order with a price of 30.29, the order would only get filled at 30.29 or better, if it got filled at all. Limit orders are used when you want to make sure that you get a suitable price, and are willing to risk not being filled at all.


STOP LIMIT ORDERS (STPLMT):


Stop limit orders are a combination of stop orders and limit orders. Like stop orders, they are only processed if the market reaches a specific price, but they are then processed as limit orders, so they will only get filled at the chosen price, or a better price if there is one available. For example, if the current price is 30.25, a trader might place a buy stop limit order with a price of 30.30. If the market trades at 30.30 or above, the stop limit order will be processed as a limit order. If the market continues to trade at 30.30, the limit order will get filled at 30.30 or at a better price if there is one available. Stop limit orders may or may not get filled depending upon whether or not the market reaches the chosen price, and then depending upon how the market moves. Stop limit orders will trigger if the market trades at or past the stop price, so for a buy order, the stop price must be above the current price, and for a sell order, the stop price must be below the current price

This type of order specifies both a stop price where the trade is activated and a limit price to close the position. Once the stop is elected, the order becomes a limit order. This type of order is useful when the trader wants to buy or sell a breakout, but wants to control the price paid or received.

A stop-limit order differs from a stop order, which becomes a market order when the stop price has been reached or exceeded. A stop-limit order to buy must have a stop-limit price above the market price; conversely, a stop-limit order to sell must have a stop-limit price below the security's market price.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Different Types Of Orders Used To Buy Or Sell A Stock

There's a lot more to trading stocks than just "buy" and "sell," and it's easy to be confused by all the types of orders you may have heard about. Placing orders correctly is probably one of the most important aspects of trading. It is vital that you understand and use the correct order when you trade. When placing an order with a broker, it's important to make sure you are placing your order properly. All orders are considered day orders and will expire the day you place it unless you specify that you want it to be a GTC order. (Good till canceled).

All trades are made up of separate orders, that are used together to make a complete trade. Every order can be a buy or a sell order, usually one order to enter the trade and one or more orders to exit the trade.

A single order is either a buy order or a sell order, and an order can be used either to enter a trade or to exit a trade. If a trade is entered with a buy order, then it will be exited with a sell order, and vice versa. For example, if you expect that stock price will go up, the simplest trade would be to place a buy order to enter the trade, and sell order to exit the trade. Contrary if you expect a drop in price, you will place a short sell order, and when you want to cover your shorts you will place a buy order.

It is important to remember that every order can be a buy order or a sell order. Here is a list of most used orders:

  • Market Orders (MKT)
  • Market On Open (MOO)
  • Market On Close (MOC)
  • Market If Touched (MIT)
  • Limit Orders (LMT)
  • Limit if Touched Orders (LIT)
  • Stop Orders (STP)
  • Stop Loss Order
  • Stop Limit Order
  • Trailing Stop Order
  • Day Order
  • Good Till Canceled (GTC)
  • All or None (AON):
  • Fill Or Kill (FOK)
  • Spread Order
As you can see, this is huge amount of orders and if you want to trade properly, you will have to understand them all. In the next posts I will explain the main characteristics of each order with some examples of when they are used.