Free Trading School · Level 5: Placing Smart Trades
Order types
Orders are instructions to your broker. Using the right one gives you control over price and protects you when you are not watching.
| Order | What it does | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Market | Fills now at the best available price | Getting in or out immediately |
| Limit | Fills only at your price or better | Buying pullbacks, taking profit |
| Stop | Becomes a market order when a trigger price trades | Stop-losses, breakout entries |
| Stop-limit | Becomes a limit order at the trigger | Avoiding bad fills (may not fill) |
| OCO | Two linked orders: when one fills the other cancels | Stop-loss plus take-profit together |
A market order guarantees a fill but not the price. A limit order guarantees the price but not the fill. Everything else is a combination of those two ideas.
Place your stop-loss order at the same time as your entry, every time, before anything else happens.
Quick answers
Orders are instructions to your broker. Using the right one gives you control over price and protects you when you are not watching.
Place your stop-loss order at the same time as your entry, every time, before anything else happens.
Limit order. A limit order only fills at your price or better, so it may not fill at all.
Next lesson: Stop-loss and take-profit