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Market Order
With this type of order you agree to enter or exit the market as soon as your order can be filled, regardless of the price. Each of the online forex trading platforms offers real-time streaming forex prices with fast, easy and efficient one-touch order execution. The market order allows the client to follow the real-time bids and offers on the screen that can be executed with a click of the mouse. The most advantageous aspect of the market order is the ability for the trader to capture better fills.
Limit Order
A Limit Order (also known as an Or Better Order) indicates that you want to buy or sell a given currency at a specific price or better. For example, you place an order to buy 100,000 euro at 1.0950. The platform will automatically fill your order when the offer reaches 1.0950. Limit orders can be placed to both buy and sell. Usually this type of order is used when price is more important than time.
Stop Order
With a Stop Order, you specify a price at which you'd like to buy or sell foreign currency contracts. A stop order is a type of limit order that is placed to "lock in" a specified gain or loss, closing the position. Typically a risk management order used by clients to help manage their market exposure, this type of order can also be used to enter into a new position. Stop orders can be used to both buy and sell foreign currency contracts.
The traditional "stop-loss" order is used by forex traders to prevent losses in excess of pre-determined acceptable risk levels. Virtually all professional forex traders determine both their profit targets and risk levels prior to entering each and every trade. For example, if you bought GBP/USD at 1.7480 you could enter a stop-loss order to sell at, say, 1.7460. This would effectively limit your potential loss on the position to 20 pips if the price fell.
The "trailing stop" is used to lock in profits. For example, if you bought GBP/USD at 1.7480 and the price has risen to 1.7520, giving you a profit of 40 pips, you may want to lock in a certain amount of that profit in case the price falls back down. You would simply place a stop order to sell at, say, 1.7510. This assures that if the price does drop, your position will be closed automatically with a profit of 30 pips. If the price keeps increasing and the position becomes even more profitable, the trader may move his or her trailing stop up yet again, thereby "locking in" more profits.
The stop order can also be used to enter into a new position. For example, if the EUR/USD is currently trading at 1.3200 and you believe if the market breaches an expected support-level of 1.3185 that the EUR/USD will continue to fall in price until it reaches a lower support level around, say 1.3150, then you could place a "sell-stop" order at 1.3180. The sell-stop order will trigger an automatic order to sell at the market once the EUR/USD is 1.3180 bid, allowing you to potentially capture profits from the expected downward price movement. Conversely, if the EUR/USD is currently trading at 1.3200 and you believe if the market breaches an expected resistance-level of 1.3225 that the EUR/USD will continue to rise in price until it reaches a higher resistance level around, say 1.3260, then you could place a "buy-stop" order at 1.3230. The buy-stop order will trigger an automatic order to buy at the market once the EUR/USD is 1.3230 offered, allowing you to potentially capture profits from the expected upward price movement.
It is important to note that, by convention, "buy limit" and "sell stop" orders are entered in below the current market price. "Sell limit" and "buy stop" orders are entered in above the current market price.
"GTC" or "GTM" Orders
"GTC" simply stands for "good-til-cancelled" and is fairly self-explanatory. When a GTC order is placed, the order will remain in effect ("good") until it is cancelled by the trader. For example, if you place an order to buy 3 EUR/USD at 1.2700 "GTC," then the order will remain in effect until you cancel it. "GTM" stands for "good-til-market close" meaning the order placed will only be good until the close of daily trading (4 p.m. CST rollover) and will be automatically cancelled at that time.
"OCO" Orders
"OCO" stands for "one-cancels-the-other" or "order-cancels-order". An OCO order is used when two separate orders are placed but only one fill is required by the trader. For example, if you bought EUR/USD at 1.3240 you could then simultaneously place a sell limit order at 1.3270 and a sell-stop at 1.3220 "OCO." You would then effectively have your profit target order in place while simultaneously protecting yourself with a stop-loss if the market moved against your position. If one order or the other order was to get filled, then the remaining order would immediately and automatically be cancelled. Please be aware that in fast markets, due to extreme price volatility, you may be unable to place an OCO order where one or both of your orders are too close to the market (the current price).
"If Done" Orders
An "if done" order is placed to automatically enter a new order "if" the original order gets "done" (gets filled). This order allows the trader freedom to work on other forex trading strategies or other business rather than having to constantly monitor the foreign exchange markets waiting for his or her original position to get filled before placing a new order. You could use an "if done" order in the following instance: you believe the current price of GBP/USD at 1.9270 is too low, but you would like to sell if the price rises to 1.9290. Further, you also want to protect yourself with a stop-loss believing in case the price continued to rise above and beyond your projected sell at 1.9290. You could place a sell-limit order at 1.9290 to effectively enter the market at your price, and you could also state "if done" place a buy-stop at 1.9305 to protect yourself from prices continuing to rise and move against your position. The net effect of your order is that "if" and when your order gets "done," then the buy-stop order would immediately and automatically be placed as protection.
Below is a "visual" reference of where orders need to be placed with respect to the current market price:
Buy STOP LIMIT
Buy STOP
Sell LIMIT
MARKET PRICE
Buy LIMIT
Sell STOP
Sell STOP LIMIT
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