Sunday, January 4, 2009

TYPES OF ORDERS


Market Orders: A Market Order is an order that is given to a broker to buy or sell the currency at whatever the market is trading for at that moment. It can be an entry order into the market or an exit order to get out of the market. Traders use Market Orders when they are ready to make a commitment to enter or exit the market. You must be very careful when using Market Orders in fast moving markets. In fast rallies or down reactions you can gain or lose many points to slippage before you receive your fill.

Limit Orders: Limit Orders are orders given to a broker to buy or sell currency lots at a certain price or better. The term Limit means exactly what it says. You will buy at that exact limit price or better a large majority of the time. Limit Orders are used to enter and exit the market. They are generally used to acquire a specific price, avoiding slippage and unwanted order fills (execution price) which can happen with Market Orders.
When you sell above the market, it is a Limit Order. When you buy below the market, it is a Limit Order. A limit order will be executed when the market trades through it. Seventy to ninety percent (70% to 90%) of the time, if the market is trading at your Limit Order it will be executed. The market must trade through you specified Limit Order number to guarantee a fill. The computer will notify you within seconds of your fill. You do not have to call your broker to see if you have been filled.

Stop Orders: Stop Orders are orders placed to enter or exit the market at a desired specific price. When you buy above the market, it is a Stop Order. When you sell below the market, it is a Stop Order. Stop Orders turn into Market Orders when the market trades at that price. Stop Orders as well as Market Orders are subject to slippage, while Limit Orders are not.
The majority of Stop Orders are used as protective Stop Loss Orders. It is the order you place with your entry order to insure an exit when the market goes against you. A good trader never trades without a protective Stop Loss Order. They are orders executed to get you out of the market when your trade has gone against you. Protective Stops are discussed separately as one of the 10 Keys to Successful Trading.

One Cancels the Other (OCO): Whenever you enter the market, you must exit the market at some future time. An OCO order is a procedure and means one-cancels-the-other. Once you have entered the market, you should place a protective Stop Loss Order and have in mind a projected profit target. That projected profit target can be your Limit Order. If you simultaneously place both Limit and Stop Loss Orders when you enter the market, you can OCO them and walk away from your computer. What does that mean? At some future point in time either your Stop Order or Limit Order will be executed, automatically canceling your opposing order. If the trader is so sure about the trade, he can execute an OCO order and walk away from the trade. The computer will than manage the trade.

Cancel/Replace Orders: A Cancel/Replace Order is a procedure and not an entry or exit order. By definition it is when the trader cancels an existing open order and replaces it replace it with a new order. A cancel/replace order is primarily a strategy of trading and is predominately used after one has taken a position in the market and wants to stay in the market locking in profit. For example: you buy Swiss at 1.410. Your protective Stop Loss Order is 1.390. The market moves in you direction as projected. You now want to reduce your potential loss, so you cancel your Stop Order at 1.390 and replace it to 1.410 where you got in.
You are now in a trade with no risk. As the market moves further north in your direction, you now want to lock in more profit. You cancel your 1.410 Stop Loss Order and replace it with a new 1.440 Stop Loss Order. You now have locked in 30 Pips in profit. You are in an all-win, no-risk trade. You keep canceling and replacing your Stop until you are finally stopped out. This is discussed separately under Protective Stops as one of the 10 Keys to Successful Trading.

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