One subject
Order types
13 lessons, 28 glossary terms and 4 market guides cover this across the academy. Each one links to its own page, and nothing is repeated here.
Trading involves risk. You could lose more than your deposit.
The curriculum
13 lessons cover this.
In curriculum order, which is the order you would meet them.
- What long and short meanModule 01What you are actually trading6 min
- How a trade works from start to finishModule 01What you are actually trading9 min
- How to read a price quoteModule 02The trade ticket8 min
- What a lot isModule 02The trade ticket6 min
- What a market order isModule 02The trade ticket8 min
- What a limit order isModule 02The trade ticket6 min
- What a stop order isModule 02The trade ticket7 min
- What a stop limit order isModule 02The trade ticket8 min
- What a take profit order isModule 02The trade ticket6 min
- What a one cancels the other order isModule 02The trade ticket6 min
- How a position is modified and closedModule 02The trade ticket6 min
- Order types, side by sideModule 02The trade ticket5 min
- How your order is routedModule 05The venue and your counterparty8 min
The glossary
28 terms belong here.
Alphabetical, each defined in one sentence on its own page.
- Bracket orderA bracket order is a pair of resting instructions attached to one position, one above the market and one below it, arranged so that whichever deals first cancels the other.
- Buy limit orderAn instruction to open a long position only at a stated price or lower, which rests below the current market and executes only if price falls to the level.
- Buy stop orderAn instruction to open a long position once price rises to a stated level, which rests above the current market and converts into a market order the moment the level trades.
- Closing a positionClosing a position means entering the equal and opposite contract in the same instrument with the same firm, so the two net to nothing and the difference between the prices is realised.
- Contract specificationA contract specification is the published sheet of fields that define one instrument as it is dealt on a platform, including contract size, tick size, minimum volume, trading hours and margin requirement.
- Deal ticketThe record of one executed transaction, carrying the instrument, direction, size, price, timestamp and reference number that identify it uniquely afterwards.
- FillThe price and the time at which an order was actually executed, which for an immediate order is whatever the market can do at that instant rather than the price last displayed.
- Fill or killA condition attached to an order requiring it to be executed in full and at once, or cancelled outright, so that nothing rests and no part position is left behind.
- Good for dayGood for day is a time in force instruction that leaves an order working until the close of the current trading day, after which any unfilled part is cancelled automatically.
- Good til cancelled (GTC)Good til cancelled is a time in force instruction that leaves an order working across sessions until it fills or is cancelled, rather than expiring with the session.
- Limit orderA limit order names the worst acceptable price and can only be filled at that price or better, which controls the price obtained and gives up the certainty of being filled.
- Long positionA long position gains as the price of the instrument rises and loses as it falls, and where the contract is calculated on full value the loss is not limited to the amount deposited.
- Market orderA market order asks for execution now at whatever price is available, so it fixes the timing of a trade and never the price.
- MetaTrader 5MetaTrader 5 is a multi-asset trading platform published by MetaQuotes, supplied by brokers who run their own servers behind it and set the prices and conditions it displays.
- Offsetting transactionAn offsetting transaction is an equal and opposite deal in the same instrument with the same firm, which either closes the original position outright or leaves a matched pair standing beside it.
- One cancels the other (OCO)A one cancels the other pair links two working orders so that the moment one of them executes, the other is withdrawn automatically and can no longer fill.
- One click tradingOne click trading is a platform mode that sends an order the instant the bid or the offer is clicked, with no confirmation step between the click and a live instruction.
- OrderAn order is an instruction to deal that names an instrument, a direction and a size, and either executes on receipt or waits until a stated condition is met.
- Partial fillA partial fill executes only part of an order's quantity, because the volume available at prices the order accepted ran out before the whole of it could be matched.
- Pending orderA pending order is an instruction to deal at a price the market has not reached yet, held inactive until the quote trades at that level or until the order expires.
- Sell limit orderAn instruction to sell at a stated price or higher, which rests above the current market and executes only if price rises to the level, so the price is controlled and the execution is not.
- Sell stop orderAn instruction that becomes an order to sell at the market once price trades down to a stated level, which rests below the current market and prioritises execution over price.
- Stop limit orderA stop limit order submits a limit order once a trigger price is reached, combining the trigger of a stop with the price control of a limit, which means it can go unfilled altogether.
- Take profit orderA take profit order closes an open position once the market reaches a stated level in its favour, and being a limit order it fills at that level or better, never worse.
- Time in forceTime in force is the instruction attached to an order saying how long it stays available to be executed before it is cancelled, from the instant of submission to an indefinite rest.
- Trailing stopA trailing stop follows the market at a set distance while a position moves in its favour and holds still when the market turns back, so its level ratchets one way only.
- Trigger priceA trigger price is the level at which a resting instruction becomes active, and on a stop order it is the only price the order specifies, because everything after the trigger belongs to the market.
- Working orderA working order is an instruction the broker has accepted and is holding live, waiting for its price or condition to be met, as distinct from one already filled or not yet placed.
The market guides
4 guides answer a question about it.
Standalone reference answers, entered laterally rather than worked through.
- Order types referenceMechanicsThe full set of order types a CFD platform accepts, and the time in force settings that go with them.
- How a stop order actually fillsMechanicsThe four stages between a resting stop and a settled fill, and when trigger and fill price diverge.
- Order routing and executionMechanicsAn order's journey from click to confirmation, and what a best execution obligation requires.
- Requotes, rejections and partial fillsMechanicsWhy an order comes back as something other than a trade, and how each outcome reads on a statement.
Get started
Open your account in four steps.
A clear path from sign-up to your first trade, in four steps.
No depositNo documents
01/ 04step 1 of 4
Register
A few details to get started.
No deposit to open
02/ 04step 2 of 4
Verify
Confirm your identity, securely.
ID and proof of address
03/ 04step 3 of 4
Fund
Add money by bank transfer or card.
From $0
04/ 04step 4 of 4
Trade
Go live on the platform you already know.
MetaTrader 5
