📋 Order Types Cheatsheet
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📋 Order Types Cheatsheet

17 order types in three groups — basic order types, advanced types, time-in-force.

From Chapter 3 · Stock Market — How the whole thing really works

🎯 Decision Tree — Which Type When?
Execute immediately?
Market
At your price?
Limit
Protect yourself?
Stop / Stop-Limit
Lock in gains?
Trailing Stop
Enforce discipline?
Bracket
📐 The 5 Basic Order Types
Type Execution When to use Risk
Marketfast Immediately at the current market price Liquid markets, fast entry/exit Slippage on gaps
Limitprice-controlled Only at your price or better Buy below / sell above market price, illiquid names May not be filled
Stopprotective Becomes a market order at the stop price Classic stop-loss Slippage on gaps
Stop-Limitprotective Becomes a limit order at the stop price Stop with price control, volatile markets May not be filled
Trailing Stopprotective Stop moves with the price (fixed distance) Automatically lock in running gains Distance too tight → premature exit
⚙️ The 5 Advanced Order Types
OCO
Two orders linked — one fill cancels the other.
Take-profit + stop-loss in parallel
Bracket
Entry + SL + TP as OCO after the entry fills.
TWS/IBKR standard for disciplined planning
Iceberg / Hidden
Only a small slice visible, the rest reloads behind.
Large orders without market impact
Peg
Price tracks bid/ask/mid and adjusts dynamically.
Participate at mid-market without manual repricing
MOC
Executes only in the closing auction (Market on Close).
Index ETFs, benchmark alignment, rebalancing
⏱️ Time-in-Force — Validity
TIF Meaning Use
DayValid until market closeSame-day decisions
GTCGood-till-cancelled (typically max. 90 days)Long-term limits
IOCImmediate-or-cancel — remainder cancelledLarge orders without market impact
FOKFill-or-kill — all or nothingBlock trades, spread strategies
GTDGood-till-dateTied to events (e.g. before earnings)
OPGAt the open — opening auction onlyEntry at the opening price
MOC / LOCAt the close — closing auction onlyRebalancing, benchmark matching
✅ Pre-Trade Checklist
How liquid is the name? (spread, volume)
How volatile is the market right now?
Do I need immediate execution?
Do I have a fixed entry price in mind?
Do I want stop-loss and take-profit linked?
Are partial fills acceptable?