finance5 sections · 28 items

Stock Market Order Types Cheat Sheet

Every stock order type explained — market, limit, stop, stop-limit, and trailing stop orders with examples and when to use each.

Basic Order Types

Item	Value	Notes
Market Order	Execute immediately at best price	Fast but no price guarantee
Limit Order (Buy)	Buy at specified price or lower	Price guaranteed, fill is not
Limit Order (Sell)	Sell at specified price or higher	Sets minimum selling price
Day Order	Expires at market close	Default for most brokers
GTC (Good Till Canceled)	Active until filled or canceled	Usually expires in 60–90 days

Item	Value	Notes
Stop Order (Sell)	Becomes market order at trigger	Set below current price to limit loss
Stop Order (Buy)	Becomes market order at trigger	Set above current price for breakout
Stop-Limit (Sell)	Becomes limit order at trigger	More control but may not fill
Stop-Limit (Buy)	Becomes limit order at trigger	Caps max purchase price
Common stop distance	5% – 15% below entry	Depends on volatility and strategy

Item	Value	Notes
Trailing Stop ($)	Follows price by fixed amount	E.g., $2 below highest price
Trailing Stop (%)	Follows price by percentage	E.g., 5% below highest price
AON (All or None)	Fill entire order or nothing	Prevents partial fills
IOC (Immediate or Cancel)	Fill what you can, cancel rest	For fast-moving markets
FOK (Fill or Kill)	Fill entirely NOW or cancel	Most aggressive timing
MOO (Market on Open)	Execute at opening price	Good for overnight news plays
MOC (Market on Close)	Execute at closing price	Match end-of-day NAV

Item	Value	Notes
Buying a large-cap stock	Market order	Tight spreads, instant execution
Buying at a specific price	Limit order	Set your target entry price
Protecting a position	Stop or trailing stop	Automatic downside protection
Volatile/illiquid stocks	Limit order always	Avoid market order slippage
Earnings/news plays	Limit order	Price can gap — avoid market orders
Locking in profits	Trailing stop (5–10%)	Rides gains, cuts losses

Item	Value	Notes
Market order on penny stocks	Avoid — wide spreads	Can lose 5%+ instantly
Stop too tight	Triggers on normal volatility	Give stocks room to breathe
Stop too wide	Defeats the purpose	Balance protection vs flexibility
Limit order too aggressive	Never fills	Be realistic with limit prices
Forgetting GTC orders	May fill weeks later	Review open orders regularly

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