Order types

When you open the order panel for the first time, it can look busy. It needn’t. There are only three order types, and they answer one question: when do you want to get in? Once that clicks, the buttons stop being intimidating.

The three order types

• Market — buy or sell now, at the current price. You press the button and you’re in.
• Limit — buy or sell only at your price or better. You set a price and wait for the market to come to you.
• Stop — your trade kicks in once the price passes a level you’ve set. People use it to catch a move that’s breaking out, or as a protective exit if the price turns against them.

Buying

• ▲ Buy stop — above the price, to catch a break upward
• ▼ Buy limit — below the price, to buy a dip

Selling

• ▲ Sell limit — above the price, to sell into a rally
• ▼ Sell stop — below the price, to catch a break downward

One thing to keep straight: the stop here is an entry order, the way you get into a trade. It’s not the same as a stop-loss, which is a protective exit that closes a trade you’re already in. You’ll set stop-losses, and take-profits, later, when you place a trade.

That’s the groundwork done — you now know what you’re trading and how to read every number it puts in front of you. Next, the platforms you’ll actually trade on: where you put all of this to work, and which one we recommend.