Market Order

Brief

The article describes a market order and explains how it works.

Details

A market order is an order to open a Buy or Sell position at the current market price.

A market order can have the following Order Type values:

• At Market - orders are executed at the available market price. It can happen at the current price you see on the chart or at another available best price. In other words, At Market orders guarantee an order's execution, but do not guarantee the price at which it can happen.
• Market Range - orders are executed at any available price within a specified range. If such prices are not available, the order is canceled. If the range is set to zero, the order is executed only at the current market price, the one you see on the chart at the moment of placing the order, or a better price.

A market order can have the following Time In Force values:

• GTC - stands for Good Till Canceled. It means that the order remains active until it is canceled. A GTC order can be partially executed in the available liquidity amount at the available market prices.
• IOC - stands for Immediate Or Cancel. It means that the maximum amount of your order is to be executed at the available market prices. An IOC order can be partially executed in the available liquidity amount at the available market prices.
• FOK - stands for Fill Or Kill. It means that the total amount of your order is to be executed at the current market price, otherwise, the order is canceled.

Note that At Market orders have all three values: GTC, IOC, and FOK, while Market Range - only two: IOC and FOK.

Note also that Stop and Limit orders can be added to a market order, and a Stop order can be made trailing. For more information, see Position.