You’ve got lots of options when it comes to your personal stock investments. As you’re dipping your feet into the stock-trading world, it’s important to have a full understanding of the types of stock orders available. When it comes time to buy your stocks, there are a variety of ways that you can order them.
Here are the most popular types of stock orders available to you:
Market Order
Market order stocks are what most people think of when it comes to stock trading. With a market order, you are requesting to purchase or sell your stock based on its current market price.
Depending on the volatility of the stock you are buying or selling, and the state of the market, it’s important to note that the market value can change during the process. You will have your stock bought for or sold at the exact current market value at the time of the trade. The main benefit of a market order trade is that it’s fast and easy, and convenient for large orders.
Limit Order
Limit orders, or pending orders, allow those who are looking to trade stocks to buy or sell them for a particular price in the future. If stock reaches the price outlined by the buyer or seller, the trade will be executed. Otherwise, the trade will not go through. There are different types of limit orders available:
- Buy Limit: Buy limit orders allow someone to purchase a stock when it reaches a specified price. This purchase will only happen when the stock reaches or goes below that price.
- Sell Limit: Sell limit orders allow for the sale of a stock once it reaches at or above a specified price.
- Buy Stop: Opposite of a buy limit, a buy stop will go through when the stock reaches a price specified above the current market bid.
- Sell Stop: This order will go through when the stock price goes below the current market ask.
Stop-Loss Order
Stop-loss orders are only activated when a certain price has passed. The price is pre-specified, and once it is reached, the order will convert into a market or limit order. This type of purchase is particularly convenient for those who are not able to constantly check the status of the market and stock prices when they want to make a purchase.
Stop-Limit Order
This type of order will specify a limit on the price in which the trade will be executed. This purchase will go through when the order will execute only when it reaches the limit price or better.
These stock types are the most common you will see when it comes to purchasing and selling stocks in your portfolio. When it comes to stock trading, you can easily manage your own stock portfolio as well as your various selling and buying activities with the use of stock trader apps. These stock trader apps make it easy to consistently evaluate market activities and decide which type of buying or selling action you want to enact for the highest rate of returns.
