In short
A market order fills now at the best available price. A pending order waits for a level you choose. A stop loss and a take profit close a trade for you.
Market execution
A market order opens a trade immediately at the best price available right now. It is the fastest way in or out, and it is what one click trading uses. Because prices move continuously, the price you get can differ slightly from the one you saw, which is slippage. See How your orders are filled.
Pending orders
A pending order opens a trade automatically in future, only if the price reaches a level you choose, so you do not have to watch the charts.
| Type | When to use it | Example, price at 1.1050 |
|---|---|---|
| Buy Limit | Buy below the current price, expecting a temporary dip then a reversal | Buy Limit at 1.1000 |
| Sell Limit | Sell above the current price, expecting a peak then a fall | Sell Limit at 1.1100 |
| Buy Stop | Buy above the current price, expecting a break upward to continue | Buy Stop at 1.1100 |
| Sell Stop | Sell below the current price, expecting a break downward to continue | Sell Stop at 1.1000 |
A pending order does not execute if the price never reaches your exact level, or if you do not have enough free margin when it gets there.
Stop loss and take profit
A stop loss closes your trade automatically if the price moves against you by a set amount, protecting you from losing more than you planned and taking the emotion out of the decision. A take profit closes it automatically once it reaches a profit you set, so you capture the gain before the market turns.
Set both when you open the trade. To change them afterwards on a phone, hold the trade in the Trade tab and select Modify Position. On a computer, right click the trade in the Toolbox and choose Modify or Delete Order. On either, you can drag the lines directly on the chart.
What can close your trade automatically
A stop loss, a take profit, the margin call and stop out mechanism, or a pending order reaching its expiry time.
Hedging
hedging means holding a buy and a sell on the same instrument at the same time, to limit a potential loss or lock in profit whichever way the market moves next. Because it reduces your market risk, margin is calculated differently.
| Situation | Example | Margin required |
|---|---|---|
| Fully hedged | Buy 2 lots of gold and sell 2 lots of gold | Normally none, because the positions completely offset. Margin may be applied to one side in rare periods of high volatility |
| Partly hedged | Buy 2 lots of gold and sell 1 lot of gold | Always required on the unmatched 1 lot, the part still exposed to the market |
If the New Order button is greyed out
Three causes: you are signed in with the investor password, which is read only by design; your live account has a zero balance; or there is a problem with your connection to the server.