The types of orders most commonly used are briefly described below. Orders can be placed as Good Til Canceled (Open Orders) or Day Orders. Of course Market Orders are neither, they are filled ASAP.
l. The Market Order
The market order is the most frequently used order and is the best order to use if you want to have an order filled ASAP. The market order is executed at the best possible price obtainable at the time the order reaches the trading pit.
EXAMPLE: A sell order at the "market" might be: "Sell 5 December Corn at the Market".
2. Limit Orders
The limit order is an order to buy or sell at a designated price. Limit orders to buy must have a price below the last trade while limit orders to sell must have a price above the last trade. Because the market may never reach a limit price the order may be unable. Even though you may see the market touch a limit price several times, this does not guarantee a fill. In most instances, the market must trade through the limit price to receive a fill. EXAMPLE: Let's assume December Corn last traded/settled at 240. A limit order to buy might read "Buy 3 December Corn at 232". A limit order to sell might be "Sell 3 December Corn at 246.5.
3. Stop Order
Stop orders can be used for three purposes:
a. to minimize a loss on a long or short position,
b. to protect a profit on an existing long or short position, or
c. to initiate a new long or short position.
A buy stop order must always be placed above the market and a sell stop below the market. Once the stop price is touched, the order is treated like a market order and will be filled at the best possible price. EXAMPLE: Let's assume December Corn last traded/settled at 240. A buy stop order might read "Buy 3 December Corn at 249 stop". A sell stop order might be "Sell 3 December Corn 231.5 stop".
4. Market If Touched - MIT
MITs are the opposite of stop orders. Buy MITs are placed below the market and Sell MITs are placed above the market. An MIT order is usually used to enter the market or initiate a trade. An MIT order is similar to a limit order in that a specific price is placed on the order. However, an MIT order becomes a market order once the limit price is touched or passed through. An execution may be at, above, or below the originally specified price. An MIT order will not be executed if the market fails to touch the MIT specified price. EXAMPLE: Let's assume December Corn last traded/settled at 240. A buy MIT might read "Buy 3 December Corn at 225 MIT". A sell MIT might be "Sell 3 December Corn 249 MIT".
5. Or Better
Think of OB as MARKET with a LIMIT. If the price does not have an OB next to it, and the market is considerably better, the pit broker may question the runner to see if the order should have been a stop. They will return the order for clarification which could delay the filling of the order and possibly change the results of the fill. ONLY USE "OR BETTER" IF THE MARKET IS "OR BETTER." EXAMPLE: Let's assume December Corn last traded/settled at 240. A buy OB order might read "Buy 3 December Corn at 241 OB".
PLEASE NOTE; WHILE STOPS AND M.I.T.'S ARE NORMALLY ELECTED ONLY WHEN THE SPECIFIC PRICE IS TOUCHED, THEY CAN BE ELECTED WHEN THE OPENING OF A MARKET IS SUCH THAT THE PRICE IS THROUGH THE STOP OR MIT LIMIT. IN THIS CASE, THE CUSTOMER CAN ROUTINELY EXPECT THE FILL TO BE MUCH WORSE THAN THE ORIGINAL STOP OR BETTER ON THE MIT. THIS APPLIES TO STOP ORDERS AND MIT ORDERS PLACED BEFORE THE OPENING OF TRADING.
6. Stop Limit Orders
A stop limit order lists two prices and is an attempt to gain more control over the price at which your stop is filled. The first part of the order is written like the above stop order. The second part of the order specifies a limit price. This indicates that once your stop is triggered, you do not wish to be filled beyond the limit price. Stop limit orders should usually not be used when trying to exit a position. If a customer does not give a limit price, then the stop price and the limit price are meant to be identical.
7. Stop Close Only
The stop price on a stop close only will only be triggered if the market touches the stop during the close of trading. The disadvantage of this order is a fast market in the last few minutes of trading may cause the order to be filled at an undesirable price. It can, however, protect the customer from getting filled during adverse price fluctuations during the course of the day.
8. Market on Close - MOC
This is an order that will be filled during the final seconds of trading at whatever price is available.
PLEASE NOTE: A FLOOR BROKER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REFUSE AN MOC ORDER UP TO FIFTEEN MINUTES BEFORE THE CLOSE DEPENDING UPON MARKET CONDITIONS.
9. Fill or Kill
The fill or kill order is used by customers wishing an immediate fill, but at a specified price. Our floor broker will bid or offer the order three times and immediately return either a fill or an unable.
l0. One Cancels the Other - OCO
This is a combination of two orders written on one order ticket. This instructs our floor personnel that once one side of the order is filled, the remaining side of the order should be canceled. By placing both instructions on one order, rather than two separate tickets, the customer eliminates the possibility of a double fill. (This order is not acceptable on all exchanges.)
PLEASE NOTE: WE WILL NOT ROUTINELY ACCEPT CANCEL/REPLACE OF AN OCO ORDER WITHIN TO FIFTEEN MINUTES OF THE CLOSE OF TRADING. WE WILL ACCEPT CANCELING BOTH SIDES DURING THIS PERIOD AND REPLACING WITH EITHER MOC OR MARKET ORDERS, BUT CANNOT GUARANTEE AGAINST A DOUBLE FILL.
12. Spread
The customer wishes to take a simultaneous long and short position in an attempt to profit via the price differential or "spread" between two prices. A spread can be established between different months of the same commodity, between related commodities or between the same or related commodities traded on two different exchanges. A spread order can be entered at the market or you can designate that you wish to be filled when the price difference between the commodities reaches a certain point (or premium).
For example: BUY 1 JUNE LIVE CATTLE, SELL 1 AUGUST LIVE CATTLE PLUS 100 TO THE AUGUST SELL SIDE. This means that the customer wants to initiate or liquidate the spread when August Cattle is 100 points higher than June cattle.
At this time, most exchanges do not report spread transactions on their quotation feeds. A spread broker has great leeway to ensure he can obtain prices required by limits. He cannot be held to any price differentials which seem to appear on quotation equipment!
13. Other
As futures and options trading becomes more and more sophisticated, new strategies and techniques may arise. Certain option orders called "spreads" may not look much like traditional spreads. There may be two buys and no sells, the quantity may be a ratio, it may include futures and options on the same order, and many more. If you have any questions about this type of order, please let your manager know that you may need help and he or she will be happy to assist you or to find someone who can. Exchange Information
Different Exchanges accept different orders. All of the orders which we have discussed are not accepted by all exchanges.
Following is a list of the major commodity exchanges, their commodities and the orders which they accept:
CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE
(Acceptable are: Market, Market on Close, Limit, Stop, and Fill or Kill Orders)
WHEAT CORN
OATS SOYBEANS
BEAN OIL BEAN MEAL
ANHYDROUS AMMONIA
DIAMMONIUM PHOSPHATE
T-BONDS T-NOTES
MUNI BONDS FIVE YEAR NOTES
TWO YEAR NOTES
CHICAGO MERCANTILE EXCHANGE
(All of the orders described in this section are acceptable)
LIVE CATTLE FEEDER CATTLE
LEAN HOGS PORK BELLIES
LUMBER
INDEX AND OPTIONS MARKET (IOM)
(All of the orders described in this section are acceptable)
S&P 500
MID CAP 400
NASDAQ 100
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY MARKET (IMM)
(All of the orders described in this section are acceptable)
T-BILLS JAPANESE YEN
EURODOLLARS BRITISH POUND
CANADIAN DOLLAR SWISS FRANC
DEUTSCHE MARK AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR
MEXICAN PESO
NEW YORK COMEX
(For Copper only, Acceptable are: Market, Market on Close, Limit, Stop and Fill or Kill. OCO Orders are acceptable only if the second half of the order is a MOC.)
COPPER
(For Gold and Silver, Acceptable are: Market, Market on Close, Limit, Stop, and Fill or Kill. Stop Limits are acceptable only on a not-held basis.)
GOLD
SILVER
NY COTTON EXCHANGE
(Acceptable are: Market, Market on Close, Limit, Stop, and Fill or Kill. OCO Orders are acceptable but only if the second part of the order is a MOC)
COTTON
ORANGE JUICE
DOLLAR INDEX
NY COFFEE, SUGAR & COCOA EXCHANGE
(All of the orders described in this section are acceptable)
COFFEE
COCOA
SUGAR
NY MERCANTILE EXCHANGE
(All of the orders described in this section are acceptable)
LEADED GASOLINE HEATING OIL
PLATINUM CRUDE OIL
PALLADIUM NATURAL GAS
NY FUTURES EXCHANGE
(All of the orders described in this section are acceptable)
NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE INDEX
CRB INDEX
KANSAS CITY BOARD OF TRADE
(All of the orders described in this section are acceptable)
KANSAS CITY VALUE LINE
KANSAS CITY MINI VALUE LINE (Acceptable are: Market, Market on Close, Limit, Stop and Fill or Kill)
KANSAS CITY WHEAT
MINNEAPOLIS BOARD OF TRADE
(All of the orders described in this section are acceptable)
MINNEAPOLIS WHEAT
MINNEAPOLIS WHITE WHEAT
MID AMERICA EXCHANGE
(Acceptable Are: Market, Market on Close, Limit, Stop, Fill or Kill and Stop Close Only Orders)
CATTLE HOGS
SILVER GOLD
CORN BEANS
WHEAT T-BILLS
T-BONDS SWISS FRANC
CANADIAN DOLLAR DEUTSCHE MARK
JAPANESE YEN BRITISH POUND
SUGAR
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE INDIVIDUAL EXCHANGES MAY CHANGE THE ORDERS WHICH THEY ACCEPT WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE.
SYMBOLS Month Symbols
Jan - F
Feb - G
Mar - H
Apr - J
May - K
Jun - M
Jul - N
Aug - Q
Sep - U
Oct - V
Nov - X
Dec - Z
Using symbols to write an order may save time. However, the extra seconds that it may take to write out the commodity and month may prevent errors.Disclaimer - I am not a commodity trading advisor. The information on this site is for trading education only. There are no trading recommendations for any one individual made on this site and this information is paper trades for trading education. All trades are extemely risky and only risk capital should be used when trading.
U.S. Government Required Disclaimer - Commodity Futures Trading Commission Futures and Options trading has large potential rewards, but also large potential risk. You must be aware of the risks and be willing to accept them in order to invest in the futures and options markets. Don't trade with money you can't afford to lose. This is neither a solicitation nor an offer to Buy/Sell futures or options. No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve profits or losses similar to those discussed on this web site. The past performance of any trading system or methodology is not necessarily indicative of future results.
CFTC RULE 4.41 - HYPOTHETICAL OR SIMULATED PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE CERTAIN LIMITATIONS. UNLIKE AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RECORD, SIMULATED RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL TRADING. ALSO, SINCE THE TRADES HAVE NOT BEEN EXECUTED, THE RESULTS MAY HAVE UNDER-OR-OVER COMPENSATED FOR THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CERTAIN MARKET FACTORS, SUCH AS LACK OF LIQUIDITY. SIMULATED TRADING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFIT OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN.
