https://us.etrade.com/e/t/prospectestation/help?id=1301020000
Market orders
When you place an order "at the market," you'll receive the current price at the time your order is presented for execution. You're essentially saying, "I'll take whatever the going price is when my turn comes up."
If you want to specify a price, you should consider placing a limit, stop on quote, or stop limit on quote order. Unlike market orders, limit orders are not guaranteed to execute.
Limit orders
limit orders allow you to set the price – either the maximum amount you're willing to pay (for a buy order), or the minimum amount you're willing to receive (for a sell order). Execution of a limit order is not guaranteed.
Risks involved with limit orders:
Limit orders carry two different kinds of execution risk: the risk that the stock may never reach your limit price, and the risk that the price may move away before your order can be filled in turn.
Stop on quote and stop limit on quote orders
Stop on quote and stop limit on quote orders are orders that have "triggers" – they execute only when the stock reaches a certain price. These orders are most commonly used to protect a gain on a profitable long or short position, which is why they're frequently referred to as "stop loss" orders.
When you place a stop on quote order, you're placing an order that will turn into a market order when the stock reaches the stop price.
A stop limit on quote order turns into a limit order at the stop price.
stop on quote orders guarantee execution (if the stock reaches or moves past your stop price), but not the price; stop limit on quote orders guarantee price, but not execution.
Buy stop on quote/stop limit on quote orders are set at a price above the current market price (bid or ask). Sell stop on quote/stop limit on quote orders are set at a price below the current market(bid or ask) price.
Trailing stop orders
With a trailing stop order, you set the stop as a distance in either points or percent from the stock's current bid or ask price (the bid price for sell orders and the ask price for buys). This is in contrast to a regular stop on quote order, where the stop is set as a fixed price.
Day and GTC orders
One of the things you'll need to decide when placing an order is how long you want it to remain open. You'll have two choices: good for the day (Day) and good until canceled (GTC). Market and limit orders are the exceptions. Market orders can be placed only as day orders, while limit orders offer four options: Day and GTC as well as immediate or cancel and fill or kill.
If you place a day order after market close, it will carry over to the next trading day.
GTC orders remain open until they are filled completely, or you cancel them, or 60 calendar days have passed.
One thing you should be aware of about GTC orders is that sometimes your order can be filled over the course of several days. If there aren't enough shares available to fill your entire order during the course of one day, you'll pay a commission on each separate day a partial order is filled. (On the other hand, if your order fills in multiple lots during one day, you'll pay only one commission.) If this is a concern to you, and you are trading over 300 shares, you might want to consider placing an all-or-none (AON) order.
Immediate-or-cancel (IOC) and fill-or-kill (FOK) orders(cannot be short sales)
When you place an IOC order, you want your order to be executed immediately (entirely or in part) or, if that is not possible, canceled. If an IOC order does not fill within a few seconds, it will be canceled automatically by the market center.
FOK orders are similar to IOC orders, except that they require full – not partial – execution. When you place a fill-or-kill order, you want your order to be executed immediately in the full quantity amount, or if that is not possible, canceled.
All-or-none (AON) orders
A type of limit order (buy or sell) that tells a broker that you don't want your trade executed unless it can be done in a single transaction. In other words, if the number of shares of stock available is less than the number you want to buy or sell, the broker will not execute your order. However, your order remains open.
The minimum qualification for an all-or-none trade is three round lots or more (300 shares).
