An order is a set of instructions for a broker to buy or sell an security on behalf of a trader. On Varcity you can execute the following orders:

• Market

• Limit 

• Stop

• Stop Limit

• If-Then:

  • Take Profit on all order types

  • Stop Loss on all order types

• OCO (one cancels other) for If-Then orders

Market Order

A market order is an order to buy or sell at the market’s current best available price.  In a market order, you cannot specify a price - you buy or sell at whichever price is the best available following the submission of the order.  This price fluctuates often depending on how fast the market is moving, and because of this, market orders are often used when traders want an immediate execution because they feel the security is priced correctly at that particular moment, or they want to ensure that their order will be filled.

Market orders should only be placed during market hours; otherwise, a market order placed when markets are closed will result in the order being executed at the next market open, which would have a different best available price than when the order was placed.  For more information on market orders, check out:

• Article on market orders from Investopedia 

• Article on market orders from Wall Street Mojo

Limit Order

A limit order is an order to buy or sell a security with a limit placed on the maximum price to buy or the minimum price to sell. The order is filled at the specified limit price or better, and may not be executed immediately if market prices are above or below the limit price.  Limit orders are often used when traders think the market will allow them to buy at a price lower than the limit set, or sell higher than the limit price set, and are minimizing risk by setting limit prices in the case the market moves to their disadvantage.  For more information on limit orders, take a look at:

• Article on limit orders from Charles Schwab

• Video on limit orders from Wall Street Mojo

Stop / Stop Limit Order (Pro only)

A stop order is an order to buy or sell at the market's current best available price once the stop price is triggered. If the security passes through the stop price, a market order automatically executes.  A stop limit order is a stop order that creates a limit order once the stop price is triggered (instead of a market order).  Both types of stop orders use a stop trigger price, with the difference being a stop order executes a subsequent market order whereas a stop limit order creates a subsequent limit order.

• Article on stop orders from Business Insider

• Article on stop limit orders from Corporate Finance Institute (CFI)

• Video on stop and stop limit orders from Charles Schwab

If-Then and OCO Orders (Pro only)

In Pro accounts, you can further set If-Then and OCO (one cancels other) conditional orders that will automatically close your position on your market order after certain market criteria are met:

• A “Take Profit” condition automatically closes out an open position (partially or fully) when your position reaches a certain profit level, locking in profits.

• A “Stop Loss” condition works in the same way - it automatically closes an open position (partially or fully) when the security's price falls to a specified level, minimizing losses on an open position.

• If both “Take Profit” and “Stop Loss” are selected, the conditions become OCO (one cancels another).  This means that if one order is executed, either the take profit or stop loss, it automatically cancels out the other.

Would you like your article or video featured here?  Send us a link to your content to content@varcity.io and if your content is featured, we will:

• Profile your content on our social channels

• Award you a Contributor Badge for your trophy case

• Send you Varcity swag!

1. Click on the New Order button from your dashboard header or within the trading widgets. 

2. Confirm that the security shown in the new order screen is the security you want to trade. If not, search for the security you need in the search field at the top of the new order screen.

3. Select Market order from the Order type drop down menu.

4. Input the Quantity you would like to buy or sell.

5. Click on either the Buy or Sell button at the bottom of the new order screen.

6. A notification will pop-up to let you know that the order has been sent.

7. You can now view your order in the Orders trading widget. Since market orders are usually instantly filled, your market order will appear in the Fills and Closed tabs.   

For Pro only:

In Pro accounts, you can further set If-Then and OCO (one cancels other) conditional orders that will automatically close your position on your market order:

• 1. Before clicking on Buy or Sell at the bottom of the new order screen, select either Take Profit or Stop Loss; or both for an OCO.  

  2. Enter your conditional order criteria in the column below:

     • Price: the conditional order will be triggered at the specified price.

     • $: the conditional order will be triggered when closing the position will create a specified dollar amount of overall profit or loss.

     • %: the conditional order will be triggered when closing the position will create a specified percentage of overall profit or loss.

  3. Click on either or Buy or Sell to complete your new order.

  4. You can now view your conditional order in the Open tab of your Orders widget. If your conditional order is very close to the opening order, your conditional order may execute right after your opening order, in which case the conditional order may already be in Closed or Fills tab.

Using pips in the If-Then/OCO conditional order table:

Forex and crypto traders who would like to use pips as part of their If-Then or OCO conditional orders should utilize the % row: a pip is one-hundredth of one percent (1/100 x 0.01).  For more information on pips, take a look at this article from babypips.com

1. Click on the New Order button from your dashboard header or within the trading widgets. 

2. Confirm that the security shown in the new order screen is the security you want to trade. If not, search for the security you need in the search field at the top of the new order screen.

3. Select Limit order from the Order type drop down menu.

4. Input the Quantity you would like to buy or sell.

5. Input the limit price for your order in the Limit price field.

6. Click on either the Buy or Sell button at the bottom of the new order screen.

7. A notification will pop-up to let you know that the order has been sent.

8. You can now view your order in the Orders trading widget in the Open tab.  

   • If your limit order was instantly and fully filled, it will appear in the Fills and Closed tabs.  

   • If your limit order was partially filled, the Open tab will contain the quantity/order that is unfilled and the Fills tab will contain the portion of the quantity/order that was filled.

For Pro only:

In Pro accounts, you can further set If-Then and OCO (one cancels other) conditional orders that will automatically close your position on your limit order:

• 1. Before clicking on Buy or Sell at the bottom of the new order screen, select either Take Profit or Stop Loss; or both for an OCO.  

  2. Enter your conditional order criteria in the column below:

     • Price: the conditional order will be triggered at the specified price.

     • $: the conditional order will be triggered when closing the position will create a specified dollar amount of overall profit or loss.

     • %: the conditional order will be triggered when closing the position will create a specified percentage of overall profit or loss.

  3. Click on either or Buy or Sell to complete your new order.

  4. You can now view your conditional order in the Open tab of your Orders widget. 

Using pips in the If-Then/OCO conditional order table:

Forex and crypto traders who would like to use pips as part of their If-Then or OCO conditional orders should utilize the % row: a pip is one-hundredth of one percent (1/100 x 0.01).  For more information on pips, take a look at this article from babypips.com

1. Click on the New Order button from your dashboard header or within the trading widgets. 

2. Confirm that the security shown in the new order screen is the security you want to trade. If not, search for the security you need in the search field at the top of the new order screen.

3. Select Stop order from the Order type drop down menu.

4. Input the Quantity you would like to buy or sell.

5. Input the stop trigger price in the Stop price field.

6. Click on either the Buy or Sell button at the bottom of the new order screen.

7. A notification will pop-up to let you know that the order has been sent.

8. You can now view your order in the Orders trading widget in the Open tab.  

   • If your stop order was instantly and fully filled, it will appear in the Fills and Closed tabs.  

   • If your stop order was partially filled, the Open tab will contain the quantity/order that is unfilled and the Fills tab will contain the portion of the quantity/order that was filled.

For Pro only:

In Pro accounts, you can further set If-Then and OCO (one cancels other) conditional orders that will automatically close your position on your stop order:

• 1. Before clicking on Buy or Sell at the bottom of the new order screen, select either Take Profit or Stop Loss; or both for an OCO.  

  2. Enter your conditional order criteria in the column below:

     • Price: the conditional order will be triggered at the specified price.

     • $: the conditional order will be triggered when closing the position will create a specified dollar amount of overall profit or loss.

     • %: the conditional order will be triggered when closing the position will create a specified percentage of overall profit or loss.

  3. Click on either or Buy or Sell to complete your new order.

  4. You can now view your conditional order in the Open tab of your Orders widget. 

Using pips in the If-Then/OCO conditional order table:

Forex and crypto traders who would like to use pips as part of their If-Then or OCO conditional orders should utilize the % row: a pip is one-hundredth of one percent (1/100 x 0.01).  For more information on pips, take a look at this article from babypips.com

1. Click on the New Order button from your dashboard header or within the trading widgets. 

2. Confirm that the security shown in the new order screen is the security you want to trade. If not, search for the security you need in the search field at the top of the new order screen.

3. Select Stop limit order from the Order type drop down menu.

4. Input the Quantity you would like to buy or sell.

5. Input the stop trigger price in the Stop price field.

6. Input the limit price that will be set once the stop price has been triggered in the Limit price field.

7. Click on either the Buy or Sell button at the bottom of the new order screen.

8. A notification will pop-up to let you know that the order has been sent.

9. You can now view your order in the Orders trading widget in the Open tab.  

   • If your stop limit order was partially filled, the Open tab will contain the quantity/order that is unfilled and the Fills tab will contain the portion of the quantity/order that was filled.

For Pro only:

In Pro accounts, you can further set If-Then and OCO (one cancels other) conditional orders that will automatically close your position on your stop limit order:

• 1. Before clicking on Buy or Sell at the bottom of the new order screen, select either Take Profit or Stop Loss; or both for an OCO.  

  2. Enter your conditional order criteria in the column below:

     • Price: the conditional order will be triggered at the specified price.

     • $: the conditional order will be triggered when closing the position will create a specified dollar amount of overall profit or loss.

     • %: the conditional order will be triggered when closing the position will create a specified percentage of overall profit or loss.

  3. Click on either or Buy or Sell to complete your new order.

  4. You can now view your conditional order in the Open tab of your Orders widget. 

Using pips in the If-Then/OCO conditional order table:

Forex and crypto traders who would like to use pips as part of their If-Then or OCO conditional orders should utilize the % row: a pip is one-hundredth of one percent (1/100 x 0.01).  For more information on pips, take a look at this article from babypips.com

Keep track of all your orders in the Orders Widget.  All orders will appear in 1 - 2 of the tabs: open, fill and closed.

Open:

The Open tab will list all your current open orders in chronological order, with most recent at the top.  This list also includes any partial fills that have an open quantity remaining. 

Fills:

The Fills tab will list all your orders that have been fully or partially  filled in chronological order, with most recent fill at the top.  

Closed:

The Closed tab lists the following closed orders:

• A canceled open order 

• A partially filled order that was was canceled after receiving a partial fill

• A fully filled order

To modify an order, cancel your current order from the Orders Widget and then place a new order.