How Many Forex Order Types There Are and How to Use Them In Your Favor.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

How Many Forex Order Types There Are and How to Use Them In Your Favor.

by: Adrian Pablo
Once you have decided to enter the Forex trading world, one of the first things you will have to do is downloading the trading station provided by your chosen forex broker for free. When you open your trading station software, you will find there are two main ways to enter a market or, said in another way, there are two ways to place an initial order to buy or sell any currency pair.

“Market order”; this is an order to buy or sell a currency pair at the market price the instant that the order is received and processed (within seconds of hitting the "OK" button on your screen). When a market order is placed, you are simply saying "I'll buy or sell the currency pair at whatever price it is at when my order gets processed."

“Entry order”; this is an order to buy or sell a currency pair when it reaches a certain price target. This can be any price in theory. You could set an entry order for the low price of a time period, or the high price of a time period. As an example, one usual recommendation is that you must always set an entry order to be the same price as the ‘open price” of the time period. When you place an “entry order” to buy, for example, you are simply saying "I want to buy this currency pair at a certain price, if it never reaches that price, I don't want to purchase the pair."

After your “entry order” is placed, you can set a stop and/or limit order if you desire, and for your own security. Stop and Limit orders are two different ways to exit a trade, automatically (i.e., without closing out your position via the click of your mouse - manually), after the trade is entered.

A “stop order” (something I will always recommend you) is used to stop losses. A “limit order” (recommended if you can't monitor your open trade) is used to redeem profits. Where these orders are placed, in relation to your open trade, depends on the direction of the entry order.

Remember; a “stop order” is always placed below the current market value of that currency pair when you are in a long (buy) trade. And a “limit order” is always placed above the current market value of that currency pair when you are in a long (buy) trade.