Financial Spread Betting Order Types

In addition to the ordinary instant execution orders, which can be placed on-line or over the phone, financial spread betting companies offer the following order types. All of these orders can be either good for the day (GD) or good until cancelled (GTC). Apart from Guaranteed Stop Loss Orders they are also free to place, amend and cancel.

Limit Orders

Limit Orders - are an instruction to trade at a price you determine for the purpose of executing the order at a price that is better than the current market price. A buy limit is an instruction to execute at a price lower than current market price and a sell limit order is an instruction to execute at a price higher than the current market price.

Stop Orders

Stop Orders - are an instruction to trade at a price you determined for the purpose of executing the order at a price that is inferior to the current market price. A buy stop is an instruction to execute at a price higher than current market price and sell stop order is an instruction to execute at a price lower than the current market price. They are often placed to trade at a specified price to restrict losses, such as protecting you from sharp falls in share price.

OCO orders (One Cancels Other)

OCO orders (One Cancels Other) - allow you to link a Stop-Loss Order and a Limit Order to an open position. This is generally used to control possible losses with the Stop-Loss Order and take possible profits with the limit order. If one of the orders is executed, the open position is closed and the remaining order is automatically cancelled.

Guaranteed Stop Loss Orders

Guaranteed Stop Loss Orders - similar to an ordinary stop order, except that it guarantees that you exit your position at the price you set as opposed to only closing you out of your position at the first available price which could be a long way from the price you placed your stop at. You have to pay a premium to take out a Guaranteed Stop Loss Orders and they are only available at the time of opening the bet.

For non-Guaranteed Stop Orders there can be circumstances when the execution price may be quite different to the one you specify within your order:

a. If the underlying instrument is experiencing a period of very poor liquidity or high volatility. This can occur particularly around the release of key market statistics or company announcements.

b. Orders are only monitored and executed during market trading hours. In the case of markets which continue to operate outside of the financial spread betting company hours they will execute any orders which have reached the instruction price at next opening hours. This may be at a price which is substantially different to the instruction price. However, if the market has moved beyond the instruction price and returned by the time that the spread betting company re-opens, the order will not be executed.