In this lesson, we will explore the types of orders that are available to traders.
But let’s first define what an order is.
An order is an offer sent via the trading platform (MT4) to open or close a transaction. It’s an order to start or stop trading for any given trading instrument. You could start buying or selling a trading instrument (the initiation of a position), while termination is the closing of an existing position that you previously opened.
Orders can be put into two categories based on the timeframe of their activation. The first category comprises market orders. Market orders are orders to initiate or terminate a position instantly. It’s a direct order to start trading in the market. Market orders enable you to enter or close a position immediately. Basically, you trade an instrument at the current market price with just a push of a button.
The second category is pending orders. In this case the order is not executed immediate; instead, a specific condition has to be met for the order to be activated. For example, a pending order could be set to trigger the buying of EUR/USD, once a particular price level is reached. Pending orders can also be used to close existing open positions.
