I am new to investing and I had a question about a Good Till (Until) Close Selling of a Stock. Let’s say that I own a stock that is at 0 right now and I bought it at . I am happy with my profit, but am worried the stock is to volitile but dont want to sell all my stake in it but take some profit. If I do a GTC Sell price for like will the online brokerage keep me invested in the stock until it hits for w/e time they have their GTC set to? I am not sure because all the example I have seen are GTC for buys and I really want to know how GTC work for sell examples especially the scenario I am presenting. Thanks!
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Stock Market GTC Question...?
Bullhead 7:06 pm on October 30, 2009
GTC stands for Good Till Cancelled, meaning the order will stand until it is executed or you cancel it. The alternative is a Day Order, which will automatically expire at the end of trading the day it is made, unless already executed or cancelled.
Generally speaking, there are two big categories of stock orders: Market orders and Limit orders. Market means you want to buy or sell at the going market rate right now. Limit means you want to buy/sell at the market rate provided it is at least as good as a limit you set. So you could order your broker to buy XYZ at 100 but if it’s trading at 101 then nobody will sell to you at 100 and the order will just sit there. If the market later goes down and there is a willing seller at 100, the order will get executed. How long the order can wait for that to happen is where the GTC or Day Order status comes in.
There is also a type of limit order called a stop loss, which may be what you have in mind. In a stop loss you specify a trigger price at which your order becomes a market order. So, for example, you own a stock now trading at 100 but want to make sure that you will get out if the price drops to 90. You could put in a stop loss order to sell at 90. As long as the price stays above 90, nothing will happen. If it touches 90 or below, then your order becomes active and you will sell at the market price. Note that you are not guaranteed to get 90. The stock could gap down from 91 to 85 and you would then only get 85.
anthony s 7:06 pm on October 30, 2009
You need to enter a stop order. If you want to sell at 90, then enter a stop order at 93. That way if the stock falls back to 93 the order will be executed. You want to enter the order above what you really want because in a fast moving market, the broker may not be able to sell at 90.
sclass_benz 7:06 pm on October 30, 2009
Enter a Stop order at $90. When the stock trades at $90, the Stop order becomes a market order and your shares will be sold. GTC stands for "Good till Cancelled", which means the order will stay open until it’s either executed or cancelled by you.