Knowledge · Interactive order lab
Order types and execution
Understand market, limit, stop and stop limit: which price counts, what triggers an order and why triggering is not yet execution.
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Differentiate order, trigger and executionWhich order serves what purpose?Bid and Ask: which line counts?Market: acting quickly, understanding price riskLimit: a specified price with the possibility of no fillStop: a threshold is not a guaranteed priceMT5 Stop-Limit: two levels instead of a price promiseInteractive order labThree attempts that make the difference visibleStop Loss and Take Profit: Managing PositionTrailing stop: what updates the level?Validity, partial execution and refusalCheck before sending and after executingSourcesDifferentiate order, trigger and execution
An order describes what the broker should do. A trigger describes when a condition is reached. An execution is the transaction actually concluded. Only its price and volume determine which position was created or changed. „The price was on my line“ and „my order was executed“ are therefore different statements.
As a thinking model, a purchase order helps: buy immediately at the available price, pay at most a certain price or only become active after crossing a threshold. The following examples are computational and functional examples without a specific trading recommendation. Price levels are freely invented. Broker terms, symbol and account determine the actual possibilities.
Which order serves what purpose?
| Order | Purchase | Sale | Decisive conflict of objectives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market | Aim for immediate execution | Aim for immediate execution | No firmly promised price by the order type alone. |
| Limits | At most, pay the limit | At least get the limit | Pricing conditions may prevent execution. |
| Stop | Upper trigger level activates order | Lower trigger level activates order | Triggering and actual price can be different. |
| Stop limit | Stop activates a limited purchase order | Stop activates a limited sales order | After trigger, the limit order can remain open. |
General securities mechanics distinguishes execution urgency and price limit. It is a starting point for understanding, not a substitute for the execution terms of an OTC CFD/FX contract. A market order can also be rejected or cannot be executed due to lack of tradability.
[ORD-SEC]Bid and Ask: which line counts?
In the classic OTC model is bought for Ask and sold for Bid. Buy Limit checks Ask ≤ Limit, Buy Stop Ask ≥ Stop, Sell Limit Bid ≥ Limit and Sell Stop Bid ≤ Stop. MT4 supports these four pending variants. Manufacturer help points out that the historical chart shows bid, although some orders are judged by ask.
Closing a long position requires a sale, closing a short position requires a purchase. Accordingly, classic OTC stop loss/take profit conditions of a long position are checked on the basis of bid and a short position on the basis of ask. A larger spread can thus reach a threshold while the other ratio remains unchanged.
Fictitious example: Bid remains 100, Ask increases from 100.20 to 102.20 by spread expansion. A buy stop at 102 can trigger in the model, although the bid line has not risen. This explains a possible quote constellation; whether it actually occurred must be checked on the basis of the historical bid/ask data.
[ORD-MT4]Market: acting quickly, understanding price risk
For a market order, the focus is on timely execution. The quote seen at the click does not have to be the later execution price. Between display, shipping and processing, prices or available quantities can change. Slippage refers to the discrepancy between a clearly named reference price and execution; it may in principle be favorable or unfavorable.
MT4 distinguishes Instant, Request and Market Execution. In instant mode, a new pricing can come back as a requote; Market Execution involves execution at a broker-determined price without reconfirmation. These modes are not broker business models: “Market Execution” proves neither external routing nor A-book.
In the laboratory, Market Buy is already processed at the start tick. Without modeled liquidity, the order awaits a later tick. Real systems can instead reject or apply other rules. Reconstruction requires order timestamp, quote, execution timestamp, price and server message. Order path behind the frontend
[ORD-EXECUTION]Limit: a specified price with the possibility of no fill
Fictitious example: Ask 100.20, desired purchase at most 98. A buy limit remains open at first. At Ask 97.80, the quote meets the price condition; our model fills to 97.80, so cheaper than the limit. If there is sufficient liquidity, 98 would also be allowed. The price limit is not a reservation of a certain market volume.
The counterpart is Sell Limit: With Bid 100, a sale of at least 102 is desired. Only a sufficiently high bid meets the condition. In real markets, ranking, available quantity, filling policy and trading hours can be crucial. The mere touch of a chart line is not a complete proof of execution.
A close-to-market or already tradable limit order may be immediately executable depending on the trading venue. The usual learning rule “buy limit below price, sell limit above” describes waiting entry orders, not every possible stock market order. The laboratory illustrates conditions and does not run real price/distance validation by a broker.
Stop: a threshold is not a guaranteed price
Fictitious example: Buy Stop 102; Ask 101 is followed by the next quote 106. The trigger is exceeded. In the general stop-to-market model, the purchase can now be made at 106 instead of 102. A sell stop shows the same effect in mirror image on a jump down. In the laboratory, an additional unfavorable slippage surcharge is added on request.
A price gap is not a drawn path through all intermediate prices. Between two quotes, not every price level must have been tradable. This is precisely the difference between “threshold reached” and “executed to this threshold”. Specific OTC brokers may offer different pricing rules or explicitly guaranteed stops; conditions and possible fees must be checked separately.
[ORD-SEC]MT5 Stop-Limit: two levels instead of a price promise
MT5 describes Buy Stop Limit as a stop that then places Buy Limit; in the documented standard case, its limit is below the Stop. Sell Stop Limit places a sell limit above it after the lower trigger. In the case of certain stock market symbols, the trigger check can be carried out in accordance with trading venue rules, usually Last, instead of using the OTC bid/ask model used here.
Fictitious example: Buy Stop 102, following Buy Limit 101. Ask jumps to 106. The stop level is reached; the limit order is active, but a purchase at 106 does not meet its price condition. Only a return run to a maximum of 101 enables execution in the laboratory. If the course remains above this, the order remains open.
For Sell Stop Limit 98 with Limit 99, the opposite applies: After a jump on Bid 94, the sale waits for at least 99. Thus, the non-execution can be shown understandably without deriving a guarantee for each MT5 broker. MT4 does not offer stop limit as a native classical pending order type; an EA replica has its own operating and failure conditions.
[ORD-MT5]Interactive order lab
ORDERLABOR · FICTIVE PRICES
What happens on the next tick?
Start-Bid 100. Buying uses Ask, Selling Bid. Settings for order, prices and scenario start a new attempt. Liquidity can be switched during the experiment.
Next tick: modeled liquidity available.
The laboratory needs JavaScript. The following examples are also readable without simulation.
Tick protocol and accessible number view
| Tick | Bid | Ask | Model status |
|---|
Didactic OTC model with full execution on a tick once the condition and modeled liquidity are present. No queue, partial execution, margin checking, latency, trading interruption or real brokerage connection. Stop is treated as a market order after triggering; concrete broker contracts may provide for other protection/execution rules. Limit fillings are made in the model at the appropriate current quote without additional slippage. The slippage setting is a deliberately unfavorable supplement, not a prognosis.
Three attempts that make the difference visible
1. Select Buy Stop, set “jump up” and continue clicking until the jump. The trigger rate is above the stop. With additional slippage, the execution in the model becomes even less favorable. The stop is a condition, not a reserved trade price.
2. Select Buy Stop Limit and use the same history. After the jump, the limit is active, the order is not yet executed. The later return shows why the order can finally be filled. „Triggered is expressly a separate state.
3. Select Buy Stop and “Bid Constant · Spread Growing”. Watch as Ask reaches the trigger. Subsequently deactivate the liquidity in the case of buy limit “decline and recovery”: Despite the price condition met, no model is filled. Activate again before a suitable follow-up tick.
Cancellation ends an open model order; it does not close an already executed position. In real systems, a cancellation confirmation must be checked because the order and execution can overlap in time. The laboratory deliberately processes actions one after the other and does not simulate this race.
Stop Loss and Take Profit: Managing Position
A stop loss should close an existing position in the event of unfavorable movement. Take Profit aims at closing at a favorable level. The functions can already be specified at the job; their effect presupposes the associated open position. They do not replace position size planning or margin testing.
A planned loss can be calculated from volume and assumed closing price. In the case of different execution, financing or other costs, the actual net loss may be different. Therefore, a stop loss for an arithmetical loss of 100 euros does not mean without an additional contract guarantee that the maximum loss is exactly 100 euros.
A stop-out, on the other hand, is a closure initiated by the provider according to its margin rules. It is not the personal stop loss of the user. Both can become relevant in the same stress phase. Understanding Margin, Leverage and Stop-out · Position Size and Cost
[ORD-DEALS]Trailing stop: what updates the level?
The classic MT4 trailing stop runs in the terminal. After a sufficient profit margin, he sets or shifts the stop loss in the direction of a more favorable hedge. During a return, this stop is not loosened backwards again. If the terminal is terminated, the further tracking stops; an already set server-side stop loss remains.
Fictitious example without spread: A long position starts at 100, trailing distance 2. With a sufficient increase to 103, the stop could be at 101, at 105 at 103. A return to 104 does not lower it to 102. The specific activation thresholds and change intervals determine the function, not this simplified sequence of numbers.
An app, an EA, a VPS and a broker-side tool can have different operating locations and requirements. Check: Does a terminal have to run? Does the connection have to exist? Which stop is actually confirmed on the server? A local display alone does not confirm a server-side change.
[ORD-TRAILING]Validity, partial execution and refusal
Validity types limit how long an order remains, such as until cancellation, at the end of the day or at a specified time. Filling guidelines, on the other hand, concern the volume: FOK requires the complete quantity, IOC allows an immediately available subquantity and discards the rest. Upon return, an unfilled residue may remain; its permissibility depends on the execution mode. These options are not available on every icon.
An order can be placed, partially executed, fully executed, cancelled, expired or rejected. A partial execution is a real business; the residual status must be read separately. Lack of margin, inadmissible volume or price parameters may lead to rejection. The laboratory represents complete filling and non-filling, not an order book quantity.
[ORD-PROPERTIES]Check before sending and after executing
Before sending: correct account and symbol; buy or sell; volume and contract size; trigger or limit level; SL/TP; validity; order types allowed; trading time and symbol-related minimum intervals. A price in “Points” is not automatically a pip or a euro amount. The order entry explains the manufacturer's help; the actual values are in the symbol conditions.
After sending: Read server confirmation and status. After an execution price, quantity and remaining order check; SL/TP on the actual position check. In case of unexpected behavior, secure bid and ask, journal reports and account history. A screenshot without a timestamp and quote page often does not fully explain the execution.
For the next learning modules, this leads to the question of what the resulting position will do economically: long or short, which price and currency risks, which running costs? Portfolio hedging builds on that. Long-/Short-Position Laboratory · Portfolio hedge with hedge laboratory
[ORD-DEALS]Sources & scope
Check the evidence.
- SEC / Investor.gov · Types of Orders
Basic mechanics Market, limit, stop and stop limit in the securities context. Not issued as an identical OTC brokerage contract rule.
Open the source ↗ - MetaTrader 4 · Order Types
Manufacturer assistance, tested 30.09.2026: four pending order types, bid/ask and positional SL/TP.
Open the source ↗ - MetaTrader 4 · Types of Execution
Instant, Request and Market Execution; observe symbol/broker configuration.
Open the source ↗ - MetaTrader 5 · Basic Principles
Manufacturer help, tested 30.09.2026: Stop-limit mechanics and differences in trigger rules for stock market symbols. No universal promise of execution.
Open the source ↗ - MetaTrader 5 · Executing Trades
Manufacturer assistance for order entry, symbol, volume, position management and trading conditions.
Open the source ↗ - MetaTrader 4 · Trailing Stop
Terminal-based tracking; already set stop loss remains server-side. Desktop function does not transfer flat-rate to apps.
Open the source ↗ - MQL5 Reference · Order Properties
Order states, filling guidelines and validity types. Permissibility depending on symbol and execution mode.
Open the source ↗