When trading shares and ETFs, it is not only important what you buy or sell, but also how you place your orders on the stock exchange. The easiest way to do this is, of course, via savings plans. However, it is not really possible to influence the price, as brokers execute their customers’ savings plan orders collectively and at a time that suits them. The price you receive later cannot be influenced.
If you want to have more freedom of choice, you have to place your trading order yourself and at least know the most important order types. We present these.
Market order: The fastest execution
The simplest and best-known order type is the market order, which is often referred to as the “best order”, especially by neo-brokers such as Trade Republic* or Scalable Capital*. The stock market product is bought or sold at the next best available price. This ensures fast execution, as the order can theoretically be executed at any price, but carries the risk, particularly in volatile market phases, that the price may differ significantly from what you were originally prepared to pay.
This is because if the price rises unexpectedly quickly at the time the order is placed, you will receive your shares at a significantly higher price than you originally calculated. Conversely, when selling and prices fall, this means that you receive less than you had planned. Of course, this can always happen in the opposite direction and thus contribute to the trader’s profit.
Background: The exchange first matches all limit orders with each other and thus balances supply and demand. If no more limit orders can be matched at the current price, the price remains at this level until a trader adjusts his limit to the market price or a market order is placed that can be matched with the available limits. Market orders therefore always cause movement on the markets.
Limit order for the best planning
To prevent unexpected price fluctuations, it is better to set a limit order. The investor specifies a maximum price that he is prepared to pay when buying or a minimum price at which he would like to sell. Only when this threshold is reached is the order placed and offset against a corresponding market or limit order from the other side. This makes it easier to calculate your savings amount, but you run the risk that the market may not reach this price and you may end up empty-handed or have to sell at a lower price.
We recommend always setting a limit for one-off purchases that is close to the current price in order to ensure the fastest possible execution and to stay within the planned budget. This is the best way to catch the best prices, especially during US trading hours.
Stop order and stop limit more for traders
Stop market and stop limit orders play a special role. They are placed in order to place the order on the stock exchange once the defined threshold value has been reached. While a stop order places a market order as soon as the desired price is reached and the order is executed immediately, a stop-limit order places a limit order.
As a rule, such trading orders are placed when you want to enter a trend or limit your losses. A trailing option can also be added to each order in order to hedge book profits or limit losses. The stop price is automatically trailed at a fixed distance from the current price. If the price rises, the stop rises accordingly; if it falls, it remains unchanged. This eliminates the need for manual intervention every time the price changes.
More complex order types
For more complex strategies, there is also the OCO order (One Cancels the Other). In this case, two orders are linked together, one of which is automatically canceled when the other is triggered. For example, a sell order can be given a stop loss and a price target at the same time. If the target is reached or the stop is triggered, the other order is canceled. There are also time-critical order types such as IOC (Immediate or Cancel) and FOK (Fill or Kill). The former is executed immediately in full or in part and the unfulfilled remainder is deleted. With an FOK order, the order is either executed immediately in full or not at all. These order types are used particularly in professional trading and in fast-moving markets, for example in futures day trading.
Which order type is right for you depends on your investment strategy, risk profile and the market situation. Long-term investors often rely on limit orders and occasional stop-loss hedging, while active traders often work with stop, trailing stop and OCO orders. Regardless of trading style, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with the various options. Also, not all order types are always available with brokers – especially with new brokers.
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Letzte Aktualisierung am 2026-01-25 at 17:16 / Affiliate Links / Bilder von der Amazon Product Advertising API
