[Johny]

Stop Order
A stop order is a conditional order to your broker to initiate a market order as and when a particular price level specified by you is reached. This can be above or below the current market price. Stop orders may be used to enter trades, but tend to be used mostly to exit trades that go ‘offside’ (i.e. into the red) to cap a loss, or to trail behind price in a trade that’s in profit. These orders are referred to as ‘stop loss’ and ‘trailing stop’ orders respectively. In an extremely fast moving market, it’s possible for price to shoot through your stop order and fail to trigger it.

Market Order
This is the order to use to enter or exit the market immediately at the best available price. If you’re a buyer, it’s usually executed at or above the best ask price. If you’re a seller, it’s usually executed at or below the best bid price. The downside to market orders is that there’s no guarantee that you will be filled at the price you want and you may suffer from ‘slippage’. In other words, you could buy at a much higher price than you intended, or sell at a much lower price than you intended.

Limit Order
Limit orders are designed to prevent slippage. They can only be used to buy at or below the current market price or to sell at or above the current market price. So, if you place a sell limit order, you know that you’ll sell for the price you want - or at a higher one. Conversely, if you place a buy limit order, you’ll buy at the price you want - or at a lower one. The downside to limit orders is that – unlike market orders - there is no guarantee that they will be filled.