Orders¶

Place orders¶

cTrader Mac offers several ways to place a new order.

Click the New order button in the сhart toolbar, the Positions tab or the Orders tab of Trade Watch (TW).

Chart toolbarPositions in TWOrders in TW

Alternatively, press F9 to open the Place order window.

You can also place a new order from Active Symbol Panel (ASP).

Alternatively, place a new order for the active symbol from the context menu, which opens when you right-click a symbol in Market Watch, or within the Positions or Orders tabs of Trade Watch. The chart context menu also allows you to place a new order for the symbol displayed on the chart.

Market WatchTrade WatchChart context menu

Finally, you can place new orders using chart trading features such as Quick Trade.

Place a market order¶

1. Choose Market as the order type.
2. Select a symbol to trade, or continue with the active one.
3. Click Sell or Buy to select the trading direction.
4. Specify the order quantity in lots or the volume in units by selecting a value from the dropdown, using the toggles or typing a number.
5. Click Place order to create a market order.

Optional steps include:

• Use the Hide/Show button to collapse or expand the chart for better market visualisation.
• Tick the Market range box and select the maximum deviation in pips from the price you see in the platform at which your order can be filled.

• Tick the Stop loss box and set values to limit potential losses. You can also convert your stop loss into a trailing one, keeping it a fixed number of pips away from the current price.
• Tick the Take profit box and set values to secure your profit.
• Add a comment to your order.
• Click Create alert to set a new price alert.

Place a limit order¶

1. Choose Limit as the order type.
2. Select a symbol to trade, or continue with the active one.
3. Click Sell or Buy to select the trading direction.
4. Set Entry price at which you want your order to be filled. For a buy limit order, the price must be below the current ask price, and the order will only be executed at the limit price or lower. For a sell limit order, the price must be above the current bid price, and the order will only be executed at the limit price or higher.
5. Specify the order quantity in lots or the volume in units by selecting a value from the dropdown, using the toggles or typing a number.
6. Click Place order to create a limit order.

Optional steps include:

• Use the Hide/Show button to collapse or expand the chart for better market visualisation.
• Tick the Expiry box and set the date and time when the pending order will automatically expire if it is not triggered by the entry price.

• Tick the Stop loss box and set values to limit potential losses. You can also convert your stop loss into a trailing one, keeping it a fixed number of pips away from the current price.
• Tick the Take profit box and set values to secure your profit.
• Add a comment to your order.

Place a stop order¶

1. Choose Stop as the order type.
2. Select a symbol to trade, or continue with the active one.
3. Click Sell or Buy to select the trading direction.
4. Set Entry price that will trigger the order. For a buy stop order, the price must be above the current ask price, and the order will only be executed when the market reaches or exceeds this level. For a sell stop order, the price must be below the current bid price, and the order will only be executed when the market reaches or falls below this level.
5. Specify the order quantity in lots or the volume in units by selecting a value from the dropdown, using the toggles or typing a number.
6. Click Place order to create a stop order.

Optional steps include:

• Use the Hide/Show button to collapse or expand the chart for better market visualisation.
• Click Trade side to set whether the bid or ask price triggers a stop order.
  • Trade side - buy stop orders are triggered by the ask price, and sell stop orders are triggered by the bid price.
  • Opposite side - buy stop orders are triggered by the bid price, and sell stop orders are triggered by the ask price.
  • Double trade side - buy stop orders are triggered by two consecutive ticks of the ask price, and sell stop orders are triggered by two consecutive ticks of the bid price.
  • Double opposite side - buy stop orders are triggered by two consecutive ticks of the bid price, and sell stop orders are triggered by two consecutive ticks of the ask price.
• Tick the Expiry box and set the date and time when the pending order will automatically expire if it is not triggered by the entry price.

• Tick the Stop loss box and set values to limit potential losses. You can also convert your stop loss into a trailing one, keeping it a fixed number of pips away from the current price.
• Tick the Take profit box and set values to secure your profit.
• Add a comment to your order.

Place a stop-limit order¶

1. Choose Stop-limit as the order type.
2. Select a symbol to trade, or continue with the active one.
3. Click Sell or Buy to select the trading direction.
4. Set Entry price that will trigger the order. For a buy stop-limit order, the order is triggered when the ask price reaches or exceeds the entry price. For a sell stop-limit order, the order is triggered when the bid price reaches or falls below the entry price.
5. Specify the order quantity in lots or the volume in units by selecting a value from the dropdown, using the toggles or typing a number.
6. Set Limit range in pips to define the price range within which the order will be filled after it is triggered.
7. Click Place order to create a stop-limit order.

Optional steps include:

• Use the Hide/Show button to collapse or expand the chart for better market visualisation.
• Click Trade side to set whether the bid or ask price triggers a stop-limit order.
  • Trade side - buy stop-limit orders are triggered by the ask price, and sell stop-limit orders are triggered by the bid price.
  • Opposite side - buy stop-limit orders are triggered by the bid price, and sell stop-limit orders are triggered by the ask price.
  • Double trade side - buy stop-limit orders are triggered by two consecutive ticks of the ask price, and sell stop-limit orders are triggered by two consecutive ticks of the bid price.
  • Double opposite side - buy stop-limit orders are triggered by two consecutive ticks of the bid price, and sell stop-limit orders are triggered by two consecutive ticks of the ask price.
• Tick the Expiry box and set the date and time when the pending order will automatically expire if it is not triggered by the entry price.

• Tick the Stop loss box and set values to limit potential losses. You can also convert your stop loss into a trailing one, keeping it a fixed number of pips away from the current price.
• Tick the Take profit box and set values to secure your profit.
• Add a comment to your order.

Manage pending orders¶

All pending orders are listed in the Orders tab of Trade Watch. Here you can modify and cancel pending orders.

To filter orders by direction, type, symbol or trading volume, enter the value (or part of it) in the search box above the list.

To filter the orders by their direction (buy or sell), click the Directions dropdown and select the desired direction.

Click the order Information icon next to the desired order to open the Order info window. Click the X button next to an order to cancel it.

Right-click an order in the list to expand the additional order menu. Here you can:

• Cancel order – to cancel the order.
• Modify pending order – to open the Modify order or position window.
• Open chart – to open the current order symbol chart.
• Place new order – to open the Place order window.

Modify pending orders¶

You can also modify a pending order by double-clicking it or clicking the Cog icon of the order in the Orders tab of Trade Watch.

In the Modify order or position window, the following options are available:

• Price – modify the entry price using the toggles or by typing the number. This price cannot be higher than the current ask price on the market if going long (buy), or lower than the current bid price if going short (sell).
• Quantity – modify the volume using the dropdown or toggles, or by typing the number.
• Expiry – set or modify the date and time when the pending order will automatically expire if it is not triggered by the entry price. Pending orders without an expiry remain active until they are cancelled manually, unless triggered by the price.

• Stop loss – set or modify the stop-loss protection.
• Take profit – set or modify the take-profit protection.
• Trailing stop loss – check to enable a trailing stop loss. A trailing stop loss automatically updates every time the price of the position moves in your favour. This is a handy tool if you initially have underappreciated the market. A trailing stop loss never re-adjusts if the market moves against you.

When done, click Modify to save your changes.

Cancel pending orders¶

To cancel a pending order, in the Orders tab of Trade Watch click the X button next to the desired order, or right-click an order and select Cancel order from the additional order menu.

Alternatively, click the X button next to the order in the Modify pending order tab of the Modify order or position window.

To cancel all the pending orders at once, click Cancel all orders in the upper-right corner of the Orders tab in Trade Watch.

More functions for managing orders from the chart area are described in chart trading.

Order information¶

Click the Information icon next to the desired order in the Orders tab of Trade Watch to open the Order info window and view detailed order information. The following information is available:

• Information – the lot value and units of the trading asset.
• Order ID – the unique order identifier.
• Status – the current status of the order.
• Requesting position – the position that has been requested for this order.
• Opened position – the position opened by this order.
• Position details – click to open the Position info window (if the order resulted in a position).
• Symbol – the financial instrument of this order.
• Direction – the direction of the order (buy or sell).
• Submitted quantity – the initial volume requested.
• Current quantity – the current volume requested (volume left to fill).
• Filled quantity – the amount of the volume filled.
• Order type – the type of the order.
• Fill price – volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of the deals used to fill this order.
• Submitted – the exact date and time when the order was filled.
• Last modified – the exact date and time of the latest changes made to the order.
• Channel – the platform used to open the current order.
• Label – a tag that may be added by a cBot.
• Comment – the custom user comment that may be sent with the order.
• Time in force – duration and conditions under which the order is valid.
• Expiry – the exact date and time when a pending order will automatically expire if it is not triggered by the entry price.
• Current price – the current price of the traded symbol on the market.
• Submitted price – the initial price set for the order.
• Trigger – the price that triggers the order and the current order trigger side (bid or ask price).
• Current distance – the difference between the spot price and submitted price.
• Limit range – the specific price range at which the limit order will be executed.
• Submitted SL – the initial stop-loss value set with the order.
• Current SL – the current stop-loss value.
• Submitted TP – the initial take-profit value set with the order.
• Current TP – the current take-profit value.
• Total deals – the total number of deals attempted to fill the order.
• Rejected deals – the total number of rejected deals.
• Executed deals – the total number of accepted deals.
• Exception deals – the total number of deals that have encountered an exception.

Order events¶

The Order events section, containing all the events of the order, is displayed at the bottom of the Order info window. It shows all events experienced by the order in chronological sequence: creation and modification, match with liquidity providers, executed deal and created position.

Here you can see how much time has passed between these events.

Click an event to open the respective window with all information about the order, deal or position. The following details are presented in the grid:

• Event ID – the unique identifier of the event.
• Event type – the type of the event (order created, order closed, etc.).
• Event status – the current status of the event.
• Time – the exact date and time of the event.
• Expiration time – the exact date and time when the event expires.
• Quantity – the exact number of lots involved in the event.
• Price – the current price of the number of lots involved in the event.
• Stop loss – the stop-loss level.
• Take profit – the take-profit level.
• Session ID – the unique identifier of the session.
• Label – the tag that could be sent with the event.
• Comment – the custom user comment that could be added to the event.
• Client request ID – the unique identifier of the client request.

Stop loss and take profit¶

Stop loss (SL) – a feature that automatically limits a trader’s losses by closing an open position if the market moves unfavourably. When a security falls to a specified level, the stop loss is triggered and the position is closed at a loss.

Take profit (TP) – a feature that automatically closes an open position when the market reaches a specified profit level. If the price of a security rises to that target, the position is closed, securing the gain without manual intervention.

cTrader provides relative and absolute protection options for stop loss and take profit:

• Relative protection – stop loss and take profit are set as values in pips.
• Absolute protection – stop loss and take profit are set as values in price, balance, profit or distance.

Set up stop loss and take profit¶

You can set or modify stop-loss and take-profit protections for existing positions or pending orders in the Modify order or position window. They can also be set when creating a new order.

You can set the stop-loss trigger by pips, symbol price, balance percentage, profit value or distance. All values are automatically recalculated relative to the value that you set.

A stop loss cannot be placed within the spread.

Stop-loss triggers¶

In cTrader, a stop-loss trigger determines the specific market price conditions under which a stop loss is activated, allowing traders to control how sensitive their protection levels are to price movements.

• Tick – the smallest possible price movement (one price update).

To cycle through the stop-loss trigger types, click the right arrow icon.

Stop loss and take profit can be adjusted directly on the chart for an open position. Hover over the position, then drag and drop the SL or TP lines to set the respective stop-loss and take-profit values.

Learn more about stop loss and take profit.