Orders¶

Create orders¶

There are several ways to create orders in the cTrader:

• By clicking the New order button in the Quick links tab at the top of the interface, or in Trade Watch panel (make sure that either Positions or Orders tab is selected). The New order menu will pop up.
• By right-clicking on the corresponding symbol in the Symbols list to the left, or on its chart, and selecting Place new order from the submenu. The Place order menu will pop up.

• By using buy or sell Quick Trade buttons at the top of the chart of the desired symbol.

• By using the New order form in Active Symbol Panel (ASP) to the right.

• By pressing F9 on the keyboard.

Create a market order¶

1. In the New order menu select a symbol to trade.
2. Select a trading direction by clicking either the Sell or Buy buttons.
3. Specify quantity – the number of lots to be traded using the dropdown, the toggles or typing in the number.
4. Change the market range to expand or narrow down the price range to which your order will be filled.
5. Check the corresponding boxes to configure the stop-loss and take-profit options (they will apply to the corresponding position once the order is filled).
6. Optionally, type in your comment into the Comment box.
7. Click the Place order button to create a market order.

Additional order configurations:

• Click the Price alert icon to set a price alert.

• Use the Collapse/expand button to collapse and expand the chart to the right.

• Click the Information icon to open the symbol's full details.

Alternatively, select the desired symbol in the New order menu in Active Symbol Panel, select a trading direction, specify volume to be traded, optionally enable the market range and stop-loss and take-profit protections, then click Place order.

Create a limit order¶

To create a limit order in the New order menu, select Limit order to the left.

1. Select a symbol to trade.
2. Select a trading direction by clicking either the Sell limit or Buy limit buttons.
3. Specify volume – the number of lots to be traded using the dropdown, the toggles or typing in the number.
4. Set the Entry price at which you wish to fill your order. 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). Buy limit orders can only be executed at the limit price or lower. Sell limit orders are executed at the limit price or higher.
5. Check 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. If an order is triggered shortly before expiry, it will still be sent for execution and may be filled even after the selected expiry time. Pending orders without an expiry remain active until they are cancelled manually, unless triggered by the price.
6. Check the corresponding boxes to set and configure the stop-loss and take-profit options.
7. Click the Place order button to create a limit order.

Additional order configurations:

• Use the Collapse/expand button to collapse and expand the chart to the right.

• Click the Information icon to open the symbol's full details.

Alternatively, select the desired symbol in the New order menu in Active Symbol Panel, select the Limit tab, select a trading direction, specify the entry price and the quantity (volume) to be traded, optionally enable the expiry time and date, and the stop-loss and take-profit protections, then click Place order.

Create a stop order¶

To create a stop order in the New order menu select Stop order to the left.

1. Select a symbol to trade.
2. Select a trading direction by clicking either the Sell stop or Buy stop buttons.
3. Set the Entry price that will trigger an order. The price cannot be lower than the current ask price if you are going long (buy), or higher than the current bid price if going short (sell).
4. Specify volume - the number of lots to be traded using the dropdown, the toggles or typing in the number.
5. Click the right arrow icon to select a way to trigger the order.
6. Check 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. If an order is triggered shortly before expiry, it will still be sent for execution and may be filled even after the selected expiry time. Pending orders without an expiry remain active until they are cancelled manually, unless triggered by the price.
7. Check the corresponding boxes to set and configure the stop-loss and take-profit options.
8. Click the Place order button to create a stop order.

Additional order configurations:

• The right arrow trigger icon is the trade side. Buy orders are triggered by the ask price and sell orders are triggered by the bid price.

• The left arrow trigger icon is the opposite side. Buy orders are triggered by the bid price and sell orders are triggered by the ask price.

• The double right arrow trigger icon is the double trade side. Similar to the trade side trigger, but two consecutive ticks of the respective price are required.

• The double left arrow trigger icon is the double opposite side. Similar to the opposite side trigger, but two consecutive ticks of the respective price are required.

• Click the Price alert icon to set a price alert.

• Use the Collapse/expand button to collapse and expand the chart to the right.

• Click the Information icon to open the symbol's full details.

Alternatively, select the desired symbol in the New order menu in Active Symbol Panel, select the Stop tab, select a trading direction, specify the entry price and the quantity (volume) to be traded, optionally enable the expiry time and date, and the stop-loss and take-profit protections, then click Place order.

Create a stop-limit order¶

To create a stop limit order in the New order menu select Stop limit order to the left.

1. Select a symbol to trade.
2. Select a trading direction by clicking either the Sell stop limit or Buy stop limit buttons.
3. Specify volume - the number of lots to be traded using the dropdown, the toggles or typing in the number.
4. Set the Entry price that will trigger the stop limit order.

Additional order configurations:

• The right arrow trigger icon is the trade side. Buy orders are triggered by the ask price and sell orders are triggered by the bid price.

• The left arrow trigger icon is the opposite side. Buy orders are triggered by the bid price and sell orders are triggered by the ask price.

• The double right arrow trigger icon is the double trade side. Similar to the trade side trigger, but two consecutive ticks of the respective price are required.

• The double left arrow trigger icon is the double opposite side. Similar to the opposite side trigger, but two consecutive ticks of the respective price are required.

• Set Limit range (in pips) relative to the entry price.

This means that stop limit order will be triggered only if the market reaches the stop price and will be filled only with the price determined by the limit range value (or a more preferable one).

• Click the Price alert icon to set a price alert.

• Use the Collapse/expand button to collapse and expand the chart to the right.

• Click the Information icon to open the symbol's full details.

Alternatively, select the desired symbol in the New order menu in Active Symbol Panel, select the Stop limit tab, select a trading direction, specify the entry price and the quantity (volume) to be traded, set limit range, optionally enable the expiry time and date, and the stop-loss and take-profit protections, then click Place order.

Manage pending orders¶

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

To filter the orders by their direction, type, symbol or trading volume, type in the value, or its part, in the Search box above the list of orders.

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 page. Click Cancel order button next to an order to cancel it.

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

• Cancel order – to cancel the order.
• Modify order – to open the Modify Order menu.
• Open chart – to open the current order symbol chart.
• Place new order – to open the create new order menu.

Modify pending orders¶

To make changes to an existing pending order, click the Cog icon next to the desired order in the Orders tab of Trade Watch panel.

In the Modify pending order menu, the following options are available:

• Price - modify the entry price at which you wish to fill your order using the toggles, or typing in 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 to be traded using the dropdown, the toggles or typing in 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 the trailing stop loss. The trailing stop loss is a stop loss that automatically updates every time the price of the position moves in your favor. 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 Cancel order button next to the desired order, or right-click an order and select Cancel order from the dropdown.

Alternatively, click Cancel order in the Modify pending order menu.

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

Order information¶

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

• Information – the trading asset lot value and lot units.
• 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.
• Positions details – click to open Position info panel (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 – the tag that may be added by the cBot (cTrader).
• 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 – 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 the rejected deals.
• Executed deals – the total number of the 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 section. It shows all events experienced by the order in chronological sequence: creation and modification, match with liquidity providers, the executed deal and created position.

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

Click on an event to open the respective panel 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 time when the event is expired.
• 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 supports two types of protection for stop loss and take profit:

• Relative protection – values are set in pips, relative to the opening price.
• Absolute protection – values are set as exact price levels.

Set up stop loss and take profit¶

You can set or modify stop loss and take profit for existing positions or pending orders in the modify order menu. 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 one you set.

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 of a market to the right of the decimal. A tick represents one price update, regardless of its size.

  To change the stop-loss trigger type, click the Trade side toggle.

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