Every futures order does one of two jobs. It either takes liquidity that is already resting in the book, or it adds liquidity and waits. Every order type on your platform is a variation on that, with rules attached about when it activates and what price it will accept. Understanding which side of that line an order sits on tells you most of what you need to know about how it will behave.
The two things an order can guarantee
An order can guarantee execution or it can guarantee price. No order type gives you both. A market order takes whatever the book offers and always fills in a functioning market, at a price you find out afterwards. A limit order names a price and waits, which means it may sit there unfilled while the market moves away from you. Every other order type on the list below is built out of those two primitives, with a trigger condition bolted on.
The order types at a glance
| Controls price | Guarantees a fill | Common use | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market | No | Yes, in a liquid market | Immediate entry or exit when speed matters more than price |
| Limit | Yes | No | Passive entries, profit targets, working a price level |
| Stop | No, once triggered | Yes, once triggered | Protective stops, breakout entries |
| Stop-limit | Yes, once triggered | No | Trigger entries where a bad fill is worse than no fill |
| OCO | Depends on the legs | Depends on the legs | Pairing a profit target against a protective stop |
| Bracket | Depends on the legs | Depends on the legs | Attaching a target and a stop to an entry automatically |
Market orders
A market order crosses the spread and takes the best available price, then keeps taking whatever is behind it until the full quantity is filled. In a deeply quoted contract during regular hours, that usually means one tick of cost and instant certainty. In a thin overnight book or in the seconds around an economic release, the same order can walk several ticks through the book before it is done. The order type has not changed. The book has.
Limit orders
A limit order rests in the book at a price you specify and fills only at that price or better. Buy limits sit at or below the current market, sell limits at or above. Because CME matching is first in, first out at most price levels, the time you placed the order determines your place in the queue at that price. An order that has been sitting at a level for twenty minutes fills before one placed a second ago.
Stop orders
A stop order sits inactive until the market trades at or through your trigger price, at which point it becomes a market order and behaves like one. This is the standard protective exit. The trigger price is where the order wakes up, and the fill can land anywhere from there onward depending on what liquidity exists at that moment. In a gap or a fast move, that distance can be substantial.
Stop-limit orders
A stop-limit order uses the same trigger, then submits a limit order instead of a market order. You get a ceiling on the fill price and you accept the possibility that the market runs past your limit and leaves you unfilled. For an entry, that tradeoff is often sensible. For a protective stop on a live position, an unfilled order means you are still in the trade while it moves against you.
OCO and bracket orders
One-cancels-other links two working orders so that a fill on either one cancels the other. The standard use is a profit target above and a protective stop below an open position, so the position closes exactly once whichever way the market goes. A bracket takes the same idea and attaches it to an entry order, so the target and stop are submitted automatically the moment the entry fills.
Both of these are usually managed by the trading platform or the broker rather than by the exchange itself, which has practical consequences. If the linkage lives on your machine, a disconnected platform can leave one leg working with nothing cancelling it. Server-side implementations hold up better. It is worth knowing which one your broker uses before you rely on it.
Where order types are covered in detail
- Market orders in futures trading
- Limit orders in futures trading
- Stop orders in futures trading
- Stop-limit orders in futures trading
- OCO orders in futures trading
- Bracket orders in futures trading
This page is for informational purposes only and is not trading, tax, legal, or financial advice. Order behaviour varies by broker and platform, and no order type prevents losses in a fast or gapping market. Consult a licensed professional before making decisions based on your specific situation. See our Legal Disclaimer for details.