Buy or sell now
Market
A market order swaps straight away, in one transaction, at whatever the price is.
Wait for a price
These rest until the market comes to a level you set, then run. Each rebuilds and re-prices its swap at the moment it fires, so one can wait for days without going stale.Limit
A limit order rests until the market reaches your price, then fills there or at any better price.
Rung
A rung fills inside a band at your price and waits when the market runs past, instead of chasing it.
Stop
A stop sells when the price falls through your level. The level is the trigger, and it sells at the market.
Trailing stop
A trailing stop follows the price up and never falls back, firing when the market retreats to it.
Break up a large size
A large order against a pool that cannot absorb it in one go should arrive in pieces. These three do that in different ways. (Whether splitting actually saves money is a separate question. See Splitting a big trade.)Iceberg
An iceberg is a limit that only ever shows a small slice at once, so the full size is never on the book.
TWAP
A TWAP breaks the size into equal slices and fires one at the market each interval, over time.
Grid
A grid lays a ladder of rungs across a price range and works the whole band as the price moves through it.
Set an exit and a floor together
Bracket
A bracket places an entry with a take-profit above it and a stop below. A fill on one cancels the other.
Buy on a schedule
DCA
DCA buys the same size on a repeating schedule, whatever the price is that day.