A Beginner's Guide to Placing OCO Stock Orders

Placing OCO stock orders can seem intimidating, but it's actually quite straightforward.

You can place an OCO order by specifying two or more orders that are linked together.

The first order is the main order, and the second order is the stop-loss order, which is triggered if the main order is not executed.

OCO orders are useful for limiting potential losses or locking in profits.

By setting a stop-loss order, you can automatically close out a losing position, saving you from further losses.

Broaden your view: Stop Loss or Stop Limit Order

Placing an OCO Order is a great way to manage risk and ensure you don't lose too much money if your trade doesn't go as planned. You can have up to 10 orders in an OCO group.

To place an OCO order, you'll need to use the Trade Bar and add multiple order rows. An OCO (Order Cancels Order) order consists of a group of two or more parallel orders that are linked together. When any one of them is filled, all of the other orders are automatically canceled.

A unique perspective: Limit Orders

You can add up to 10 orders to an OCO group. To add more orders, click the Add Order button in the Trade Bar.

Here's a breakdown of the order rows you can add to an OCO group:

An OCO order can be configured with specific behaviors to suit your trading needs. One such behavior is stopping the child order after the TT OCO parent order is triggered.

You can also configure the TT OCO parent order behavior based on preconditions. This allows you to set specific conditions that must be met before the parent order is triggered.

To trade retracements and breakouts, traders can use OCO orders with a buy stop and sell stop to enter the market. This involves placing an OCO order with a buy stop just above resistance and a sell stop just below support.

OCO orders can also be used to buy at support and sell at resistance. In this case, the OCO order would consist of a buy limit order at support and a sell limit order at resistance.

Worth a look: What Is a Stop Limit Stock Order

A TT OCO order submits two orders of the same quantity at different price levels on the same side of the market. One order is a profit order, while the other is a Stop protective order.

If you are buying, the Limit order (profit order) is submitted at a low target price, and the Stop order (protective order) is placed at a higher price. If you are selling, the Limit order is placed at a high target price, and the Stop order is placed at a lower price.

A TT OCO order can be canceled when the Limit order is completely filled, but not if the Stop order is triggered and filled. However, if you change the quantity of one of the TT OCO child orders, it will not automatically change the quantity of the other order.

Here are some key characteristics of OCO orders:

OCO Order Strategies can be integrated into various trading strategies, including day trading, swing trading, and position trading, to enhance your overall trading approach.

If this caught your attention, see: Street Smarts High Probability Short Term Trading Strategies

OCO bracket orders can be especially useful for day traders who need to quickly adjust to changing market conditions.

By using OCO orders, swing traders can limit their losses and lock in profits more effectively.

OCO orders can also be used in position trading to manage risk and protect gains over longer periods.

The key to successful OCO order strategies is to carefully set stop-loss and take-profit levels that align with your overall trading plan.

For more insights, see: Great Day Traders

An OCO order is a powerful trading tool that allows you to place three orders simultaneously: a primary order, a stop-loss order, and a take-profit order. These orders are automatically canceled if one of them is executed, helping you manage risk and lock in profits.

An OCO order can be used to minimize losses and capture profits at predetermined levels, making it a valuable tool for traders. This is especially useful when trading volatile stocks, as it allows you to set a stop-loss order and a take-profit order to limit potential losses and lock in profits.

Here are the different types of OCO orders:

An OCO order is a powerful trading tool that allows you to place three orders simultaneously: a primary order, a stop-loss order, and a take-profit order. These orders are automatically canceled if one of them is executed, helping you manage risk and lock in profits.

An OCO order can be used to take advantage of a price movement in either direction, as seen in Example 4, where an investor places two concurrent orders to buy or sell a stock after a news announcement.

OCO orders can be linked together in a single "basket" using the OCO Order Condition, as described in Example 2. This allows you to manage multiple orders at once and reduce the risk of forgetting to cancel an order.

A basic TT OCO order can be configured to submit the Stop child order as a Stop Limit, Stop Market, or TT Stop, as shown in Example 6. The default configuration is to submit the Stop order as a Stop Limit order, which uses the default "Payup" setting of "1".

OCO bracket orders offer several advantages, including effective risk management by minimizing losses, capturing profits at predetermined levels, and removing emotional bias from trading decisions, as stated in Example 5.

OCO orders can be used to place a stop-loss order and a take-profit order simultaneously, as seen in Example 3, where an investor places an OCO order to sell 1,000 shares of a volatile stock at $8 or $13, whichever occurs first.

Here are some key characteristics of OCO orders:

You can apply With A Tick functionality to child orders, which allows you to work an order at one price and automatically pay up one tick when the quantity available at the opposite side drops below a user-defined threshold.

To configure With a Tick behavior, you need to specify the desired quantity and price settings, enable With a Tick and set the quantity threshold, and enter the order at the desired price level.

If you entered a Buy order at the inside market, the TT OCO parent order will reprice its child order one tick when the quantity for the inside Ask falls below 20.

Note that if you place the TT OCO parent order more than one tick away from the best available price, the first child order will be immediately entered one tick closer to the market.

You have the option to set the With a Tick functionality with a percentage instead of a fixed quantity, for example, 20%. This means that when the quantity on the opposite side of the market drops below 20% of your order's quantity, your order will aggress into the market by one tick.

Here's a summary of the With a Tick settings:

You can implement OCO orders in various trading strategies, including day trading, swing trading, and position trading, to enhance your overall trading approach.

OCO orders can be used to set a stop-loss and take-profit level, helping you limit potential losses and lock in profits.

To set up OCO bracket orders, you'll need to follow the steps outlined in the instructions for your trading platform, such as ApexFutures.

Setting the price of the Stop child order is a crucial aspect of implementing OCO orders. You can configure the TT OCO to execute the Stop child order at a specific price level based on market conditions or a set number of ticks from the market.

The Payup setting allows you to set the child order three ticks away from the market, as seen in the example where the TT OCO is submitted as a Sell order and the Stop Limit order is triggered at 2952.75, submitting a child Limit order at 2953.50.

You can also set the child order based on market conditions, but this is not a recommended approach as it may not provide the desired results.

In the TT OCO configuration, you can select the TIF (Time in Force) of the native child order submitted by the TT Stop, which includes options such as Day, GTC, FOK, GTDate, and IOC.

Broaden your view: What Is a Market Stock Order

To set up ApexFutures, you'll need to follow their easy-to-understand instructions.

First, you'll need to set up your account, which will guide you through the necessary steps.

The ApexFutures trading platform is where you'll navigate to place your OCO bracket orders.

Follow the platform's instructions for account setup, which will get you started with setting up your OCO orders.

ApexFutures will walk you through the necessary platform navigation to place your orders.

To execute OCO bracket orders, you'll need to enter the order details carefully.

If this caught your attention, see: How to Place an Order?