Glossary
Limit Order
An order to buy or sell at a specified price or better, rather than at the current market price.
Limit Order, explained
A limit order tells the broker to execute only at your chosen price or a more favourable one. A buy limit sits below current price (you want a cheaper fill), and a sell limit sits above it. The order rests until price reaches your level or you cancel it.
Limits suit traders who plan entries at predefined levels — for example, waiting for price to return to an order block or the discount half of a range — rather than chasing the current price. They let you set the trade and walk away, with the entry, stop and target all defined in advance.
It helps to keep the order types straight. A buy limit is below price and a sell limit is above it (you are waiting for a better price); a buy stop is above price and a sell stop is below it (you are buying a breakout). Mixing these up is a frequent and costly beginner error.
The trade-off is that a limit order can be missed entirely if price never reaches your level, whereas a market order fills immediately but at whatever price (and spread) is currently available. Patience buys you a better price at the risk of no trade at all.
On the desk we lean on limit orders for SMC entries because the whole approach is about letting price come to a level rather than chasing it. A resting buy limit at an unmitigated order block means we get the planned entry automatically if price returns, and nothing happens if it does not.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between a limit order and a market order?
- A market order fills immediately at the current price and spread; a limit order waits for your specified price or better and may never fill. Limits give price control, market orders give certainty of execution.
- What is the difference between a buy limit and a buy stop?
- A buy limit sits below the current price (you want a cheaper entry); a buy stop sits above it (you are buying a breakout once price rises through your level). They serve opposite intentions.
Related terms
Bid / Ask
The two sides of a quote — the bid is where you can sell, the ask is where you can buy; the gap between them is the spread.
ReadSlippage
The difference between the price you expected and the price you actually got on a fill.
ReadOrder Block
The last opposing candle before a strong, displaced move — a zone where institutions absorbed flow.
ReadPremium & Discount
Whether price is expensive or cheap relative to the midpoint of a range — buy in discount, sell in premium.
Read
Put it into practice
Education modules
More terms in the glossary.
Vocabulary is the easy part. See how the desk turns these concepts into structured trades with defined risk on every position.