Disclosure: This is not financial advice. Naming an order type does not promise a fill or a price.
Introduction
Futures order types are the labels on an order ticket: market, limit, stop, and stop-limit. Each label tells the broker and the exchange which instruction to try. CME Group’s education page describes those labels for its markets: futures order types. Read that page, then read the ticket your firm actually shows. This article is the worksheet. It does not choose a trade.
A futures contract itself is explained by the CFTC in futures market basics. An order is not the contract. The order is the instruction. The contract terms, including size, stay on the specification.
Market
A market order is an instruction to buy or sell at the best price the market is showing when the order is worked. CME’s course describes market orders and also describes price protection that can apply on its markets, including what happens to a remainder. Copy the sentence from that course if you rely on it. Do not assume every firm, every hour, and every product works the same way.
The word people use for a fill that differs from the last price they saw is slippage. Slippage is a difference you measure after the fill, not a number this article can print. If you do not have the fill price and the price you saw, write “slippage not measured.”
Limit
A limit order adds a limit price. A buy limit is an instruction to buy at that price or lower. A sell limit is an instruction to sell at that price or higher. If the market never trades at a price that meets the limit, the order can remain unfilled. That is the tradeoff the CME page is describing: a price constraint, not a promise of a trade.
Write the limit price you typed. If the ticket changes the price, write the price the ticket shows after you submit, not the price you meant.
Stop
A stop order waits until a trigger price is reached, and then it becomes another kind of order. On many tickets a stop becomes a market-style order after the trigger. CME’s course is the place to read how its stop works. A sell stop is usually entered below the last price a person is looking at. A buy stop is usually entered above it. Usually here describes the ticket layout people mean. Confirm the side on your ticket.
A stop is not a cap on loss. If the next trade is far from the trigger, the fill can be far from the trigger. Write “trigger” and “fill” as two cells. If you only have one, you do not have both.
Stop-limit
A stop-limit also waits for a trigger. After the trigger, it becomes a limit order rather than a market-style order. CME’s course gives an example of a sell stop-limit becoming a limit to sell at the stated price and then waiting. Read the example there. The point for your sheet is that a limit after the trigger can remain unfilled if the price moves through it. You then still have the position. Write “unfilled” if that is what the ticket says. Do not write “protected” unless the fill exists.
How long the instruction lasts
Duration is a separate field. CME notes that futures orders are often sent as day orders that expire at the end of the session. Some tickets offer good-till-canceled or another duration. The default on your ticket is the one that counts. Write the duration word the ticket shows. If you cannot find it, write “duration not shown” and do not assume the order will still be there tomorrow.
The sheet for futures order types
- The contract: root, month, and year, from the quote screen.
- The order type word on the ticket.
- Buy or sell.
- Quantity, copied, or “quantity not set.”
- Limit price, stop trigger, or both, or “none for a market order.”
- Duration.
- What the CME course says that type does, in a short clause you checked today.
- Afterward: filled, partial, or still working, with the fill price or “no fill.”
- The sentence you will not add, such as “maximum loss is the stop.”
Futures order types are understood when that sheet matches the ticket. A table that says an order guarantees a fill is too strong for this page. The course and the ticket say what they say.
What this page does instead of picking
It does not tell you to use a market order to get out, or a limit to get in. Those are decisions about a position this article does not have. It tells you to name the type before you send the instruction, and to read the fill after.
It does not say futures are suitable for you. Read Investor.gov and the risk disclosure your firm provides. Check the firm in NFA BASIC before you send money. A social post that names a best order type is a clipping. The CFTC note on internet hype is Understand Risks and Markets before Reacting to Internet Hype.
Practice without sending an order
CME describes a trading simulator in its education material, including order types: simulator order types. If you use a simulator, label the row “simulated.” A simulated fill is not an account fill. If your firm offers a practice ticket, write the firm’s name and that the order was not live.
Partial fills and rejected tickets
An order can fill for part of the quantity. Write the filled quantity and the working remainder as two numbers from the ticket. Do not write the original quantity as if it all traded. An order can also be rejected. Write the rejection text if the ticket shows one. A blank status is not a fill. Futures order types only describe the instruction. The status line describes what happened.
If the product is halted or the session is closed, the ticket may refuse the instruction. That refusal is not a price. Write “not accepted” and the time. When the session reopens, the old ticket is not automatically a new order unless the duration says so.
One product, one ticket
Do not copy a gold stop onto a crude ticket. The type words may look the same while the session hours and the protection rules differ. Open the specification for the product on the ticket. If the CME course example uses a number, that number is an illustration on CME’s page. It is not your trigger. Type nothing until the contract month on the ticket matches the month you meant to read.
Mistakes
The first mistake is treating a stop price as the fill price.
The second mistake is a stop-limit you thought was a stop. Read the type word.
The third mistake is ignoring duration and discovering the order expired or remained.
The fourth mistake is a commission link in place of the CME course. The definitions are on the exchange page.
The fifth mistake is a dollar amount of protection this page never calculated.
FAQ
What are the main futures order types on this page?
Market, limit, stop, and stop-limit, as CME’s education page describes them. Your ticket may add others. Write the word you see.
Does a stop cap a loss?
No. Trigger and fill are different cells. A gap can put the fill beyond the trigger.
What is the difference between a stop and a stop-limit?
After the trigger, a stop is commonly worked like a market order, and a stop-limit becomes a limit. Confirm both on the CME page and on your ticket.
Do day orders last overnight?
Not if they are day orders. Read the duration field.
Does this article tell me which type to send?
No. This is not financial advice.
Conclusion
Futures order types are instructions: market, limit, stop, or stop-limit, plus a duration. Read the CME description, then read your ticket, then write the fill separately from the trigger. This is not financial advice. An order type is not a forecast.
