Placing, modification and deletion of Pending Orders
You don't have to trade at the current market price. Instead, you can place a pending order, which will be triggered once the price reaches the level you specify. The order will be executed even if you aren't logged in to the MetaTrader 4 terminal.
Placing a pending order
To place a pending order, you must open a new order first. You can do this using any of the following methods:
- Select 'New Order' from the 'Tools' menu
- Press F9
- Double-click on the symbol you want in the 'Market Watch' window
- Select 'New Order' from the 'Market Watch' window's context menu
- Select 'New Order' from the 'Trade' tab's context menu in the 'Terminal' window
- Press the
button in the 'Standard' toolbar
Once the 'Order' is open, you must fill in the order parameters, as shown in the following table.
| Parameter | Description | Mandatory/Optional |
|---|---|---|
| Symbol | The market instrument you want to trade. | Mandatory |
| Volume | The amount you want to trade in lots. | Mandatory |
| Stop Loss | The price to close at if you're making a loss. Note that this is the bid price for long positions and the ask price for short positions. A value of '0' indicates no stop loss. | Optional |
| Take Profit | The price to close at if you're making a profit. Note that this is the bid price for long positions and the ask price for short positions. A value of '0' indicates no take profit. | Optional |
| Comment | Text up to 25 characters. You can't change this once your order is placed, and we may modify or overwrite it. | Optional |
| Type | Set this to 'Pending Order'. | Mandatory |
Figure 1. 'Order' Window
Once you set the 'Type' to 'Pending Order', further parameters will appear in the bottom half of the ‘Order’ screen. Fill these in as well.
| Parameter | Description | Mandatory/Optional |
|---|---|---|
| Type | The type of pending order you want to place – see below. | Mandatory |
| At price | The price at which you want to execute the order. | Mandatory |
| Expiry | The time to cancel the order if it hasn't been triggered. | Optional |
Pending order types
You can place pending orders to buy or sell, and these can be either stop orders or limit orders. You need to select the right type, depending on what you think will happen to the price
| Type | Current Price | Trigger | Price Prediction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy Limit | Ask > 'At Price' | Ask = 'At Price' | If price falls to 'At Price', it will then rise. |
| Buy Stop | Ask < 'At Price | Ask = 'At Price' | If price rises to 'At Price', it will continue to rise. |
| Sell Limit | Bid < 'At Price' | Bid = 'At Price' | If price rises to 'At Price', it will then fall |
| Sell Stop | Bid > 'At Price' | Bid = 'At Price' | If price falls to 'At Price', it will continue to fall. |
Modifying and deleting pending orders
You can modify or delete a pending order before it has been triggered. First, open the pending order:
- Right-click on the pending order in the 'Trade' tab of the 'Terminal' window
- A context menu will appear
- Select 'Modify or Delete Order'
Once the order window appears, do one of the following:
- Press the 'Delete' button
- Modify the parameters and press 'Modify'
Figure 2. Modifying or Deleting Orders
