Cheat sheet

Order types explained, one page

Five order types cover practically everything a private investor ever needs. The sentence says what it does; the trap says how it bites.

Order type	What it does	The trap
Market order	Buy or sell now, at the best price available. Certainty of execution, not of price.	In fast or thin markets the fill can be far from the last quote. Fine for giant liquid shares; risky for small caps at 8am.
Limit order	Buy or sell only at your stated price or better. Certainty of price, not of execution.	The market can walk away without filling you, and a limit sitting for weeks is a decision you made in a different world. Review or expire them.
Stop (stop-loss)	A sell that triggers when the price falls to your level, becoming a market order.	Gaps. A stop at 90 on a share that opens at 75 sells you at 75, not 90. Stops limit losses in smooth falls, not overnight cliffs, and a temporary dip can eject you at the exact bottom.
Stop-limit	A stop that becomes a LIMIT order at your floor price instead of selling at any price.	The floor that protects your price can mean not selling at all as the market falls through it. You traded gap risk for might-not-execute risk; know which you prefer.
Fill-or-kill / all-or-nothing	Execute the entire order at once or cancel it. For sizes that should not be drip-filled.	Rarely needed at retail size; using exotic conditions on liquid shares mostly just delays you.
The long-term investor's default	For monthly buys of diversified funds: the scheduled regular investment (effectively a market order at a set time) is honestly all most people ever need.	Complex order types are a trading toolkit. If your strategy is decades, adding stops to a global tracker mostly automates selling cheap.

The honest summary: limit orders for anything illiquid or volatile, market orders for giant liquid names in normal hours, and deep suspicion of any urge that requires the exotic ones.

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Educational information, not financial advice. Figures current as of July 2026 where dated; allowances and rates change, so check the source before acting.