How do I place a conditional order?

What is a conditional order?

A conditional order is an instruction to submit an order once your selected condition is met. For example, you may use a Take Profit order to sell holdings if the price rises to a certain level, or a Stop Loss order to sell holdings if the price falls to a certain level.

When the trigger condition is met, the conditional order is submitted to market, but this does not guarantee that the order will be placed successfully, fully executed, or executed at a particular price. The resulting order is still subject to market conditions, available liquidity, price-time priority, trading rules, and sufficient available funds or holdings. It may be fully executed, partially executed, remain on market, or fail on placement.

Why might a conditional order fail or not execute? 

A conditional order may fail to be placed or executed for reasons including:

• Insufficient funds or available stock in the account when the order is triggered.
• The limit price is too far from the current market price, particularly during rapid market movements or where trading volume is low.
• The order size exceeds available market liquidity, making it difficult to find enough buyers or sellers at the specified price. 
• Trading halts, suspensions or market disruptions that prevent the order from being executed.
• This section provides examples of situations that may prevent an order from being placed or executed after the trigger condition is met.

To place a conditional order:

1. Find the security you want to trade.
2. Click buy or sell.
3. Toggle 'Conditional order' to Yes.
4. Select the conditions of the order.
5. Check, change or cancel the conditional order by navigating to Orders in the main navigation. Here you can view, amend or cancel the order.