GTC Meaning in the Stock Market

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If you've ever bought stocks before, then you've seen an order screen where you likely were faced with an option of having your order be "GTC".

If you don't know the meaning of GTC, then you're in the right place. This guide will explain what GTC means when it comes to placing orders in the stock market.

What is the Meaning of GTC?

GTC stands for "Good Till Canceled" in the stock market. It refers to a type of order that remains open until it is manually canceled by the trader, regardless of how much time passes.

You can set either buy orders or sell orders as GTC.

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Why Would You Want an Order Set to GTC?

Setting an order to GTC allows you to leave orders open for an extended period.

This might be helpful if you have, for example, a sell order for a profit target or stop loss in place for a particular investment. You can't know when that price point will be reached in the future, so you might want to leave the order open until it gets reached or until you manually cancel it.

Another example is maybe you want to buy a stock only if it reaches a particular price point, no matter how long that might take. For example, maybe you only want to buy Amazon stock if the price reaches $100.00, and you're ok with waiting however long it takes for that to happen.

One thing to keep in mind is that open orders for new positions typically count against your buying power, which means that so long as you have that order open, it may limit your ability to take on other investments.

How Do You Set an Order as GTC?

You can set your order as a GTC order by adjusting the Time In Force (TIF) value.

When setting up an order, one of the fields is typically for TIF, and that is where you'll normally be able to set a value of GTC for the order.

You can see in the image above, which is a screenshot from the Thinkorswim trading platform, that the order is set with a value of GTC in the column for TIF. It's right above the yellow marker line.

Alternative to a GTC Order

Sometimes, it might not be optimal to set your order as GTC.

Another setting you can choose for the TIF value is "Day". This means the order will only be open for the current trading day. If the order is not filled by the end of the market's normal trading session, then the order will automatically be canceled.

Can All Orders Be Set to GTC?

Not all orders can be set to GTC. Market orders, for example, cannot be set to GTC; they must use a "Day" value for Time In Force.

Limit orders can be set to GTC.

Video About GTC Meaning

This video we made about the meaning of GTC might be helpful:

Learning More About GTC Orders

You can contact us any time if you would like to ask any questions about GTC orders, or about anything related to trading in general.