Orders & execution
Good-till-cancelled
Also called GTC
An order that stays live across sessions until it fills or you cancel it.
How it works
The alternative is a day order, which expires at the close if unfilled. GTC orders persist, though most brokers impose a maximum life of a few months.
They are useful for patient limit orders at prices well away from the market, where you are content to wait weeks.
Where it misleads people
A forgotten GTC order can execute months later on news you have not thought about, or be triggered by a price move caused by a stock split rather than by anything real. Review standing orders after any corporate action.
Related terms
- Limit orderAn instruction to trade only at a specified price or better, accepting that it may never fill.
- Stock splitDividing existing shares into more, smaller shares, leaving the total value unchanged.
- Day orderAn order that expires automatically at the end of the trading session if it has not filled.
More in Orders & execution
- Fractional shares
- Market order
- Fill-or-kill
- Market timing
- Dollar-cost averaging
- Stop order
- Stop-limit order
- Trailing stop
All 12 Orders & execution terms · The full glossary, 433 terms
Educational reference only. Nothing here is investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell anything, and tax treatment depends on your own circumstances and the country you are in.