Placing Equity Orders

TIP: If you frequently use the same trade order settings, consider setting up Trading Hot Keys, which allow you to place orders with the touch of a key or combination of keys.

1. In the Trade tool or Symbol Hub, click the Stock/ETF tab. In the All in One Trade tool, open or click on the Stock/ETF tab.
2. Enter the symbol in the Title Bar and press Enter on the keyboard or click Go.
3. Choose from the Action field whether you wish to create a Buy, Sell, or Short order. (If you have selected the order action button view, you will choose your action at the point of submitting the order in lieu of Step #12 below.)
4. Adjust the quantity using the arrow buttons or entering the quantity manually.
   

Keyboard shortcuts

• Up/Down keys increase or decrease in increments of 500
• Left/Right keys increase or decrease in increments of 100
• Shift + Up/Down keys increase or decrease by 10
• Shift + Left/Right keys increase or decrease by 1
  

TIP: If you want to base your order quantity on a dollar amount rather than a number of shares, click the $ button above the Quantity field. Enter the dollar amount and click OK to show the number of shares that amount will buy (whole shares only).

5. Select a Venue. Most common will be Smart, but other choices may include Pre Market and After Hours. If you are approved to trade via Direct Access, you will also have ARCA and NSDQ venues as choices. See the Equity Trading Venues for more information.
6. Choose an Order Type.

Available Order Types

• Limit : An order to buy or sell a security at a specific price or better. As opposed to a market order, limit orders might not be filled quickly or at all if the market moves away from the specified price. A limit order guarantees price, but not execution.
• Market : An order to buy or sell a security at the prevailing market price. Sometimes referred to as "at the market." Unless trading is halted, a market order guarantees execution, but not price.
• Stop : A request to buy or sell at the market price, but only when the security trades at or past a price specified. Once the stock price moves to or through the stop price, the pending stop order becomes a market order. Stock and ETF stop orders are triggered by a trade at or through the specified stop price. Once the order is activated, you are guaranteed execution, but there is no guarantee of the execution price. Execution may occur either above, at or below your stop price.
• Stop Limit : An order that becomes a limit order once the security trades at or through the designated stop price. A stop limit order instructs a broker to buy or sell at a specific price or better, but only after a given stop price has been reached or passed. It is a combination of a stop order and a limit order. Stock and ETF stop limit orders are triggered by a trade at or through the specified stop price.
• Trailing Stop : An order whose trigger price will trail either the current inside ask (if buying) or inside bid (if selling/shorting) at the time the order was submitted by the number of points or the percent you specified in the Trailing Amount field. The Trailing Stop feature should not be confused with the Stop Order (order type), which does not trail the price but has a set stop price. More on Trailing Stops.
• Direct Access users, see the ARCA and NSDQ topics for Order Types available with those venues.
  

7. If you chose an order type requiring a limit and/or stop price, set those values in the specified fields. Either enter them manually, or click on a price in the Market Depth area to use that price.

Keyboard shortcuts

• Up/Down keys increase or decrease by .05
• Left/Right keys to increase or decrease by .01
• Shift + Up/Down keys to increase or decrease by .005
• Shift + Left/Right keys to increase or decrease by .001
  

8. Select the Timing for the order.

Available Timing Choices

• Day: Causes your order to be canceled at the end of the current market session if the order has not been executed. All Market Orders are automatically Day orders. Orders are generally considered to be day orders unless otherwise specified.
• GTC (Good 'Til Canceled): Instructs the broker to keep an order open until it is either executed or expires. At Schwab, GTC orders remain open for 60 calendar days unless filled or you request that they be canceled before that time.
• Market On Close: A Market On Close (MOC) order is submitted for execution as part of an exchange’s closing auction or other trade execution process. Furthermore, MOC Orders must be placed or changed before 3:45pm EST (within 15 min of market close). Your ability to cancel MOC orders is governed by the rules of the exchange to which the order was routed. In most cases, cancellation requests will not be accepted after 3:55 pm ET and may be subject to restrictions at earlier times depending on exchange rules.
• FOK (Fill or Kill): Instructs the broker to immediately fill an order in its entirety or to cancel it. FOK instructions are only applicable to limit orders.
• IOC (Immediate or Cancel): Requires the broker to immediately fill as much of the order as possible and then cancel any remaining portion. (It may not be available in all market conditions.) Unlike All or None (AON) or Fill or Kill (FOK) instructions, IOC orders may result in a partial execution.

9. Depending on your order settings, certain Special Conditions may be available. Choose these from the Special Conditions drop-down.

Available Special Conditions

• Min Quantity: Specifies the minimum execution quantity the client will accept (with any amount up to the specified Quantity thereafter). Use only for orders over 200 shares. When checked, the amount field can be changed, but the amount must be at least 200 shares. Designating minimum shares applies to the first fill only.
• AON (All or None): Attempts to fill the entire amount of an order or none of it during the time limit specified. AON orders do not require immediate execution.
• DNR (Do Not Reduce): This instruction only pertains to a regular Cash Dividend event.

Corporate Action Types

• Cash Dividends: This condition is used to keep the order price from being adjusted when a regular cash dividend event occurs. A domestic equity or ADR can be marked DNR to prevent this adjustment. All GTC buy limit and sell stops will have their price adjusted on the ex-date if the order is not marked DNR. Pink sheets and foreign securities with 5 letter symbols ending in F are not adjusted.

• Stock Dividends: All GTC buy limit and sell stop orders will have their price adjusted on ex-date, including DNR orders. The share quantity may also be adjusted based on the rules of the specific exchange, but price will always be adjusted. Pink sheets and foreign securities with 5 letter symbols ending in F are not adjusted.

• Spin-Offs: All GTC buy limit and sell stop orders will have their price adjusted on ex-date, including DNR orders. Pink sheets and foreign securities with 5 letters aren’t adjusted.

• Special Dividends: All GTC buy limit and sell stop orders will have their price adjusted on ex-date, including DNR orders. Pink sheets and foreign securities with 5 letters aren’t adjusted.

NOTE: Adjustments are less well defined for foreign securities. Schwab’s policy is to not adjust these orders, but many third parties do. Every effort is made to catch adjustments but there are times when adjustments are made and Schwab is not always notified of the changes.

• Cost Basis Method: Available when closing out of a position, you can specify the method used to calculate cost basis on the order. For more information, see Cost Basis Method.
• Direct Access users, see the ARCA and NSDQ topics for Special Conditions available with those venues.

10. Similarly, to enable Brackets for your order, click the Brackets drop-down. See Brackets Overview for more information on applying bracket exits to your order. Brackets can also be added from the order verification window by clicking the 'Set Exit Strategy' button prior to placing the order.
11. To sell your entire position, check the Close All box. The quantity will default to the shares you have available to sell. When checked, the quantity will become shaded.See Close All for more information.

TIP: You must use Close All or select the Smart venue in order to close out a position with fractional shares.

12. Click Review Order (if you have not turned off order verification).
13. If the order settings are correct, click Place Order. To edit the order, click Edit Order. To start over completely, click Do Not Place.

A Stop Order is an order to Buy or Sell at the Market price once the security is at or has traded through a certain price (the Stop price).

Buy Stops are entered above the current Market price. If the security trades at or above your Stop price, your Stop Order becomes a Market Order and your broker will buy at the current Market price. A Buy Stop is designed to help protect a profit or limit a loss on a short sale.

Sell Stops are entered below the current Market price. If the security trades at or below your Stop price, your Stop Order becomes a Market Order and it will sell at the current market price. A Sell Stop is designed to help protect a profit or limit a loss on a long position.

The risk of a Stop Order is that it may be triggered by temporary market movements or executed at a price higher or lower than the Stop price. A Stop Order does not guarantee a price.

NOTE: Schwab will not trigger your stop or stop limit orders based upon odd-lot transactions, or any other transactions excluded from the consolidated last sale price calculations.