Futures For You  |  MAY 2007

Futures For You by Dan O’Neil

Stocks & Commodities V. 25:5 (57): Futures For You by Dan O’Neil INSIDE THE FUTURES WORLD Want to learn how the futures markets really work? Dan O’Neil, a principal at online futures and forex broker XPRESSTRADE (www.xpresstrade.com), responds to your questions about today’s futures markets. To submit a question, post your question to our website at http://Message-Boards.Traders.com. Answers will be posted there, and selected questions will appear in a future issue of S&C. MAY I TAKE YOUR ORDER? I’m just getting started trading futures and I’m confused about all of the different orders available. What are the basic futures order types, and how do I know which one to use? Traders have several choices when it comes to placing orders to buy or sell commodity and financial futures. For example, you can instruct your broker to buy or sell at a specified price. Or you can direct the broker to buy or sell on your behalf immediately, wherever the market is trading right now. You even have control over how long your order will be active in the marketplace — you can place an order that is good for one day or for an extended period. Understanding how different types of orders work may make a difference in whether your trade gets executed and at what price, but not every exchange accepts every order type so it’s important to check exchange guidelines before trading. Here are some common futures order types from which to choose...

by Dan O’Neil