GTC order
A GTC order (good-til-canceled) is an order that stays active indefinitely until you manually cancel it or your broker imposes a cutoff. Most brokers implement a “hard stop” — the order auto-expires after 30, 60, or 90 days — to prevent forgotten orders from lingering forever. A GTC order is ideal for patient investors who want to buy or sell at a specific price and are willing to wait.
For orders that expire at day’s end, see day order. For orders that expire on a specific date, see GTD order.
How GTC orders work
When you place a limit order and specify GTC, the order will sit in the order book across multiple days until:
- It fills. The price is reached and your order matches a counterparty. You are done.
- You cancel it. You log in to your broker and manually cancel the order.
- The broker expires it. After 30, 60, or 90 days (depending on your broker), the order is automatically canceled.
Example: You place a GTC limit order to buy 100 shares at $50 on a Monday. The stock closes at $52 every day for a month. Your order sits unfilled. If you do nothing:
- After 30 days (if your broker’s limit is 30), the order is auto-expired.
- If your broker’s limit is 90 days, it persists for another 60 days, waiting.
If you get tired of waiting, you can cancel it any day.
Advantages of GTC orders
Lazy entry. You set a price and forget about it. If the market ever falls to that level, you are bought. No daily resubmission needed.
Swing trading. A swing trader might place a GTC limit order to buy a pullback in a stock and then ignore it while handling other trades. If the pullback happens, the order fills. If it never happens, the trader cancels it.
Dollar-cost averaging. Some investors place multiple GTC orders at different price levels, letting the market gradually fill them over time.
Patience rewarded. In choppy, ranging markets, a GTC order can catch moves that intraday traders miss. You are patient and the market comes to you.
Disadvantages of GTC orders
Forgotten orders. The cardinal sin of GTC orders is forgetting about them. You place a buy limit at $50, the stock crashes to $45, the limit fills at $50, and you now hold a position you forgot about. Worse, the thesis behind the original trade might be invalidated.
Stale conditions. You place a buy limit at $50 on the assumption that $50 is “cheap.” Six weeks later, the stock is at $40 and you think $50 is expensive, but your GTC order is still there, waiting to buy at $50. You have to remember to cancel it.
No overnight protection. A GTC order provides no special protection across overnight gaps. If you place a sell limit at $55 and the stock gaps down overnight, your order is still there the next morning waiting to sell at $55 (which will not happen if the stock is now $40).
Broker expiration. Your broker will auto-expire your GTC order after its limit (typically 60–90 days). This can catch you off-guard if you expected the order to persist. Always check your broker’s policy.
GTC vs. day orders
| Feature | Day order | GTC order |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | One trading day | Until canceled or broker expires |
| Overnight gap | Order expires; no protection | Order persists |
| Resubmit | Must resubmit daily | No resubmit needed |
| Risk of stale conditions | Lower (forces daily review) | Higher (can linger weeks) |
| Good for | Intraday traders | Patient, long-term traders |
GTC orders and corporate actions
If a company pays a dividend or executes a stock split, your GTC order does not automatically adjust. For example:
- You place a GTC buy limit at $50.
- The company does a 2-for-1 stock split; price falls to $25, but share count doubles.
- Your order is still set to buy at $50 for the original share count, which is now obsolete.
You typically need to cancel and resubmit orders after corporate actions.
Managing GTC orders: best practices
Write them down. Keep a list (even a text file) of active GTC orders, what they are for, and when you placed them. Review weekly.
Set calendar reminders. If you expect an order to take weeks to fill, set a reminder to check in at the broker’s expiration date. This prevents surprise expirations.
Use GTD instead. If you want a GTC-like order but with a known expiration date, use a GTD order set to expire on a date you choose.
Review before earnings or major events. If you have a GTC order active and earnings are coming, review it. The trade thesis might change.
Brokers with unusual GTC policies
Most brokers (Schwab, Fidelity, Interactive Brokers, TD Ameritrade) auto-expire GTC orders after 60–90 days. Some brokers have different policies:
- Interactive Brokers: Allows very long GTC periods with explicit policy.
- Some international brokers: May auto-expire after 30 days.
Always verify your broker’s GTC expiration policy to avoid surprises.
See also
Time-in-force variants
- Day order — expires at market close
- GTD order — expires on a specific date you choose
- IOC order — expires instantly if not filled
- Fill-or-kill — must fill now or die
Order types
- Limit order — often submitted as a GTC order
- Stop order — can be day, GTC, or GTD
- Trailing stop order — dynamic stop, often GTC
Trading strategies
- Swing trading — common user of GTC orders
- Dollar-cost averaging — multiple GTC orders at different levels
- Patience investing — letting the market come to you
Broker operations
- Order management — canceling and modifying orders
- Corporate actions — stock splits, dividends