Every order answers two questions: at what price and when. Here is where each type sits relative to the current market — a reference for placing the trade you actually intend.
Market order↑ higher price
Ask
Buy market fills here ▲
Bid
Sell market fills here ▼
Takes the best price available right now — the Ask if you're buying, the Bid if you're selling. Instant fill, but no price control: in a fast market you can slip a few ticks.
Limit order↑ higher price
Sell limit
rests above — sells only here or higher ▲
Market now
Buy limit
rests below — buys only here or lower ▼
Waits for your price or better. Buy limits sit below the market, sell limits above. Total price control — but if price never reaches it, you don't get filled.
Stop order↑ higher price
Buy stop
triggers on a break up ▲ (breakout entry)
Market now
Sell stop
triggers on a drop ▼ (stop-loss on a long)
Dormant until price reaches the trigger, then it becomes a market order. Buy stops sit above the market, sell stops below — this is how you enter an ORB breakout and how your stop-loss works.
Then bracket it
A bracket attaches a take-profit and a stop-loss to your entry. For a long, the target sits above your fill and the stop below it — and those levels must anchor to the price you actually fill at, not the price you ordered at.
✓ A clean long bracket↑ higher price
Take profit
limit — sells at your target ▲
Entry
your actual fill
Stop loss
stop — caps your loss ▼
Target above the fill, stop below it. Risk = entry − stop; reward = target − entry; reward ÷ risk is your R.
✕ What happened on your trade↑ higher price
29,713.25
take profit (auto-cancelled)
29,705.75
buy-limit order price
29,702.00
stop loss — anchored to the limit, not the fill
29,688.50
actual fill — 69 ticks lower ▼
The buy limit sat far above the market, so it filled 69 ticks lower at 29,688.50. But the bracket anchored to the 29,705.75 order price, leaving the stop above your fill. The market was already below it, so the stop triggered the instant you entered.
These map straight to Helm's Practice calc: Entry is your fill, Stop is the sell-stop, and Target is the take-profit limit. Log every fill and the risk, R, and P&L are computed for you.
Important
This guide is educational and is not financial, investment, or trading advice. Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. Past performance and practice results do not predict future results. Helm is a read-only coaching and journaling tool — it never executes trades and never tells you what to buy or sell. Every decision is yours.