Good-till-date (GTD) trading instructions allow investors to specify a date on which the order will expire when they place trading orders with brokers. The order remains in place until it is filled or until the preselected date transpires – whichever happens first. GTD orders can be used in combination with many order types.
Example of a good-till-date instruction:
You want to buy 10,000 shares in a stock, but only if you can buy them at 10 Swiss francs per share or less, and only if you can buy them before the end of July. You place a buy limit order with you broker instructing them to buy the shares if they are able to purchase them for 10 francs or less. You add a good-till date instruction to the order, instructing the broker to cancel the order in full if it cannot be filled by July 31.
The broker will only buy the shares if they can purchase them at 10 francs per share or less before July 31. If, by July 31, the broker has not been able to buy the shares at the specified price, the order will be cancelled and the broker will no longer try to buy the shares after that date.
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Trading orders explained