moomoo US Help Center-What is stop order
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What is stop order

A stop order is an instruction to submit a buy or sell market order if and when the client-specified stop price is hit. A stop order is not guaranteed a specific execution price and may execute significantly away from its stop price. 

• A sell stop order must be entered below the current market price to stop the loss on a long position or protect its profit.

• A buy stop order must be entered above the current market price to stop the loss on a short position or protect its profit.


1. Examples

1.1 Buy stop order

Assuming stock XYZ has a current price of 10, you submit a buy stop order with a stop price of 15. If XYZ's market price rises to 15, a market order will be submitted automatically to the clearing broker and filled at the market price.

1.2 Sell stop order

Assuming you hold stock XYZ with a cost price of 10. To prevent the stock from falling sharply in the future, you submit a sell stop order with a stop price of 15 when the market price is 20. If XYZ's market price falls to 15 or lower, a market order will be submitted automatically to the clearing broker and filled at the market price.


2. Order time 

Clients can place orders at any time via the app.


3. Time-in-force      

Clients can set the order's Time-in-force. If the order is not filled in full, the unfilled portion will be canceled automatically by the system. If the order fails to be executed due to risk management or other reasons, the order status will update to "failed," and the system will not continue to place the order.


4. Trigger time    

If the order reaches the trigger condition during the preset trading period, the system will automatically submit the order to the clearing broker. The stop order will not be triggered if the trigger condition is met outside the preset trading period.


5. Notes

5.1 After the stop order is triggered, there is no guarantee that the order will be successfully placed. Reasons such as insufficient buying power and positions will cause a failure to place the order.

5.2 After the stop order is triggered, the system will place a market order automatically as soon as the stop price is hit. However, there is no guarantee that the order will be filled. If the order is not filled during the Time-in-force, it will be canceled automatically by the system.

5.3 After the stop order is triggered, whether it is filled or not, the trigger conditions will not be effective again. Please place a new order if necessary.

5.4 After the stop order is triggered, the system will place a market order. For clients' convenience, the order details will be displayed in the original stop order.

5.5 After the stop order is triggered, the system will submit the order only when the client has enough maximum buying power on the account, and financing may be applied. 

5.6 Orders cannot be executed in multiple directions at the same time. As the client chooses to buy or sell, the risk control system will determine the final trade direction by judging the number of order positions and the trade direction after the order reaches the price trigger. If the order quantity is higher than the executable position of the underlying at the time of the trigger, the order will not be executed. For example, if the client has a short position of 100 shares of FUTU, but his stop loss order is to buy 150 shares, the system cannot split the direction to buy 100 shares to close the position (buy to close) plus buy 50 shares to open the position (buy to open) at the time of trigger.

5.7 The stop order will only be triggered during regular trading hours. 

5.8 If short selling of the underlying asset is supported, clients can short sell the underlying. If the account does not hold any long position when the order is triggered, short selling of the underlying will be executed.

5.9 Advanced orders are simulated by Moomoo Financial Inc. based on the basic orders and are irrelevant to Exchanges' advanced orders. Please refer to the actual order page for more details.

5.10 The system will use a specific quote data source as the quote price monitoring standard, for example, the U.S. stock is based on UTP quotes for price monitoring, the performance of Basic quotes may be different from UTP quote.

Moomoo is a professional trading app offered by Moomoo Technologies Inc. In the U.S., investment products and services on Moomoo are offered by Moomoo Financial Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC.

Any illustrations, scenarios, or specific securities referenced herein are strictly for illustrative purposes. Past investment performance does not guarantee future results. Investing involves risk and the potential to lose principal.