 |
Investopedia explains 'One-Cancels-the-Other Order - OCO'
For example, assume an investor owns 1,000 shares of a volatile stock that is trading at $10. The investor expects this stock to trade in a wide range in the near term, and has a target of $13 on it; for risk mitigation, he would like to lose no more than $2 on the stock. The investor can therefore place an OCO order, which would consist of a stop-loss order to sell 1,000 shares at $8, and a simultaneous limit order to sell 1,000 shares at $13, whichever occurs first. These orders could either be day orders or good-till-canceled orders.
If the stock trades up to $13, the limit order to sell would be executed, and the investor's holding of 1,000 shares would be sold at $13. Concurrently, the $8 stop-loss order will be automatically canceled by the trading platform. If this order is not canceled and the stock subsequently drifts down to $8, the investor may needlessly find himself with a short position of 1,000 shares at $8 if the sale order was mistakenly executed.
|