Time In Force
The instruction that says how long an order stays active before it expires.
Also called: tif · day order · gtc · good til canceled · ioc · fok
Written by Javier Sánchez Ros
In plain language
Day orders expire at the close of the session. Good-Til-Canceled orders persist across days until filled or pulled — often with a broker-imposed maximum.
Immediate-Or-Cancel fills whatever it can right now and cancels the rest. Fill-Or-Kill demands the entire quantity instantly or nothing at all.
Some brokers also offer at-the-open and at-the-close instructions that participate only in the auction at either end of the session.
Worked through
A good-till-cancelled limit that fills eleven days later
- Order placed
- buy limit $61.00
- Day order would have
- expired that evening
- GTC instead
- rests until filled
- Filled on day 11
- after an earnings miss
The limit was placed on a Monday, on a thesis that made sense that Monday. It did not fill, the trader moved on, and the order stayed in the market. Eleven days later the company missed earnings, the stock fell through $61, and the order bought exactly as instructed.
The instruction was obeyed. The reasoning behind it had expired a week and a half earlier, and the fill arrives into a situation that is the opposite of the one the trade was designed for — with no stop attached, because the bracket was never set up.
That is the whole of what time in force decides: whether a forgotten order dies quietly at the close or waits patiently for the day it can do the most damage. Day orders forget for you. GTC remembers, including things you would rather it did not.
Neither is better in the abstract. GTC suits a level you genuinely want for weeks; a day order suits a setup that is only valid in today’s conditions. What causes trouble is picking one out of habit and then not reviewing the open-orders screen.
Why it matters
Time in force decides whether a forgotten order quietly disappears or fires days later into a market that has completely changed.
Common mistakes
- Leaving GTC orders live after the setup that justified them has expired.
- Using day orders for a swing-trade stop, leaving the position unprotected overnight.
Keep exploring
These concepts are connected. Understanding one usually makes the next one easier.
An order to buy or sell at a specified price or better — it may not fill at all.
A pair of orders where filling one automatically cancels the other.
The actual execution of an order, at the price and quantity you really received.
The firm that routes your orders to the market and holds your account.
Trading sessions before the open and after the close, with far less liquidity.