A Good Habit: Placing Long-Dated Orders

Long-Dated Orders are one of the most useful features on the Lim & Tan trading channels.

SGX implemented the advanced order system, giving us investors and traders more control over placing orders. One of the things implemented was long-dated orders, ie. your order can be set to expire on a certain date.

FOR BUYING

By default, orders expire at the end of the day. Long-dated orders saves you the trouble of having to re-queue everyday. If you are someone who is easily influenced by run-away prices, it can reduce the greedy monster and keep you grounded, hence stopping the need to chase after stock prices.

Say, a stock is currently trading at $3.30. You have done your research and come to a conclusion that the support level of $3.25 is a good price for entry. With a long-dated order, you can place an order to buy at $3.25 and select a validity of up to 30 calendar days. By doing this, it can cultivate a good habit of patience and letting the stock go if you couldn't get it at a price that you want.

FOR SELLING

Likewise, long-dated orders are useful when selling. Say, you bought a stock at $1.00 and your aim is to sell each time your stock makes a 10% profit. You can place a long-dated sell order at $1.10 for 2 weeks validity.

*General tip: There is a limit to how far you can place your orders. At any point of time, the system takes in orders up to 30 bids away from the last done price. You will first need to establish the stock's bid size and then count 30 bids. To find out more about Bids, read this article.

DEFINITIONS

You can choose between Good Till Day (GTD) or Good Till Maximum (GTM) orders.

GTD - Clients are required to insert a date that is within 30 days from the day the order is placed, if GTD is selected. In line with SGX’s regulatory rules, GTD orders that have an expiry of more than 30 calendar days from the day they were entered will be rejected by the system.

GTM - These are orders that will stay in the order book for a maximum of 30 calendar days or until it is fully filled, specifically cancelled or the instrument has corporate actions, is delisted or expired, whichever is earlier. You are not required to insert a date as the order will expire 30 calendar days later.

ON THE INTERNET TRADING PLATFORM

To access long-dated orders on the platform, right-click on the stock name and select "Buy" or "Sell".

On the Place Order page, select "Advanced". Under "Validity", select either "GTD" or "GTM".

Online Trading Platform

ON MOBILE APPS

To access long-dated orders on the iPad / iPhone / Android App, tap on stock name and select Buy/Sell. Select "Time-in-Force". Under "Validity", select either "GTD" or "GTM".

Also, please refer to our User Guides, under "Time-in-Force" for more detailed info.

Mobile Apps