Been seeing a lot of newer traders confused about GTC orders vs day orders, so figured I'd break this down since it actually matters for how you set up your strategy.

So here's the deal: a good till cancelled order (GTC) stays active until you either execute it or manually cancel it yourself. Could be days, weeks, or even months sitting there waiting for your target price. Your broker will eventually auto-cancel it after 30-90 days to keep things clean, but the whole point is you don't have to babysit the market.

Compare that to a day order, which just expires at market close if it doesn't fill. Day orders are for people trying to catch quick moves. If you're not watching and the price doesn't hit your target by end of day, it's gone.

I use good till cancelled orders when I've got a specific price target I believe in but I'm not sure when the market will get there. Like, say a stock is at $55 and I think it's overpriced, but I'd buy the hell out of it at $50. Instead of checking the chart every day, I just set a GTC buy order at $50 and move on. When it hits, boom, order fills automatically. Same thing works for selling - set a GTC sell order at your profit target and let it work.

The risk though? That's real. Price gaps can wreck you. Stock closes at $60, opens the next morning at $50 due to some overnight news, and your GTC sell order at $58 executes way lower than you wanted. Or you set a buy order and a quick dip triggers it right before the stock tanks further. These orders don't think - they just execute when the price matches.

Also, people forget about their orders. Market conditions change, your thesis changes, but that good till cancelled order is still sitting there waiting to execute under circumstances that no longer make sense. That's why it's worth reviewing them periodically instead of just setting and forgetting.

So when do you use which? Day orders if you're making tactical moves and want control over timing. Good till cancelled orders if you've got a longer-term price target and can handle the risk of automatic execution. Most experienced traders use a mix of both depending on the setup.