Trading · Orders and execution
Time in force: day, GTC, IOC, FOK and other order durations
What day, good-til-canceled, IOC, FOK, all-or-none, on-open and on-close instructions do, how extended-hours eligibility works, and the traps in each.
On this page
Every order carries two kinds of instruction. The order type (market, limit, stop and so on) says what price is acceptable. The time in force says how long the order stays live and when it is allowed to trade. A good limit price with the wrong time in force can expire just before the market reaches it, or fill weeks later after your reasons for placing it are long gone.
Most brokerage apps default to a day order and offer good-'til-canceled as the alternative. Behind those two sit several more specialized instructions: immediate-or- cancel, fill-or-kill, all-or-none, on-open and on-close orders, and the flag that lets an order trade in pre-market and after-hours sessions. This page explains each one, with worked examples, and the traps that catch people most often. Hours and rules are for US stock markets as of October 2026.
Day orders
A day order is live for the trading day on which it's entered and is canceled automatically if it hasn't filled by the close of the regular session, 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (1:00 p.m. on early-close days such as Friday, November 27 and Thursday, December 24, 2026). An order entered after the close, or on a weekend, is usually treated as a day order for the next trading day.
Day orders are the safe default for most people because they can't linger. If the market doesn't reach your limit today, you get to decide again tomorrow with fresh information. Their weakness is the same: if you really do want to buy at $40, you have to re-enter the order every morning.
Whether a day order also covers the pre-market and after-hours sessions depends on the broker. Some offer a separate "day + extended hours" setting; others require you to flag each order.
Good-'til-canceled (GTC) orders
A GTC order stays open across trading days until it fills or you cancel it. Brokers cap how long that can be. Expiry periods differ by firm, commonly somewhere between 60 and 180 days, so "until canceled" really means "until canceled or the broker's limit." Some brokers also offer good-'til-date (GTD), which expires on a date you choose.
GTC traps
- Stale intentions. A GTC limit placed in calm times may fill during a sell-off driven by bad news about the company, precisely when you'd want to reconsider.
- Gaps fill GTC limits at better prices, and that's not always good. A buy limit at $40 will fill at $36 if the stock opens there after an earnings miss.
- Corporate actions. When a stock splits or pays a dividend, brokers may adjust or cancel open orders. A buy limit at $40 on a stock that splits 2-for-1 is not automatically sensible at $40. Check how your broker handles it.
- Forgotten orders. Review open orders regularly. Many people discover a GTC order only when it fills.
Immediate-or-cancel, fill-or-kill and all-or-none
These three qualifiers control how much of the order must fill and how quickly. They're most useful for larger orders or thinly traded stocks.
| Instruction | Must fill now? | Must fill the whole quantity? | What happens to the rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immediate-or-cancel | Yes | No | Canceled at once |
| Fill-or-kill | Yes | Yes | Whole order canceled if not all |
| All-or-none | No | Yes | Waits, for its time in force |
An all-or-none order avoids the cost and nuisance of partial fills, but it has lower priority in practice: smaller orders can trade at your price while yours waits for a single counterparty big enough. Some brokers don't accept AON on small orders at all.
On-open and on-close orders
The regular session opens and closes with an auction in which buy and sell interest is matched at a single price. The closing auction sets the official closing price.
- Market-on-open / limit-on-open (often labeled OPG) participate only in the opening auction. If a limit-on-open doesn't fill in the auction, it is canceled.
- Market-on-close (MOC) / limit-on-close (LOC) (sometimes labeled CLS) participate only in the closing auction.
Exchanges set entry and cancellation deadlines for these orders. On the NYSE, MOC and LOC orders must be entered by 3:50 p.m. ET; after that only orders that offset the published imbalance are accepted, and cancellations are restricted. Other exchanges have their own cutoffs, and brokers that offer auction orders commonly set earlier deadlines.
Extended-hours eligibility
US exchanges run trading sessions before and after the regular one. As of October 2026, Nasdaq operates from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET (pre-market 4:00 to 9:30 a.m., post- market 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.), and NYSE Arca from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Your broker decides which parts of those windows you can use.
To trade in them, an order usually has to be:
- a limit order (most brokers refuse market and stop orders outside regular hours);
- marked as extended-hours eligible, or entered with a time in force that includes those sessions;
- for some brokers, entered within a specific window and canceled at its end.
The SEC's investor bulletin on extended-hours trading lists the risks: less liquidity, wider spreads, more volatile prices, and quotes that may differ from one venue to the next. An order that would fill instantly at 11 a.m. may sit unfilled at 6 p.m., or fill at a very different price.
Choosing a time in force
| You want to… | Time in force that fits |
|---|---|
| Trade today only and decide again tomorrow | Day |
| Wait for a specific price over days or weeks | GTC (or GTD), reviewed regularly |
| Take whatever is available now, no resting order | IOC |
| Do the whole trade at once or not at all | FOK |
| Avoid partial fills and can wait | AON (where offered) |
| Trade at the official open or close | OPG / MOC / LOC |
| React to news before the open or after the close | Limit order marked extended-hours |
How Finabase helps
Finabase doesn't execute orders, so time in force is set in your broker's app. Finabase's quote pages show the regular-session price alongside the extended-hours price when there is one, which helps you judge where an extended-hours limit order sits relative to the market. The market overview shows the day's indexes and movers in one place.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a day order and a GTC order?
A day order expires at the end of the regular trading session if it hasn't filled. A GTC order stays open across days until it fills, you cancel it, or the broker's maximum duration is reached.
How long does a good-'til-canceled order last?
As long as your broker allows. Firms set their own maximums, commonly between about 60 and 180 days, after which the order is canceled automatically. Check your broker's policy and your list of open orders.
What does IOC mean in trading?
Immediate-or-cancel: fill as much of the order as possible right away, at your limit or better, and cancel whatever can't fill immediately. It never rests in the market.
Can I use a market order in pre-market trading?
Usually not. Most brokers accept only limit orders in pre-market and after-hours sessions, because liquidity is thin and spreads are wide.
Summary
Time in force decides how long an order lives and when it can trade. Day orders expire at the close; GTC orders persist up to a broker limit and need regular review; IOC, FOK and AON govern how much must fill and how fast; on-open and on-close orders target the auctions; and extended-hours trading normally requires a limit order flagged for those sessions. Matching the instruction to your plan prevents both missed fills and fills you no longer want.