Good till date
Family XII · Other terms
Not to be confused with good till cancelled.
Good till date (GTD) is a time-in-force instruction that keeps an order working until a stated expiry date. Unlike a day order, it survives across trading sessions, but it is not open-ended: the broker removes it after the date passes. The exact expiry time and whether the date can be extended vary by broker and market.
How it works
A GTD order carries three elements: the order type (limit or stop), the price condition, and the expiry date. Until that date, the order rests in the broker's book and can be filled whenever the market touches the specified price. On expiry, any unfilled quantity is cancelled automatically; no further instruction from the trader is required.
Some venues treat the expiry date as the last day the order can trade, while others cancel it at the start of that day. Settlement and corporate actions can also affect whether an order remains valid. Because these rules differ, the effective cut-off should be confirmed with the broker.
Worked example
A trader places a limit sell order for 500 shares at $52.00 on 3 March, with a good till date of 10 March.
Variations to check
The maximum permitted expiry window is not universal. Some brokers accept GTD dates only a few weeks ahead; others allow several months. Certain markets may not support GTD at all, or may convert it to a good-till-cancelled order. The treatment of orders that expire on a non-trading day also varies. Traders should verify the broker's order-handling rules before relying on a specific date.
Often confused with
- good till cancelled
- A good till cancelled order has no expiry date and remains active until the trader cancels it or the broker's maximum order lifetime is reached, whereas a good till date order ends automatically on a specified calendar date; the visible sign is the presence of a fixed expiry date on the order ticket.