One cancels the other order
Family II · Orders
Not to be confused with good till cancelled order.
One cancels the other order (OCO) is a linked order pair in which filling or cancelling one order automatically cancels the other. It is used to attach a profit target and a stop loss to the same position without leaving both live at once. The two orders are usually placed on opposite sides of the market, and only one can ever execute.
How the link works
An OCO group contains two orders, typically a limit order and a stop order, or two stop orders. When either order is filled, the other is cancelled by the broker's order-management system. If one order is cancelled manually, the other is cancelled as well.
The orders may be placed as a single instruction or as two orders later linked together, depending on the platform. Some venues also support a one-cancels-all variant, where filling one order cancels a group of orders.
Worked example
Practical points
- OCO orders are not supported on every market or order type; availability varies by broker and venue.
- Some brokers charge separate commissions for each order in the pair, even though only one executes.
- If the entry order is not filled, the OCO pair may remain live and can be triggered by unrelated price moves unless it is cancelled.
- Partial fills can leave the OCO pair in an inconsistent state; the handling of partial fills varies by broker.
Often confused with
- good till cancelled order
- A good till cancelled order is an instruction to buy or sell that remains active until it is either filled or explicitly cancelled by the trader, rather than expiring at the end of the trading session.