Quick Answer
A good till canceled (GTC) order, also called an open order, keeps working in the market until it is filled or the customer cancels it. It persists across trading sessions, so it does not expire at the end of the day the way the default day order does.
Start here because GTC is the order that lives the longest, and the whole point of it is the contrast with the default day order. Hold those two side by side the entire section.
What a GTC Order Is
A GTC order is a resting order that carries over from one session to the next instead of expiring overnight.
- Good till canceled (GTC) order, also called an open order: an order that stays working in the market until it is either filled or the customer cancels it.
- Persists across trading sessions (across days): a GTC order does not expire when the session ends. It keeps resting on the book, session after session, until one of its two exits happens (a fill or a cancel).
- Usually a resting limit or stop: GTC is a time-in-force instruction attached to an order that waits for a price, such as the stop or limit orders covered in the basic order types unit. It tells the exchange how long that order stays alive, not what the order does when it triggers.
The Day Order Is the Default
The order GTC is always compared against is the day order, and the day order is what you get unless you ask for GTC.
- Day order: the default time-in-force. A day order is active only for the current session and automatically expires at the end of the day if it has not filled.
- Electronic markets assume day: on electronic platforms, every order is treated as a day order unless the customer marks it GTC. GTC is the opt-in; day is what happens by default.
- Practical time cap: even a GTC order is bounded in practice. Brokers and exchanges may cancel resting GTC orders after a set number of days, so "till canceled" is open-ended in intent but capped in real life.
Here is the contrast the exam leans on, side by side.
| Order | How long it lives | Ends when |
|---|---|---|
| GTC (open order) | Across sessions, day after day | It fills, or the customer cancels it (subject to a broker time cap) |
| Day order (default) | The current session only | It fills, or the session closes (auto-expires) |
Think of it this way: a day order is a note you tape to the exchange door each morning that gets thrown away at closing time, so if you still want the trade tomorrow you have to tape up a fresh one. A GTC order is a standing instruction you leave with the exchange once: "keep trying to fill this until I tell you to stop." You do not re-enter it every session; it just keeps working in the background until it fills or you pull it.
Why Traders Use It
GTC exists to save a trader from re-entering the same resting order every single morning.
- Leave a target in place over days: a customer can rest a limit or stop order across multiple sessions without re-keying it each day. The order keeps working untouched.
- Useful for slow targets: when a target price may take days to reach, GTC lets the order wait for it. The trader sets it once and lets it ride until it fills or is canceled.
Exam Tip: Gotchas
- GTC survives past today's close; a day order does not. If a question asks which order stays working, unfilled, from one session into the next, the answer is GTC. A day order dies at the close of its own session.
- On electronic markets, unmarked means day, not GTC. An order is only good till canceled if the customer specifically marks it GTC. Do not assume a resting order carries over on its own; without the GTC instruction it expires at the end of the day.
Memory Aid: GTC is a "Get There, Carry-over" order: it carries over day after day until it gets there (fills) or you call it off.