Can I place a sell stop order and a sell limit order at the same time?
For example. I have shares I bought at 37. I placed a sell limit order at 45. Now I want to place a sell stop order at 32. Is this legal?
I want to profit at 45, but don't want to let my stock value sink before I get out.
Thank you.
PS: I ask because my online broker is not letting me place 2 separate sell orders (like mentioned above) without calling their offices when they open tomorrow. Not sure if I should be frustrated or if this is normal.
Essentially you are trying to sell your shares twice. Thus two orders are not allowed without being a 'conditional' order such as one-cancels-another. You will need a broker that accepts these type of orders. You should be able to do it online. Who is your broker?
Someone else on Yahoo Answers said...
"yes, but the separate orders may NOT total more than your total holdings.
if you have x shares, let each llimit order be for 0.5x shares. Or, ( as an example ) set one order to be for 0.8x shares and the other for 0.2x shares.
unless the equity is extraordinarily volatile, you should be able/willing to drop/rebalance one order or the other once a definitive trend is established. for example. once the stock breaks 40, you can drop the stop limit and just have a sell limit order at 45 for ALL shares. or you can reset the limits to 35 and 48."
I'm about to try and see if it works.
That sounds like a hassle. If for some reason you were to get stopped out of a few shares you're still stuck with the rest. If you can watch the stock all day this is fine, but if you are out living life you need the conditional order so you don't get stuck in a bad position just with less shares. I would argue that you would be willing to hold forever if you just skimmed down size. This seems like a road leading to a long-term losing portfolio. I try to help people win over-time.
OptionsHouse does offer conditional orders. Here read this page:
http://www.optionshouse.com/help/th...ng-help/complex-orders/?application-help=true
You want
"order cancels order."