Immediate or Cancel (IOC) Orders

The Immediate-or Cancel (IOC) time in force applied to an order dictates that any portion of the order that does not fill immediately will be canceled.

Notes:

The Reference Table to the upper right provides a general summary of the order type characteristics. The checked features are applicable in some combination, but do not necessarily work in conjunction with all other checked features. For example, if Options and Stocks, US and Non-US, and Smart and Directed are all checked, it does not follow that all US and Non-US Smart and direct-routed stocks support the order type. It may be the case that only Smart-routed US Stocks, direct-routed Non-US stocks and Smart-routed US Options are supported.


Products Availability Routing TWS
CFDs US Products Smart Attribute
EFPs Non-US Products Directed Order Type
Forex Time in Force
Futures
FOPs
Options
Stocks
Warrants
View Supported Exchanges|Open Users' Guide

Example

Immediate or Cancel Buy Order

Order Type In Depth - Immediate or Cancel Buy Order

Step 1 – Enter a Limit Buy Order with an Immediate or Cancel Time in Force

You want to buy 1000 shares of XZY stock but you want the order to fill immediately. You don't care if the entire order is not filled right away so you create a limit buy order and set the Time in Force to IOC (Immediate or Cancel). You transmit the order.


Step 2 – Buy Order for 1000 Shares Transmitted

You've transmitted your limit order with the time in force set to Immediate or Cancel. Any portion of the order that does not fill immediately will be canceled.


Step 3 – Part of the Order Fills Immediately, Rest of the Order is Canceled

Part of your order, 400 shares, is immediately filled at 10.40 per share. The rest of your order is canceled.


Alternate Scenario – Market Price Falls But Entire Order Cannot Be Filled Immediately

In this alternate scenario, the market price of XZY falls to 10.40, which is your limit price. However, only 600 shares are available; the entire order for 1000 shares cannot be immediately filled. Because this is an Immediate or Cancel order, the entire order is canceled.

Assumptions
Action BUY
Qty 1000
Order Type LMT
Market Price 10.40
Limit Price 10.40
Time in Force IOC