The order window is where every rule from the Risk Management section either gets applied or quietly skipped. It takes about twenty seconds to fill in correctly, and the two fields most commonly left empty are the two that matter most.
Opening the order window
Several routes, all reaching the same dialog:
F9 Fastest
Tools → New Order Menu
Toolbar “New Order” Button
Right-click chart → Context menu
Trading → New Order
Double-click symbol In Market Watch
The fields
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Symbol | The instrument |
| Volume | Lot size from your calculation |
| Stop Loss | Price level, not distance |
| Take Profit | Price level, not distance |
| Type | Market Execution or Pending Order |
| Comment | Optional note |
| Deviation | Maximum acceptable slippage |
Stop Loss and Take Profit are entered as prices, not as pip distances. If your entry is 1.0850 and your stop is 30 pips below, you enter 1.0820 — not 30.
This catches out beginners who type 30 and receive an “Invalid stops” error, because 30 is not a valid price for EUR/USD.
The correct sequence
Order matters, and it mirrors the Risk Management process exactly.
1. Identify the setup on the chart
2. Decide the stop PRICE from structure
(beyond the swing, buffered by ATR)
3. Measure the distance
(crosshair drag from entry to stop)
4. Calculate the lot size
(calculator: balance, risk %, distance)
5. Open F9 and fill in ALL fields
6. Check volume, stop and target once
7. Submit
Steps 2 to 4 happen before the order window opens. By the time you press F9 there is nothing left to decide — you are transcribing numbers you already have.
That is the point. The order window is not where trading decisions get made.
“I will add them after it fills” is how positions end up unprotected. The intention is real and the follow-through frequently is not — price moves, attention goes elsewhere, and the position sits without a stop. Both fields are filled before submitting, every time, without exception. This is the single most important habit in this entire section.
Market execution versus instant execution
Two account types, and they behave differently.
Instant Execution lets you specify stop and target in the order window before submission. You request a specific price and the broker fills or requotes.
Market Execution fills at the best available price with no price request. On many such accounts, stop and target fields are greyed out and must be added immediately after the fill by modifying the position.
Most ECN and raw-spread accounts use market execution.
If yours does, the sequence becomes: submit, then immediately right-click the position → Modify and add the levels. Treat it as one action rather than two, because the gap between them is real exposure.
Deviation and slippage
The Deviation field sets the maximum price difference you will accept from your requested price.
Set too low, orders get rejected during fast movement. Set too high, you accept fills further from your intended entry.
A few pips is reasonable for normal conditions on major pairs. On gold, wider.
Worth remembering that around news releases, slippage can exceed any reasonable deviation setting — which is why the Risk Management section‘s advice is to be flat rather than to rely on a setting.
Buy and sell
The window shows two buttons with current prices.
Buy fills at Ask — the higher price.
Sell fills at Bid — the lower price.
The difference is the spread, and you pay it on entry. A buy position opens slightly in loss immediately, by the spread amount. This is normal and not an execution problem.
On gold, where spreads are wider, the immediate floating loss on opening can look alarming to someone used to major pairs. It is the same mechanic at a larger scale.
Verifying the position
After submission, check the Trade tab.
Confirm:
Correct symbol
Correct volume
Stop Loss shows a price
Take Profit shows a price
Type is Buy or Sell as intended
Empty S/L or T/P columns mean the levels were not accepted. This happens more often than traders expect, usually because of the stop level restriction covered below.
Stops and targets also appear as horizontal lines on the chart, which is a faster visual check than reading the table.
Why an order gets rejected
| Error | Cause |
|---|---|
| Invalid stops | Stop too close, or entered as distance |
| Not enough money | Insufficient free margin |
| Market closed | Outside trading hours |
| Invalid volume | Below minimum or wrong lot step |
| Off quotes | No liquidity at that moment |
| Trade disabled | Investor password, or account restriction |
Invalid stops
The most common, and it has two distinct causes.
Either you entered a distance rather than a price, or your stop is closer to current price than the broker’s minimum stop level.
That minimum is in Market Watch → right-click symbol → Specification, listed as “Stops level”. Some accounts show zero, meaning no restriction; others require several pips.
Invalid volume
Lot sizes must respect both a minimum and a step. If the minimum is 0.01 and the step is 0.01, then 0.015 is invalid.
Both figures are in the contract specification.
This matters when a position size calculation produces something like 0.037 — you round down to 0.03, and the rounding down is deliberate rather than cosmetic.
One-click trading
A panel in the chart’s top-left corner allowing instant buy and sell at a preset volume.
Enable via chart properties or the Alt+T shortcut.
Fast, and it bypasses the order window entirely — meaning no stop, no target, and no confirmation.
For most traders this is the wrong trade-off. The seconds saved are not worth losing the step where you verify the volume and set the levels. If you do use it, adding stop and target immediately afterwards is not optional.
The comment field
Optional, ignored by most traders, and useful.
Entering the setup type — “H4 support”, “breakout retest” — attaches it to the trade permanently. When you export history for your journal, that label comes with it, which saves reconstructing from memory what each trade was.
Copiers and EAs also use this field, so it may be populated automatically on copied trades.
A note on copied trades
If you use a copier, the order placement happens automatically, which removes transcription errors — wrong volume, missing stop, mistyped price.
What it does not remove is the responsibility for the risk settings. Telegram Trade Linker allows lot sizing rules and risk parameters to be configured in advance, and those settings determine your exposure exactly as manual entry would. The advantage is speed and accuracy; the decisions remain yours and need making before the session, not during it.
What to do next
The next lesson covers pending orders — placing entries at your levels in advance, which is the most effective platform feature for anyone who chases price.
Frequently asked questions
How do I place a trade in MT4 or MT5?
Press F9 to open the order window, enter the symbol, volume, stop loss and take profit as prices, then click Buy or Sell. The stop and volume should be calculated before opening the window, not decided in it.
Why do I get “Invalid stops” when placing an order?
Either you entered a pip distance instead of a price level, or your stop is closer to current price than the broker’s minimum stop level. That minimum is shown in the symbol’s contract specification.
Why are the stop loss and take profit fields greyed out?
You are on a market execution account, common with ECN and raw-spread accounts. Submit the order, then immediately right-click the position and choose Modify to add the levels.
Why is my trade at a loss immediately after opening?
Because you pay the spread on entry — buys fill at ask, sells at bid. This is normal. On gold and other wider-spread instruments the initial floating loss looks larger for the same reason.
What does the Deviation field do?
Sets the maximum price difference you will accept from your requested price. Too low and orders get rejected during fast movement; too high and you accept fills further from your intended entry.
Should I add the stop loss after the trade fills?
Only when market execution forces it, and then immediately as part of the same action. On instant execution accounts, both levels go in the order window before submitting — every time, without exception.