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TD Ameritrade Time In Force (TIF): GTC, Day, GTC/Day + EXT (Extended Hours) Meaning
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Time In Force for Trading on TD Ameritrade
When you are looking to place a new trade on TD Ameritrade, you will notice there are several items that you need to fill out. These include the Action (Buy, Sell, Sell Short, etc.), the Quantity (number of shares), the Symbol of the company you are looking to trade, the Order Type (Limit, Market, Stop Limit, Stop Market, etc.), the Price which you want to pay (if it applies), and the Time-in-Force (or TIF).
According to the TD Ameritrade website “Time-in-force is the amount of time an order can remain active while awaiting execution. If the order has not executed by the specified time, it is canceled.” We will go into detail now on each option that is available.
Day
The first option is Day. This means whatever trade details you enter will remain active until either the trade is successfully executed or the day ends, whichever comes first. In this case, Day refers to the trading day; Markets in the US are open every Monday through Friday from 9:30 in the morning until 4:00 in the afternoon (eastern time), except for market holidays.
Day + Extended Hours
The second option is Day + Extended Hours or Day + Ext. Extended hours offer TD Ameritrade customers
the ability to trade Nasdaq, NYSE, and NYSE American stocks from 7:00 in the morning until 8:00 in
the evening (eastern time).
Essentially these extended hours allow users to trade from 7:00 AM to 9:30 AM and 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM when the market is typically closed, hence the name extended hours. If you select this option, your trade will remain active until it is successfully executed or the extended day ends (at 8:00 PM).
GTC (good till canceled)
The next option is the GTC or good till canceled option. This option will leave your selected trade active until it is either successfully completed or you cancel the trade. Without one of these two events occurring, the trade will remain open and will complete (during regular market hours) whenever the parameters you have indicated are reached.
Open TD Ameritrade Account
Open TD Ameritrade Account
GTC + Extended Hours
The GTC + extended hours option is the same as the standard GTC option with the exception that these trades will execute during the extended trading day (7:00 AM to 8:00 PM eastern time) while the standard GTC trades will only execute during regular market hours (9:30 AM to 4:00 PM eastern time).
Extended Hours AM
The extended hours AM option will allow you to place a trade at any time, but that trade will only be executed during the morning extended hours for that day in which you place the trade. The AM extended hours run from 7:00 AM to 9:28 AM (eastern time), so if the trade is not executed during that timeframe, it will not trade. Again, extended hours or only active Monday through Friday on non-market holidays.
Extended Hours PM
The extended hours PM option will allow you to place a trade at any time, but that trade will only be executed during the evening extended hours for that day in which you place the trade. The PM extended hours run from 4:02 PM to 8:00 PM (eastern time), so if the trade is not executed during that timeframe, it will not trade. Again, extended hours or only active Monday through Friday on non-market holidays.
Market on Close at TD Ameritrade
Market on Close is a special type of option that is only available with Market order types (meaning there is no price limit set, you are simply buying at the market price available). This type of trade will execute as close to the closing price for the regular trading day as possible by the system. The goal of this type of trade is to purchase the stock at the price as close as possible to the price it closes at for the day. Typically, these trade are executed right at the close of the market around 4:00 PM eastern time.
Other TD Ameritrade Types of Time-in-Force Options
There are a few other types of Time-in-Force options one might see if you are a more advanced trader and are utilizing TD Ameritrade’s “Think or Swim” platform. These include EXTO or extended hours overnight and EXTO + GTC (good til canceled). These types of options or only available on a select, limited number of ticker symbols and only on the “Think or Swim” platform. The key to the EXTO option is that these trades, if place prior to 8:00 PM eastern time, is immediately active and active until 8:00 PM; however if the trade is placed after 8:00 PM, it remains active overnight until 8:00 PM the next day.
For example, a trade placed at 9:00 PM on Monday night would remain active until 8:00 PM on Tuesday. The EXTO + GTC order would be active 24 hours a day, 5 days a week except for market holidays. The EXTO + GTC orders would remain active for 6 months from the date it is entered or until it is cancelled or successfully filled.
Keep in mind that while the US markets do have defined trading hours as discussed above, the Forex
market is open 24 hours a day. It opens at 5 PM eastern time on Sunday and does not close until
5 PM eastern time on Friday. In addition, many futures contracts have differing trading hours
based on the product and the exchange. According to TD Ameritrade, many futures contracts trade
Sunday through Friday for up to 23.5 hours per day.
Open TD Ameritrade Account
Open TD Ameritrade Account
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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