Good-til-canceled order
Also known as: GTC order
A good-til-canceled order stays active across multiple trading sessions until it either fills or the investor manually cancels it, rather than expiring automatically at the end of the day like a does. This lets an investor set a limit or stop price and walk away, without needing to resubmit the order every single morning if it has not yet been triggered.
Most apply some outer limit to how long a good-til-canceled order can remain open, commonly around sixty to ninety days, after which it expires automatically if still unfilled, so it is not truly permanent even though the name suggests indefinite duration. The order also does not survive certain corporate actions unchanged, a or similar adjustment can cause the to cancel the order and require it to be resubmitted at the adjusted price.
The main risk with a good-til-canceled order is exactly the flexibility that makes it convenient, it can sit forgotten for weeks and then suddenly execute if the happens to revisit the specified price, at a moment when the investor's view on the may have completely changed. Investors who use good-til-canceled orders regularly need to periodically review their open orders rather than assuming nothing will happen until they decide to check again.