An open order is an order which is placed to buy or sell securities but is not executed or cancelled until it matches specific pre-set criteria. A trader or person who initiates the deal, has the option of keeping it open until all conditions, like price and time are met. These are conditional orders and also known as ‘backlog orders’. Open orders are fit for deals which may take considerable time to execute or can go unfilled. An open order may include limit, sell-stop and buy-stop orders and if these orders stay unexecuted for a long time, they expire and are immediately deactivated. Investors also have an option to cancel these orders before they are fulfilled.
