stop order

stop order
    n 1: an order to a broker to sell (buy) when the price of a
         security falls (rises) to a designated level [syn: {stop
         order}, {stop-loss order}]
    

Stop order \Stop order\ (Finance)
   An order in a financial market that aims to limit losses by
   fixing a figure at which purchases shall be sold or sales
   bought in, as where stock is bought at 100 and the broker is
   directed to sell if the market price drops to 98.

   Note: For a simple stop order, when the specified price has
         been reached by a traded security, the order becomes a
         market order to buy or sell at the market price. Thus
         in the given example, the stock bought at 100 might in
         fact be sold at 97 if the market is dropping rapidly. A
         {stop-limit order} is allowed by some exchanges and
         traders, in which case, when the specified price has
         been reached by a traded security, the order becomes a
         {limit order} to buy or sell, with the possibility that
         the ordered transaction may not take place.
         [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC] Stopover