One of the most common questions that new traders have is how do I set my stock to automatically sell when price reaches a specific high point?
The great news is that it’s SUPER easy. I will show an example using Etrade but it shouldn’t be much different from your trading platform.
How To Set A Stock To Automatically Sell Using Etrade Online
The type of order you’ll want to use to automatically sell a stock when it reaches a specific price level is called a Limit order.
A Limit order is used to buy a security at (or below) a specific price, or to sell a security at (or above) a specific price. Limit orders allow you to set the maximum or minimum price for which you will buy or sell a stock, respectively. You just enter the maximum price per share you’re willing to pay for a buy order, or the minimum price per share you’re willing to receive for a sell order, in the Limit Price field and you’re good to go.
Let’s do an example. You hold 10 shares of company ABC that trades for $91.06 per share. You want to sell those 10 shares if the stock reaches the price of $91.50. You have other things you need to do during the day and can’t just stare at a computer monitor for hours while you wait for the price of ABC stock to hit $91.50. No worries, Limit orders to the rescue!
Using Etrade, in the Action box select Sell. In the Quantity box enter 10. For the Price Type box select Limit because you want to set the minimum price per share you’re willing to sell your stock for. A Limit Price box appears, enter 91.50. You order screen should look like this:
That’s it! You just executed your first Limit order, congratulations!
How To Set A Stock To Automatically Sell Using Power Etrade
Power Etrade is a trading tool that allows you to trade directly from the chart. Most online trading platforms have chart trading capabilities so whatever trading platform you use, it should be similar.
Bring up chart ABC. Click the Chart Trading tool:
As you move your mouse pointer over the chart, a dotted line appears. Move it to the specific price you want to sell your stock for. In this case, we move it to $91.50:
Now left click and you’ll see a pop up appear with two options: Buy 10 @ 91.50 Stop and Sell 10 @ $91.50 Limit. Select Sell 10 @ $91.50 Limit because this is the minimum price per share you’re willing to receive for your 10 shares of ABC:
That’s it. You now know how to sell a stock when it reaches a certain price. Congratulations.
Want to learn more about Limit orders? Check out the lesson Stop Limit Order Your Way To Massive Profits
