Ever wonder how people set up trades and just let them sit without staring at charts all day? That's basically what a good til cancelled order does - you set a buy or sell price, and the brokerage keeps it active until either the price hits or you cancel it yourself.

So here's the thing about these orders. Say you think a stock at $55 is way overpriced, but you'd jump on it at $50. Instead of refreshing your screen every five minutes waiting for that dip, you just place a good til cancelled buy order at $50 and go about your day. When it finally drops to that level, boom - the order executes automatically. Same thing works for selling. Maybe you're holding shares at $80 and want to lock in profits if it rallies to $90. Set a good til cancelled sell order and let the market do the work.

The real appeal is convenience. You're not glued to the market, checking prices constantly. These orders can stay active across multiple trading sessions, which is totally different from day orders that just vanish when the market closes. That flexibility is huge for people hunting for specific price levels over weeks or months.

But here's where it gets tricky. Since these orders execute automatically, you lose that human judgment moment. A sudden price spike or dip caused by overnight news could trigger your order at exactly the wrong time. Imagine a stock gaps down overnight after earnings - your good til cancelled sell order might fill at a price way lower than you expected. It happens.

There's also the time limit thing. Most brokerages won't let these orders just hang around forever. They'll typically cancel unfilled good til cancelled orders after 30 to 90 days to keep things clean. If you're not paying attention, you might forget the order exists and miss important market changes that would make you want to cancel it anyway.

Compared to day orders, which reset daily and force you to re-enter if you still want them active, a good til cancelled order is way less work. But that convenience comes with execution risks that day orders avoid by nature. Day orders are better if you're chasing quick moves. Good til cancelled orders make sense when you're patient and targeting a specific price point.

The smart move is checking in on your open orders periodically and adjusting them as your strategy evolves. That way you avoid getting caught off guard when market conditions shift. It's about using the tool right - automation is powerful, but it still needs some human oversight.