So might be a bit of a noob question but Im wondering - whats the purpose of placing a buy or sell order in advance? (or a sell order).
For example: the price is at say $14. You place a sell order @ $14.50. But why do this if you think maybe the price is going to jump to $15? This will only mean you have to buy back at a higher price if the price doesnt fall back below $14.50 right? Why not hold your $$ and wait for the price to hit $15, then sell when you get an indicator is going to drop again?? IMO it could go higher = more profit when you sell??
What if the price goes up to $14.60 and then starts dropping? Do you want to have to race to get a sell order in at 14.50 or more? What if it goes up to $14.50 and fills someone else's order since you didn't place one?For example: the price is at say $14. You place a sell order @ $14.50. But why do this if you think maybe the price is going to jump to $15? This will only mean you have to buy back at a higher price if the price doesnt fall back below $14.50 right? Why not hold your $$ and wait for the price to hit $15, then sell when you get an indicator is going to drop again?? IMO it could go higher = more profit when you sell??
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I'm wondering if the reasoning here is that the price may go to $15 but will then fall back to say $14.30 (at least temporarily) so you can then buy back @ $14.30 and watch the price jump back to $15 - is this the logic behind this?
It may never go to $15. And your shares cannot possibly sell if they're not being offered for sale. And even if the price does go to $15, there still may be nobody willing to buy at that price by the time you place your shares for sale.Quote
Same with placing a buy order below the current price. Why not buy at the current price if you think the price is going to go up?
Presumably, if you're placing a buy order, you think the price will likely go up if it first gets as low as your buy price. 
