In the past, I did a poll on whether short-term index traders preferred to use limit or market entry orders. Presently, I'm interested to know what kind of limit entry orders are predominantly used by the folks at ET who trade indexes on a fairly short-term, intraday basis, entering their chosen market(s) anywhere from, say, three to a dozen or so times daily. If this describes your time frame and trading frequency, then please participate in the poll. As usual, comments are welcome and encouraged.
1) 3 to 2 2) Your first choice is a "limit" order. 3) Your second choice appears to be a "market" order. 4) Using limit orders becomes more important, especially to initiate a trade, as your trading volume and trading frequency increase so you can reduce slippage.
Market orders are usually indicative of poor or no planning. I trade at LIMIT to open a position but get out at MARKET to close (usually in form of STOP). For a guy like me who risks a few points and targets 10-20 pts. the spread isn't a big deal, but I like to hit the bullseye as accurately as possible.