ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Immediate or cancel

Imagine you ask your mom for an ice cream cone, but you only want it if it's chocolate. If your mom goes to the ice cream shop and they only have vanilla, you tell her to forget the whole thing and not to buy you anything. This is kind of like what "immediate or cancel" means when you buy stocks.

When someone wants to buy or sell a stock, they might use an order type called "immediate or cancel" or IOC for short. This means that they want to buy or sell the stock right away, but if no one is willing to buy or sell at the price they want, then they want the whole thing to be canceled.

For example, say someone wants to buy 100 shares of Company X for $50 each. They put in an immediate or cancel order to buy those shares. If someone is willing to sell 100 shares of Company X at $50 each, then the buyer gets their shares right away. But if nobody is willing to sell at that price, then the whole order gets canceled.

Sometimes investors use the immediate or cancel order type because they only want to buy or sell at a certain price. They don't want to wait around for the stock price to change, so they put in an order and if they can't get the stock at the price they want right away, they move on to another investment opportunity.

Overall, immediate or cancel is like ordering an ice cream cone - you want it right away, but only if it's the flavor you want. If it's not available, you're not interested anymore.
Related topics others have asked about: