A limit order is an order to sell at your lowest acceptable price above the current bid price and to buy at your highest acceptable price below the current ask price.
Eg: share price 120-130. Your limit to sell at 125 or your limit to buy at 125.
A stop limit is when you hold stock and want to limit your exposure to an unexpected fall in the share price. Eg: share price 120/130 you put on a stop loss at 100. If the stock falls to 100 or below your shares will be sold thereby limiting more loss. Most stops cannot be guaranteed so in this scenario your shares may be sold (stopped out) at 90
A Limit order is when you state a maximum/minimum price you're willing to buy/sell shares at (or cover/short). If the price of the stock fluctuates before your order is fully filled, it only executes the order partially, leaving the rest to await the stock to return to the price you want. If your brokerage supports AON (all-or-nothing) orders, that allows you to add an option to your Limit orders stating that you either want the entire order to fill, or you don't want it to fill at all (this is helpful, since sometimes, you might be charged more than one commission if it doesn't fill in one day).
A Stop Limit order is basically a fusion between a Stop order and a Limit order. A Stop order is when you set a trigger to activate a market buy/sell order once a price is reached. A Stop Limit order is when you set a trigger to consequently set up a Limit order once a price is reached.
Most of the time, you'll be using Limit orders. Stop orders are more for long-term traders who want to open a position once a price is reached, or for people who see resistance on the Level 2 Bid:Ask prices, but know that, if the stock somehow manages to chew past the resistance, it will definitely go in that direction.
What is a limit order and stop limit order and why are they used/what are the pros and cons of using them.
