Order Execution

LamaTrader's order execution system is built for confidence and speed. Every order goes through a clear pre-submission review with live margin and buying power validation. The trade form is accessible from anywhere in the platform, pre-fills from context where possible, and supports the full range of order types from a simple market buy to a four-leg options combo.

Accessing the Trade Form

The order form is available from multiple entry points — whichever fits your workflow:

• Click any symbol in a watchlist, chart, screener result, news feed, or options chain
• Keyboard shortcut — open a new order form instantly from any screen
• AI assistant — describe a trade in plain English; the AI pre-populates the form and opens it for your review
• Options chain — click any bid or ask cell to add that contract as a leg
• Strategy Builder — compose a multi-leg strategy and submit as a combo order
• Position list — open the close/adjust form directly from an existing position

Pre-Trade Review

Before any order is submitted, LamaTrader presents a review step showing:

• Order type, symbol, direction, quantity, and all price parameters
• Estimated order value — the approximate dollar amount at the current market price
• Available buying power and the impact this order would have on it
• Margin requirement for the order (for margin accounts and options positions)
• Commission and fee estimate (where applicable)
• Symbol confirmation — full company name and exchange alongside the ticker to prevent fat-finger errors

For options orders, the review also shows:

• Each leg's contract symbol, expiration, strike, direction, and limit price
• Net debit or net credit for multi-leg strategies
• Estimated Greeks for the complete position after fill

Confirm or go back to adjust. Orders are not submitted until you explicitly confirm.

Order Form Fields

Equity and ETF orders:

• Symbol
• Side (buy / sell)
• Quantity — by share count or dollar amount (fractional shares where eligible)
• Order type (market / limit / stop / stop-limit / bracket / OTO / OCO / trailing stop)
• Time in force (day / GTC / IOC / FOK)
• Extended hours toggle (for pre/post-market limit orders)

Options orders:

• Underlying symbol
• Option type (call / put)
• Expiration date
• Strike price
• Side (buy to open / sell to open / buy to close / sell to close)
• Quantity (number of contracts)
• Order type (market / limit)
• Net debit or net credit limit (for multi-leg combo orders)

Advanced order fields: For bracket orders: take-profit limit price, stop-loss price (absolute or percentage offsets from entry). For OTO: primary order parameters + triggered secondary order parameters. For OCO: two independent order configurations.

See Advanced Orders for full documentation.

Live Validation

The trade form validates in real time as you fill it in:

• Buying power check — updates as you change quantity or order type; highlights in red if the order exceeds available buying power
• Margin requirement — calculated live for margin accounts
• Options contract validity — verifies the selected strike and expiration exists before submission
• Quantity limits — checks against account-level position limits where applicable

Validation errors are shown inline next to the relevant field — not as a generic error after submission.

Market vs. Extended Hours

LamaTrader clearly indicates the current market session state in the trade form:

• Regular market hours: all order types available
• Pre/post-market: limit orders only; a toggle enables extended-hours order routing explicitly
• Market closed (weekend/holiday): orders can be staged for next-day submission as GTC or day orders

The market status indicator in the navigation bar shows the current session state and time until next open or close.

Options Combo Orders

Multi-leg options strategies (straddles, spreads, condors, butterflies) are submitted as combo orders — all legs route as a single order for a net debit or net credit. This is preferable to legging in manually for two reasons:

1. Price improvement: combo orders negotiate the spread as a whole, often achieving better net pricing than buying and selling legs independently
2. Execution risk: a combo order either fills all legs or none — there's no risk of a partial fill where you hold one leg without the other

The net debit or credit limit can be set in the trade form. The platform calculates a suggested limit based on current mid prices.

Post-Submission

After submission, the order immediately appears in the Open Orders panel with a "Submitted" status. Status transitions update in real time — you don't need to refresh to see fills.

For orders that fill quickly, a fill notification appears as a toast with the fill price and quantity. For partial fills, the notification shows the partial fill details and the remaining open quantity.

See Order Management for full documentation on order lifecycle, multi-leg drill-down, and order history.

Paper Trading Execution

All order types and the full execution flow work identically in paper trading mode. Paper orders simulate fills against live market prices using the same logic as live orders. Use paper mode to:

• Practice the order form for unfamiliar order types before using them live
• Test bracket and advanced order configurations without capital risk
• Verify that a Code Mode strategy places orders as intended before running it live