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🎯 Orders·advanced

Iceberg Order

Also called: iceberg

A large order that's broken into smaller visible chunks — most of the size is hidden from the order book.

An iceberg order is a way to disguise a large order. Only a small portion is visible in the order book at any time — like the tip of an iceberg. As that visible portion fills, another chunk automatically reveals itself, then another, until the full order is complete. Other traders see only the small visible piece and don't realize a much larger order is sitting in the queue. Icebergs are used by institutional traders to hide their footprint. If a fund needs to buy 500 lots, showing all 500 in the book would scare away sellers and push the price up before they could fill. Hiding 480 of those lots and showing only 20 at a time keeps the market stable while the order works through. For retail traders, iceberg orders are mostly relevant as something to LOOK for. If you see persistent buying at the same price level, refilling repeatedly without the visible bid changing, there might be an iceberg working underneath.
Real trade example

Order flow traders watching futures markets routinely identify icebergs at key levels, then trade in the direction of the hidden order. Spotting a buy iceberg at S&P 500 support is a high-probability long signal.

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