Resting Order

A resting order is any limit order that has been accepted by the exchange and is sitting in the order book, waiting for the market to come to it. Until price reaches the order’s specified price, it remains inactive: visible in the DOM but not yet filled.

Resting vs working vs filled

State	Description
Resting	In the book, waiting for price to reach it
Working	Synonymous with resting: active in the book
Partially filled	Some quantity has executed, remainder still resting
Filled	Fully executed, no longer in the book
Cancelled	Removed from the book without filling

Resting orders and market microstructure

Resting orders are the passive side of every trade. They provide the liquidity that aggressive market orders consume. Without resting limit orders, there would be no price levels to trade at: only the most recent transaction.

Market makers make their living by continuously posting resting orders on both sides of the book (resting bids below and resting asks above), collecting the spread when aggressors hit their orders.

What resting orders reveal

The collective profile of resting orders: visible through the DOM: reveals the current supply and demand structure:

• Large resting bid: a participant believes price is good value here and is willing to buy significant size
• Large resting ask: a participant sees this price as fair value to sell and is offering significant supply
• Thin resting orders: few participants have committed; price can move through this area easily

Resting orders and slippage

When an aggressive market order arrives, it fills against the best resting order first. If the resting size is smaller than the aggressive order, it consumes that level and moves to the next resting order at the next price level. This cascading consumption is how price moves and how sweeps occur.