I am buying at ASK but my orders do not get filled right away??

Discussion in 'Order Execution' started by Shaun, Nov 27, 2014.

  1. Shaun

    Shaun

    For example, Stock A has a BID of $20.48 and an ASK of $20.49, and I want to get long.

    My order route is set to SMART LIMIT, I click $20.49 and then hit BUY. I can see my order is pending and hasnt been filled, even though the ASK is still $20.49. It takes 2 or 3 seconds to get filled. And even after I got filled, the price was still $20.49.

    Is this normal? Shouldnt I be filled immediately if buying at ask?
     
  2. Occam

    Occam

    Maybe there are broker risk checks it goes through? Maybe their "smart" order router is slow? (Brokers' "smart" order routers are often -- if not universally -- set to give the broker the highest rebate, not necessarily to give the client the best or fastest execution.) You could try routing your order directly to the exchange with the best ask and observing any differences in fill speed. Then you might hit a midpoint order as well, saving you $.005 a cent a share (which isn't much, but it's still 50 times more than you'd get through internalizers' laughable $.0001/share "price improvement").
     
  3. 1245

    1245


    Who is your broker? It is likely that your "smart" order was sent to a dark pool and the participants were deciding if they want to provide you a fractional better price than the offer. You don't save much when they do that, but you are not harmed either.
     
  4. Shaun

    Shaun

    Interactive Brokers

    I noticed that many of my fills are to the fourth decimal place as you say. For example $20.0675

    Should I not use smart routes? Frankly I just want a quick fill when I hit buy at ask and there is plenty of liquidity in the level 2
     
  5. 1245

    1245

    It is likely you are getting an execution that is no different then if you switched to DMA, just taking an extra second because of the smart route. Are you on the flat rate pricing or are them charging you for taking liquidity for these trades? How big is a typical order size? DO you ever miss your limit price?
     
  6. Shaun

    Shaun

    I went with per price of 0.005/share
    My size is never over 200 shares.

    I believe I did miss my limit price once or twice. I clicked buy at ask, i see the order was pending while the level 2 still had the ask price the same. And then a few seconds later the ask went up and my order was still there pending.
     
  7. 1245

    1245

    It is possible that what ever caused you to want to buy, others were thinking the same and markets move. Very hard to tell. Is this an automated system?
     
  8. Shaun

    Shaun

    No I am simply point and click with a mouse or hot key set to buy at ask+0.01

    I still had a delay with that hot key setup. I wouldn't get an immediate fill
     
  9. 1245

    1245

    Just my opinion, moving to another broker or DMA will not make a material difference with your description of your trading.
     
  10. Shaun

    Shaun

    Should I talk to my software provider?

    My broker is IB, but my platform is Das Trader
     
    #10     Nov 27, 2014