Lots of basket combinations, ETF vs component combos and sector vs SPY plays but no Iron Condors as of yet.
Bone, IB's combo trader has you accept the " no garauntee" checkbox. I assume this will most often (i have trust issues) fill you with a single leg of the spread. Am I wrong about this regarding custom ETF vs. Compoment, SPY vs. sector type spreads? Thanks.
I have gotten "hung" on everybody's "AutoSpreader" - including TT, PatSystems, and the IB TWS combo trader. So... Your caution is well founded. The only "sure" thing that I've found are the exchange supported futures spreads in terms of mitigating legging risk. I would never leave a "spreader" or "autotrader" untended. Again, if you're swing trading, your targets and stops are considerably wider than higher frequency strategies and a modest amount of execution slippage is a bit more digestible. But if you're in and out if the market like a mechanic, I would agree that IB probably isn't the best choice for stat arb type applications.
One final thought. If i use IB's combo trader and get a bid/ask of .239/.240,for example, on a SPY/QQQ spread, i dont know if i am getting NBBO on each leg or getting screwed. Wished they presented the bid/ask of each leg seperately along with this spread calculation. Thanks.
When I enter spread orders on IB, for these non-guaranteed orders involving stocks/ETFs, I use a "Limit+Market" order. When the limit price is reached for the spread, the first leg is executed as a limit order. Then after the first leg is filled, the second leg is executed as a market order. This all happens within a few seconds and generally works well. It's more important for me to get both legs of the spread filled and be hedged than hold out for price improvement and risk being unhedged with just one leg on and the second leg waiting for a limit order execution in the case of a sudden and adverse market move on the second leg.
Very, very smart. That's the best way I've found over the years to manually leg a futures pair. It's almost always a huge mistake to attempt to buy the bid on one leg and sell the offer on the other leg. Rarely happens and the downside risk is much greater than the gain. If you can split the difference you've done well IMO. Great post and many thanks. I'm relatively new to the equities game and IB and will use your sound advice.