Hi ET peeps, On Interactive Brokers TWS, I see different behavior for partial lots on the BookTrader & Level 2 Quotes when I direct route vs. use smart AND between two different direct routed exchanges (ARCA / Island). All orders are standard limit, lit (not hidden), no discretionary, no brackets (standalone orders). See attached screenshots. ARCA - $26.07 Buy, 50 shares, shows both level 2 & BookTrader Island - $26.15 Buy, 50 shares, does not show in either level 2 or BookTrader Smart Routed - $26.06 Buy, 50 shars, does not show in either level 2 or BookTrader - Does each exchange handle partial lots differently? - Am I doing something to cause my Island / Smart orders to not show in level 2 and BookTrader? - Am trying to eat me some liquidity for breakfast yeah boyeee! Thanks for your thoughts; appreciate the help as always!
IB is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Are you paying for all full depth books? When you place direct orders, pay attention how many levels away from NBBO they are (make sure they are the same when you compare). It's not the exchange but most likely IB/TWS related.
Hi @qlai ! Happy profitable Wednesday to you! Yes I have subscribed to all of the available level 2 quote packages they have for equities. What does your statement "When you place direct orders, pay attention how many levels away from NBBO they are (make sure they are the same when you compare)." mean? 95% of the time I place limit orders. Sorry confused. Thanks a lot!
I meant that when you compare, offer on Nasdaq two levels above Best Offer and on ARCA two levels above Best Offer. Don't compare offering two levels above on one vs. offering ten levels above on the other. Ten levels above is so useless to most that some vendors may not even update it with every order. I'm not getting level2 on TWS, so I don't know from experience what they display. Maybe someone who does can chime in. Also try your experiment with round lots and see if that is different from odd lots.
And when you say "ten levels above" you mean like a quote that is 10 cents away from the NBBO? So you're say just compare apples to apples - like 2 pennies away from the best quote on whichever exchanges I'm comparing?
Correct, most activity is happening about 3-5 ticks above and below, so IB maybe not displaying the orders too far away (especially odd lots). I can tell you for sure that both Nasdaq and ARCA send updates on ANY change to ANY level.