1. Sometimes I see option quotes near the opening which I wish to trade with. They last only a short while until they are traded with or cancelled. If I try to trade with them putting in limit orders before opening, the quotes never appear since they are auto-generated and seem to never trade with a published quote. If I set up a limit order, wait till the quote appears, then click transmit as quickly as humanly possible, sometimes I get the trade, but often someone else gets it first. These quotes often last long enough to set off IB's alert feature, so in theory there should be no problem having some sort of conditional order which will trade with the quote. Unfortunately the trigger methods for IB conditional orders don't work for me since the trigger is either the last sale (in which case its too late) or the second occurrence of the (bid/offer) which of course never happens. I've also tried LIT (limit if touched orders) with no success. I've tried asking IB, but the person I corresponded with first seemed to not understand what I was asking for, and then told me there was no demand for this type of conditional order functionality. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to trade with these fleeting quotes? 2.IB ARCA Orders. IB ARCA orders seem to be working differently since the NYSE merger. My limit orders used to maintain their position in the book. Now orders which are entered after mine seem to routinely trade ahead of me. I seem to be moving to the back of the book. (Its as if my orders were being cancelled and resubmitted. I know this is the case for NYSE orders where orders are optionally cancelled every few minutes to avoid specialist billing ) ARCA has no specialist billing and so there is no need to cancel my order. As an example, sometimes I will get a partial fill on my limit order (so I know I was/am first in the book) and then nothing on subsequent trades at my limit. I also seem to get more odd lot fills on ARCA. Anyone with similar experience or an explanation?
Those fast quotes are often used to fill spread orders. If someone wants a vertical for a set amount and has that order on the book, the computer will monitor both legs and fill him when the conditions are met. So the quotes are real and the trades are really happening for the most part, however spreads don't show in the volume tally even a few hours after the trades.
bsberninflator, did you open a trouble-ticket to report your observations to IB, and if you did, what was their response?
I did call about the arca orders losing position and was told they will report the matter to programming to see if there is an issue. That was some time ago. If anyone notices their ARCA limit orders are losing position please post. Thanks.
How long ago did this communication occur? Did you or they make any subsequent effort to communicate?