KTM, Contact Frederick @ mrswing@mrswing.com and ask him how he gets his Stops to work at IB. He says they are no problem? Maybe he uses them differently? Dave D.
At my broker sell stops are activated off the bid. When selling begins and the actual price begins to drop, what it means to me is that bids are being filled. When I see an order filled at say $20.50, then $20.40, then $20.30 it means that the last best bid was $20.30 but my screen is still telling me that the best bid is $20.50. If I have a stop order at my broker at $20.45, and since the data on my screen is supplied by my broker, I know that the order hasn't executed. What this tells me is that bid prices are not updated promptly. Why? I don't know. Why are sell stops activated off the bid price? I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with maintaining an orderly market. If the actual price can be updated instantaneously then I know that the best bid price can be updated instantaneously too, but for some reason it isn't. Why? I don't know. But I sure as hell am not going to depend on stop orders. I think stop orders are better suited to investors and not traders.
Rigel, IB's sell stops are triggered on the ask side. Their system is updating the quotes in real time and they appear to be accurate. This isn't the problem; it's electing the stop when the criteria have been met. Dave, thanks for the info. I'll see what he's doing that I'm not. Maybe he's typing them left handed or something.