I just opened an account with ib for trading options only then did I read something interesting about the guarantee of option strategies. They will not guarantee the execution unless it is routed via smart. This means the option has to be marketable ie. at market price. So if u place the order at limit, then it won't be guaranteed? Can any experienced users of ib clarify? Couldn't get anything from ib.
If I understand what you're asking, you never get guaranteed execution with any variant of limit order from any broker or at any venue. With a limit order, you wait until the market comes to you. You might get a partial fill or none at all. If you want to be sure you have a position, generally you should use a market order. Just be aware that market orders are simulated for some venues, and the fills may not be very good. Guaranteed execution is always on a "best efforts" basis. The guarantee usually provides no recourse.
I trade smart-routed option spreads all the time with IB and I always enter and exit with limit orders between the bid and ask. I sometimes get partial fills where for example I try to enter 5 iron condors and only get filled initially on 2. The partials usually end up filling completely eventually without intervention.
I'm with Steve generally. I use Option trader and almost always get filled below the ask. Last week, I had to go 10 cents above the posted ask in order to get filled - that's the first time that's ever happened with IB.
Thanks for the information. Sorry if I gave the wrong information. Let me clarify this again. Does the trade come as a "package" or individually? If you placed an option strategy with 4 legs, and only 2 legs got filled until end of day, will IB cancel the entire order altogether? That means your order of 4 legs has to be completely filled before it is counted?
Sorry for the bombardment of questions but this is really puzzling for a new IB user. I tried to place a tight butterly spread on SPX as per the picture shown. I'm supposed to receive USD500 (yellow circle) but if you look at margin impact, I'm only receiving USD50 (red circle). The estimated commmission is n/a. Does this mean my commission charges is USD450?? IB staff do not know why this is happening and they just say that the program is unable to calculate the commission. The only way to find out is for me to place the trade and they can see from the breakdown later on. Has anyone faced this problem before?
If you place an order for a 4 legged trade such as a condor it either fills as a condor or not at all. You aren't going to get filled on only 2 legs of the 4.