before you start getting a lot slippage?? I currently only trade 2 - 3 contracts.. and I always use limit orders.. if I were to ever get to say 100 - 200 contracts will I be able to use limit orders without much of a problem or at that level is it best to use market orders in order to get the entire lot filled? thanks, Jeff
Apparently you are not using J-Trader? Otherwise, you'd know the depth of bids and offers. In general, I personally believe you should enter with market orders. At least you will get the "theme" of your trade executed and not be shut out by a tick or two. Of course, there is always the possiblity of getting trapped by a rush of orders that screws your slippage... but how often does that happen? In reality, almost never!
Gnome, I do use J-trader.. and I believe I understand Bids and Offers. I actually usually place a limit order one tick above the current price. meaning if I want to buy and the Offer is at 996.50.. I usually will place a buy limit order at 996.00 or 996.25.. I sometimes miss out on trades this way.. especially the good ones..
Was that a typo ? It looks like you said that if you were a buyer with the offer at 966.5, you enter a bid of 996 or 996.25 ?? Vega:eek:
Now yall can see why I'm not tearing up the trading world.. offer at 996.50.. buy limit at 996.00 or 996.25... I think I got it this time...
I think you still got it wrong. If the offer is at 996.00, then you would place your buy limit at 996.25 or 996.50. 1-2 ticks ABOVE the offer so you can get filled. Maybe I should trade futures -FastTrader
"... sometimes miss out on [good] trades this way...". My point exactly. You know WHY [at least in your mind/strategy] you want to be getting long/short, but if you do it with a limit order and miss by a tick, then what's the point? Which is more important... your reason or the fill? Have you ever said, "I'd have caught 20 ES points if only the market had hit my price by ticking a bit lower/higher". If so, then you can see how you were "penny wise and pound foolish". We've all done exactly that... most of us many times. (I'm coming from the view of trying to make "several points +" on a play, not for .50 and .75 scalps... if you're doing that in ES where limit fills are critical, the market is probably going to do a veg-o-matic on your capital, no matter what.)
Fast.. you wrote offer at 996.00.. I wrote offer at 996.50.. so if someone is offering to sell at 996.50.. and I want to buy at a better price than that.. I would set a buy limit order at 996.00 or 996.25.. I am not buying on a stop.. I am buying when the market gets down to 996.00.. Is this correct???