Last week one morning at the open I kept missing trades because mkt orders were not being filled. I assumed this was because of fast market conditions but wondered if it was a technology glitch. Anyone else have problems this past week getting fills on market orders on es? I use mkt orders all the time and I've never seen this before with IB.
in the ES + NQ to buy at the offer ... in most cases ... so I do not use market orders in the stock index futures e minis
Maybe i am a little naive, but why would anyone ever use a mkt order of the emini? Why not just use a limit order maybe a point above the mkt price and you will be filled at the best price regardless of mkt conditions. Once you start using mkt orders, you have to deal with possible glitches like the aforementioned.
the problem with limit orders is you need to set prices - I'm too lazy to set prices. Market orders are really just limit orders at current inside market so obviously the failure to get a fill must mean some kind of delay within the routing technology.
I really cant see using market orders except in exceptional situations - maybe where I didn't care about my entry point: I cant think of any example in my own history where this has happened .... I always target a price for every trade and use limit orders. Yes, occasionally I dont get my price but at least I had some condition on the entry point .... Targeting a price on entry and exit for the entire trade is just part of my discipline.
IB uses synthetic market orders for GLOGBEX which is a limit order about 3 points away from the market. The problem you mentioned with native GLOBEX market orders in fast markets would not apply to IB. Go to the IB website and click on Trading Information>Order Information. GLOBEX market orders are simulated. Simulated market order logic- "Price capping is used to obtain the best price in the market while increasing the probability of an execution. Futures Market order simulations are submitted at .3% better than the best bid or offer. If the order becomes non-marketable, the best bid or offer is recapped at .3%."