Hi ! Question from Novice trader. I was listening to ThinkOrSwim.com recordings on Orders, and it was mentioned that Stop Orders are triggered by the ASK Price, however everywhere I have read Stop Orders are triggerd by the Current Price of Stock. So what price is the basis for Stop Order ? Thanks ! (I'm using ThinkorSwim.com Trading Platform)
There is no specific rule. Different trading platforms have different rules dictating how stop orders are triggered. Sometimes bid/ask, sometimes last price, sometimes its customizable and you can choose which one you want etc
Personal experience with TOS last August for 2 months is that for stocks, it is very easy to get stopped out with any spikes in the data, even those that did not show an actual fill on charts from other brokers. This was an actual experience with RIMM in August 20 06. So, yes, it is a simulated stop by the brokers which you may not find out the discrepency 99.5% of the time. TOS may be good for analysis of options, but I don't recommend them for day trading stocks.
Thanks for the answers I am Using ThinkOrSwim as "training" platform, it has great feature - paperMoney Regarding what price is basis of Stop Order, I will have to talk to tech support.