If such a warning was issued, I would consider that a critical bug within TWS, since the system is designed not to allow orders to disappear until they are either filled or cancelled. I realize you can set the time-limit and have cancelled orders stay on the screen indefinitely, but in this case the order would still have disappeared(since it wasn't cancelled). And once an order is gone, I just think its unreasonable to expect that the order might still be live now that no record of it exists. Now it sounds like the order problem wasn't IB's fault, but since they do run ideal-pro they need to let the banks know that delayed order executions of 30 minutes are unacceptable, especially since ideal-pro is billed as an ecn-type system.
One problem I've seen with one of the TWS builds I'm using is if I cut and paste the symbol on another line. I did that a few times recently and then noticed that every time the the positions for the cut/paste stock disappeared, as if I had no positions! It could've cost me some serious dough. So the solution to that issue is after pasting the symbol, you still have to manually enter it again. I've also had a couple of symbols somehow completely disappear form a page for no reason. There are a few bugs like that unfortunately.
I am happy to present all facts (as well as address various points that have arisen in this thread) if the thread originator is willing to have details of the events surrounding his trade posted in this forum.
question...are you saying that everytime a trader cancels an order and tws, the account window and your execution journal shows flat that you expect the trader to call IB to ensure the trade does not exist? w
IB has stated to me personally that if the trade(s) are not showing in pending after being cancelled the order is not working and cancelled...IB has had problems in the past where orders have been left hanging and not shown in tws or pending and the trader still gets filled. we here have had many occassions of being fed an order the same day or days later without having knowledge of the existing working order... fact w
No, I don't think I am making an assumption. He should have made damned certain that he saw the red signal indicating successful cancellation, on every single cancellation request. If there was any doubt in his mind, about whether he saw red, he should have immediately called the trade desk. He did neither of these things. I think he was partly at fault for his own negligence. I have also become convinced that IB is also partly at fault, for bad documentation leading to this problem. I come to this conclusion because it appears, from this thread discussion, almost unanimous that other IB traders are making the same mistake as this thread's original poster. If almost all of them are making this same mistake, it must be because IB's documentation did not adequately educate them as to procedures and responsibilities in regard to order cancellation requests. I appear to be one of the few exceptions because I am extremely cautious. People, my advice is: DO NOT RELY ON DISAPPEARANCE OF AN ORDER, FROM TWS, TO SIGNAL IT WAS CANCELLED. The official database of submitted orders is held on IB's servers, not your own computer. An order can disappear from your TWS, even though it has not been cancelled, and IB servers show that it is working or already executed. It is unwise to rely upon the absence of something to confirm an order cancellation. Far wiser to rely on the presence of something, an affirmative, deliberate, electronic signal (the red code on your TWS screen), or IB's verbal assurance that you are confirmed out. You guys are playing Russian Roulette. If you cancel hundreds or even thousands of orders a day, and only a few of them fill because you falsely assumed they were cancelled after they disappeared from your TWS, your entire account could be wiped out by the time you discover the executions, which might not occur until days later. Please, people, look for that red signal. Slow down and stop taking these chances. Do not ever consider an order cancelled until you either see the red signal, or IB verbally tells you it is cancelled.
Does it say that an order will disappear from the screen ONLY after it has been successfully cancelled? I'm sure it doesn't say that. Disappearance of the order means MAYBE it was cancelled, but maybe not, maybe your account will be wiped out because you have positions without knowing it. I recommend using the option to keep every cancelled order on your screen until you note each one, and then hit your hot key to remove them.
This isn't true. An order can disappear from TWS because of software, hardware, or communication failure, even though the order continues to exist on IB servers and results in an execution.
No. I am saying that if you do not see the red cancellation signal, then you must immediately call IB to ensure the trade does not exist. You would be wrong, in such a situation, to rely upon the absence of a TWS order management line, or to rely upon the absence of a change to your TWS account window data. You can only safely rely on the presence of an electronic or verbal confirmation that you are out.