I trade on think or swim and I mostly use vertical spreads. I am new to this but when I was paper trading on think or swim, I usually put my vertical in as a limit order at the midpoint between bid and ask. I got plenty of fills doing that with paper money, but now that I am trading real money it seems that I never get anything filled at the midpoint. Since a vertical has a limited profit potential it is very important to get a good fill, I would think. Should I be looking for verticals that have a tighter bid/ask spread in order to get filled close to the midpoint? What about buying the long option first then waiting for the underlying to move closer to the short option before selling it, in order to get a better credit on the short option? Is legging into a vertical a good idea? What method do you more experienced guys use to get good fills on verticals?
Do you really think you can compare fills in paper trading with real trading!? The only reason you got plenty of mid-point fills in paper trading is because it's not real trading. The platform probably has some logic built into it, but, obviously, it cannot simulate real trading. Paper trading is a good way to familiarize yourself with the platform and trading in general, but the difference between paper and real is night and day! Generally, you need to leave some profit for the market makers to get filled, which means going anywhere from 0.05 to 0.2 or more off mid, depending on the market, and even then you are not guaranteed a fill. Legging in is a viable strategy, but you need to be able to time the market and have the discipline to complete the trade even if the market moves against you on the second leg.
For tighter bid/ask spreads, try trading the issues with penny increment options. On TOS, there's a built-in watchlist for penny increment options under the "Public" category.
The reason u r not getting filled is because ur orders r not being shopped upstairs to liquidity provders I was on the floor for over 20 years . I have the contacts upstairs to shop ur orders and get u mid market fills. They have to be at least 50 contracts or more though . If interested let me know.
exactly just pay the spread.. geez! and stop being a baby about not getting filled.. it is obvious you are trying to nickel and dime.. so you will only make nickels and dimes.. do not nickel and dime the market if you believe in yourself and teh trade then just get the heck in teh market..