Fills on Stops.....

I do not use stops all that often........I will usually use mental stops then place market orders (usually on liquid ETF's) after many years of trading with TD Waterhouse's webbroker system the following is typical.. Placed a Sell on Stop order for 500 shares SDS at 64.25, mkt goes thru my stop at 11:23 and no fill reported until I call in 14 minutes later to enquire then lo and behold a fill a few minutes later at the current price........this happens quite often, they make no apologies, I wonder what responsibility they have if a stop is missed and the market goes against you? I would think that they would have to credit the trade at a price within 10 minutes of the stop being hit. Trade execution is something that should not be taken for granted.

Chris, pull up a time and sales of activity after the stop price was hit. Is this an electronic routing brokerage? Yes, your order has to be filled "at the market", so see what bids and trades there were making up 500 shares. Who are these people? Why not switch to Ineractive Brokers, life is good there, none of that BS you are dealing with. Can you enter "stop LIMIT" orders to control the fill price, I do. Norton

Hi Woody; I agree with Norton, it's pretty hard to beat Interactive Brokers. However, I would also say that when it comes to stops they become a little problemmatical on stocks because there are so many places your stop could have been routed to. For instance, if it were routed to the AMEX, watch out. One thing about IB is that you can decide where to route your orders, or for that matter, whether it would be held at the server level and then executed at the best possible exchange when elected. You can also change in a variety of ways what exactly triggers your stop. Last sale? Ask price? Two trades lower? Alot of different options are possible at IB. IT

Hi Woody;

I agree with Norton, it's pretty hard to beat Interactive Brokers. However, I would also say that when it comes to stops they become a little problemmatical on stocks because there are so many places your stop could have been routed to. For instance, if it were routed to the AMEX, watch out. One thing about IB is that you can decide where to route your orders, or for that matter, whether it would be held at the server level and then executed at the best possible exchange when elected. You can also change in a variety of ways what exactly triggers your stop. Last sale? Ask price? Two trades lower? Alot of different options are possible at IB.

IT

Thanks guys, wow some nice options at IB, I do feel like I'm gettin the runaround.....I knew you guys would offer some good ideas!

I placed a trade with IB today at a limit. It was filled nicely below that limit. This happens often with them. I use their "Smart Router" which looks for the best price. Of course it does depend on market depth and order size. And if you have a stop at a very obvious level, you will have company and a stop may get filled away from your stop price. In fact, I notice that when an obvious support or resistance is broken thru, you will get a real long candle which almost always pulls back before continuing.

Edited by Rogerdodger, 22 February 2008 - 03:58 PM.

I placed a trade with IB today at a limit.
It was filled nicely below that limit.
This happens often with them.
I use their "Smart Router" which looks for the best price.
Of course it does depend on market depth and order size.
And if you have a stop at a very obvious level, you will have company and a stop may get filled away from your stop price.
In fact, I notice that when an obvious support or resistance is broken thru, you will get a real long candle which almost always pulls back before continuing.

Thanks for your insights Rog, interesting that the guys on this thread are posters who I enjoy reading! Wish i could give as much as I take...someday.