How are Limit Orders Handled at the Open?

Quote from KAWill70:

The security closed the previous day at $9.97 and then opened the next trading day at $10.27. It traded as high as $10.41 before dropping to $10.00 and then traded up a few cents. It closed at $10.00 at the end of the day.

I was executed after the open at my Limit Order of $10.00. However, since the stock opened at $10.27 and then traded as high as $10.41, did I get a fair execution?
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Impossible to say for sure without looking at the time & sales; what was the ticker symbol and trade date?

You have every right to be pissed if your order was traded through without participating in the higher sales under most circumstances.

How long after the open was your order filled?
 
Symbol is PCK and trade was Wednesday 9/08.

Closed End Bond Fund and not an ETF.

I don't know the time of the execution.

KAWill70
 
You need to know when the order executed, and whether it was regular hours only or could be executed in extended hours. Then look at the time & sales and see what it looks like at that time.

It's possible your broker did wrong by you, but it's also possible (and probably more likely) that the order didn't execute when you think it did.
 
Was the GTC order held at the exchange, or simulated by the broker by reinstating it every morning until filled? If the latter, presumably the broker enters the order at or before the open, but accidents can happen. Suppose your order went in at, say, 9:30:30 -- would that explain the outcome?
 
The opening prints of 10.27 traded 1318 shares. There were no pre-market trades on Sept 8th. Looks like your order was somehow "delayed"? I remember a couple of instances of something similar with IB years ago.
 
Thanks all for the help. I just sent a note to my brokerage and will let you know how this turns out.

I don't know how they handle GTC orders. Transmitting the order each market day could certainly explain things if they were late.

KAWill70
 
Attached is opening T&S for 9/08
Note that when the initial trades of the day executed the BID/ASK spread was HUGE.

Also, many brokerage software uses the bid/ask in order to trigger the execution so that may also have been an issue. You need to ask them how it is determined. Btw, 14:30 is GMT time (9:30am) Eastern.

I remember someone on here a while back asking about very similar issue and the broker (Fidelity, I think) told him they used the bid/ask prices, although I think that may have been a Nasdaq stock.
 

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Will - I took a quick look; unless you specified all-or-none for your limit order, your order was mishandled.

There was no trade at $10 until 9:40:38EST over 10 minutes after the open (despite there being higher bids), nor was there ever any attempt to display your limit order which is ridiculous.

The reality is you probably would have been filled at $10 anyway if the order was immediately displayed, but it wasn't, and you might have done better. An honest broker should give you *some* price adjustment, even though you're not due the opening price.

I would definitely raise a stink over the order not being displayed for 10 minutes.
 
KAWill70:

You should have received (or have available) a Confirmation showing details including the time of trade. Have you looked?

Jack
 
Thanks again to all and especially for the trade data starting at the open of the market. I appreciate the jpg file from Risktaker and similar data via a private message.

It does look as though my brokerage slipped up, but one of you made the point that my order, had it been showing with an Ask of $10.00, might have been filled at that price.

I wonder if a responsible broker would have modified the order in some way to get the best price.

Regarding the time of execution, my confirmations and statements do not show the time of execution. They only show the trade number and date. I'm not using the sort of brokerage that a trader would use. The brokerage is part of one of the larger Mutual Fund firms.

I'll post the response from the brokerage when I receive it.

KAWill70
 
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