Narrowest spread instruments for trading

jl1575 · Oct 5, 2019

shovel52 said:
Thanks for the replies..let me ask another one..This mornings trade looked like this..
buy 1 MES at 2922.50 and exited at 2925.75..that is 13 ticks gain supposedly ..When I pulled the trigger,price was at 2922.50
I got filled at 2925.75, that is 13 ticks away from my entry, I used a market order, should I have used a limit order, and what chances would a limit order have at getting filled..on a breakout, How do you make money getting filled at 13 ticks away from your trigger? This was 8.30 this morning central. By the way, did you know that the MES follows the SPY when it opens in the morning? about one bar behind, it's pretty accurate and dependable..but who cares if you are getting filled 13 ticks behind it..

You were using market order? Most people always use LIMIT orders for ES or so, then you are guaranteed to fill with the exact price; but even market order, it shouldn't be that wide range. However 8:30am or 9:30am is a crazy time for price fluctuations. Experienced people always wait for at least 5 minutes after market open or until 9:45am to play.

bbpp · Oct 5, 2019

I had a ES stop buy order placed before 8:30 on Friday and was filled at 8:30 at a price 4 points higher than my stop price.

shovel52 · Oct 5, 2019

Thanks folks..for all the info, this is really an active forum.. so I will be using the paper platform this week using limit orders, and will stay away from the open, and go from there..I was wondering on the average, how often do you get left behind on a limit order? I guess it still depends on volume..the above example was an actual live trade..Would love to share my stop and reverse system, with built in chop filter..do they have a section for that here? I think it's going to be a killer if you can get filled..

bd10 · Oct 5, 2019

Another market which has extremely tight spreads is ED. Liquidity is very deep but given the matching algorithms, it's very difficult to overcome the bid/ask spread.

Nearest expiring contract month:
One quarter of one interest rate basis point = 0.0025 price points = $6.25 per contract.

All other contract months:
One half of one interest rate basis point = 0.005 price points = $12.50 per contract.

Source: CME contract specs.

minmike · Oct 5, 2019

Never use a market order. Use a limit order at worst price you will accept.

shovel52 · Oct 5, 2019

minmike said:
Never use a market order. Use a limit order at worst price you will accept.

shovel52 · Oct 5, 2019

Ok, above should be a picture of the tradingview order entry platform..price is trading at 8140.08 I wish to enter a limit order at that price or 1 tick worse than that. If you will look at the order menu to the right, it says 8122.65? and to the right of that it says ask 1178..

What does this mean and what do you have to do to try and get filled at the current price
of 8140.08 long or 1 tick worse? thanks

Overnight · Oct 5, 2019

minmike said:
Never use a market order. Use a limit order at worst price you will accept.

Bad advice in Futures, if the order is a stop loss limit. A stop limit order can get blown through so fast and furious it will make your head spin.

If using a stop loss order, it MUST be market. This ain't 2017, guy.

Now, if it is a profit stop order? Sure, a limit could be advisable. In most cases, a limit order for a profit is ok.

But never on a stop loss order. Nuh uh, no way.

BlueWaterSailor · Oct 6, 2019

Overnight said:
Bad advice in Futures, if the order is a stop loss limit. A stop limit order can get blown through so fast and furious it will make your head spin.

Is there ever a reason to use a limit order for a stop loss on any asset class? Nothing comes to mind for me. The way I learned it is exactly as you're describing - a really bad idea. Market only. Limits are for entries and profits.

(The seeming implication that it worked back in 2017 is why I'm spocking an eyebrow. How?)

BlueWaterSailor · Oct 6, 2019

shovel52 said:
Ok, above should be a picture of the tradingview order entry platform..price is trading at 8140.08 I wish to enter a limit order at that price or 1 tick worse than that. If you will look at the order menu to the right, it says 8122.65? and to the right of that it says ask 1178..

What does this mean and what do you have to do to try and get filled at the current price
of 8140.08 long or 1 tick worse? thanks

Just pull down the price menu and enter your bid. I can't remember the last time I did a market entry... oh, right, you're paper-trading. That might be the problem.

Don't know about Tradingview, but TradeStation doesn't let you do price discovery in sim. You hit the bid, or you don't get filled.