I trade options in both Fidelity (IRA) and IBKR (taxable). I recently place a trade for a diagonal call on DPZ. Fidelity showed an average price for the call at $68.65. I placed the order and it almost immediately executed. At the very same time IBKR showed the average price at $71.57. Why can Fidelity get a price of $68.65 at the same time IBKR shows a price of $71.57 (I tried to execute the IBKR at $68.65 and it won't execute)
Options order prices - IBKR and Fidelity
- Thread starter CajunRon
- Start date
1. Brokers don't really matter and don't do anything besides sending orders to exchanges. This could be a fluke.
Though I'm not sure whether Fidelity seeks liquidity internally within their own customer pool and found this order/price of another customer. But in such case the other customer's order should already be sitting on an exchange as well.
2. Any of your orders will automatically affect the price visible to everyone else in the world. So as soon as you submitted your first order, it affected the average price, so you changed the mid price for me and everyone else, regardless of the broker. Basically if the price is $70 bid and $80 ask (with mid at $75.00) then as soon as you submit a bit at at $74 then you will automatically change the mid price to $77 ($74 bid vs $80 ask).
3. Always provide specific option/date/time to allow such issues to be researched. Otherwise you only make everyone speculate and guess possible answers, so you'll never get any reliable answer.
AFAIK there are no dark pools for options. Have you ever heard of one and which one?
Though I'm not sure whether Fidelity seeks liquidity internally within their own customer pool and found this order/price of another customer. But in such case the other customer's order should already be sitting on an exchange as well.
2. Any of your orders will automatically affect the price visible to everyone else in the world. So as soon as you submitted your first order, it affected the average price, so you changed the mid price for me and everyone else, regardless of the broker. Basically if the price is $70 bid and $80 ask (with mid at $75.00) then as soon as you submit a bit at at $74 then you will automatically change the mid price to $77 ($74 bid vs $80 ask).
3. Always provide specific option/date/time to allow such issues to be researched. Otherwise you only make everyone speculate and guess possible answers, so you'll never get any reliable answer.
AFAIK there are no dark pools for options. Have you ever heard of one and which one?
It is difficult to conclude unless multiple orders were executed and compared. Spread prices are just indicative. To be that much inferior, it has to be IBKR routing orders to funny places or trading against your orders.
1) IBKR is shit.
2) You stated diagonal. Are you referring to one leg of the call diagonal or the fill on the spread?
I get better fills with the ability to route to the best Exchanges for $.40. Market Orders with IB can be brutal and sit when your buying and selling because they don’t automatically route to the most popular venues. Gladly pay $.40 instead of praying for a rebate bidding.
Are you talking about stocks or options?
What venue do you normally route to?
I usually use Emerald for options
I have orders sit on Emerald or GMNI while AMEX, BOX, CBOE and PHLX get cleaned out. Citadel does not post on Emerald much, seems like they take from every route except the one sent to Smart Route. If their wild volume of course SR gets eaten up, problem is I time too close to round numbers.