I enter STPLMT orders on IB using their Excel DDE file. Calculating my orders depends on today's opening price, so I have a formula setup that gives me the values I need as soon as today's opening price hits the tape. My orders are all submitted into the market within 10 seconds of the NYSE opening (although I wish it was even faster).
A typical order for me reads something like "buy on stop @ $20.05, with limit of $20.10."
8 out 10 times, these orders work fine and I get filled no problem. However, sometimes the market seems to "skip" my orders and the price will run higher and higher without ever filling me.
Is there something I can change in IB TWS' 'global configuration' page that will help prevent my orders from being "skipped"? Recently I've changed the "stop trigger" setting from "LAST" to "ASK" in hopes it may improve things, but that doesn't really seem to be making much of a difference.
Also worth noting that the shares in my orders are never neat round numbers....would I have a better chance of getting filled in my shares were say 500 instead of 478?
The obvious answer to my problem would be "just enter stop orders instead of stop-limit orders".....I used to just enter stop orders, but I noticed that occasionally I would get just terrible fills, with entry prices sometimes 2% higher than where my stop order was entered - it would be impossible for me to make money with that kind of slippage.
Thanks for any insights any of you may have.
A typical order for me reads something like "buy on stop @ $20.05, with limit of $20.10."
8 out 10 times, these orders work fine and I get filled no problem. However, sometimes the market seems to "skip" my orders and the price will run higher and higher without ever filling me.
Is there something I can change in IB TWS' 'global configuration' page that will help prevent my orders from being "skipped"? Recently I've changed the "stop trigger" setting from "LAST" to "ASK" in hopes it may improve things, but that doesn't really seem to be making much of a difference.
Also worth noting that the shares in my orders are never neat round numbers....would I have a better chance of getting filled in my shares were say 500 instead of 478?
The obvious answer to my problem would be "just enter stop orders instead of stop-limit orders".....I used to just enter stop orders, but I noticed that occasionally I would get just terrible fills, with entry prices sometimes 2% higher than where my stop order was entered - it would be impossible for me to make money with that kind of slippage.
Thanks for any insights any of you may have.
