Well admittedly it's a lot more simple with futures. See the bid buy the bid, see the offer sell the offer. The spread is the spread and is almost always narrow (especially during RTH session).This topic deserves a more in depth discussion.
I am assuming I buy on ask and sell on bid as that is what I used in my real time paper trades. The difference between bid/ask is usually $0.01 and my limit order is in $0.01 increment. In live trades with MO I often did get fills that split the difference between bid/ask.
Trading with 1 minute chart, sometimes I executed several trades within a few minutes time span. If I use limit instead of market order, it usually took seconds instead of almost instantaneous to execute (sometimes no execution) if price moved too fast.
Lately I experimented with timing my MO but the outcome is not satisfactory because it is usually counter trend.
What should I do?
I plan my entry (ex a long) to hit right as price is ticking down on a pullback, almost always getting filled sometimes at a better price. Then when it comes to time exit as price is ticking up I purposely enter a limit at or below current price. Again almost always getting filled, sometimes at a better price.
Of course there are times when an entry was a mistake, or for an exit when price is really ripping but I don't expect it to last - in either case a market order is used bam I'm out.
It took me a long time to understand the mechanics of it, but after it happening just by chance a few times I thought why not.
HTH
