Limit order not opened at the price I specified.

[didimakeamistake]

Hello.

I placed my first order with IG (though not my first trade). It was after hours, I placed an order on the spreadbet platform. I input the price I wanted to sell in the 'price level' box and set stops etc... The following day I'd found my trade had been initiated some 10 points lower than the price I specified, with the stop some 10 points lower which resulted in me being stopped out, whereas I would've still been in the trade at my desired stop.

It was my understanding that this is a limit order, the price level is the price I want to enter the trade. What's the point in putting a price if the order just opens at a different (less favourable) price?

" Limit orders will usually be filled at your chosen price, or sometimes even a better price if one is available at the moment the order becomes filled. "

https://www.ig.com/uk/trading-strategies/types-of-order-42279-180220

Have I thoroughly misunderstood something here or has IG made a mistake?

Thanks.

[Caseynotes]

Hi @didimakeamistake, unable to check as you don't give the asset or level or time but it was probably the spread. If your price line is set to Mid on the chart you are seeing neither the bid or the ask price. Go into options ( ... ) and switch between bid and offer to see if the candle hit the level.

[didimakeamistake]

46 minutes ago, Caseynotes said:

Hi @didimakeamistake, unable to check as you don't give the asset or level or time but it was probably the spread. If your price line is set to Mid on the chart you are seeing neither the bid or the ask price. Go into options ( ... ) and switch between bid and offer to see if the candle hit the level.

Hi Caseynotes, thanks for you reply.

The discrepancy is 4 times higher than the spread so I'd assume it's not that.

I typed the details out below then re-read the link I gave in the first post. On the spreadbet platform, do you know if the 'order' tab (as opposed to 'deal') is a 'limit order' or an 'entry order'? I can't find an answer, think IG have been very vague on this.  I thought it was a limit order but if it's an entry order then what has happened would possibly make sense.

 

If you want to look into it...It's on URA (global X). I placed the order on the weekend before the 14th Jan.

Price limit I set was 1226 (close of previous day, the 13th) stop 26 points away at 1252.

Order was opened at 1213.2 (the open price on the 14th) stop at 1238.9.

On the 14th the price went from 1213 up to 1235 so comfortably met my 1226 level and so, as far as I can tell it should've been opened at 1226.

Edited February 2, 2019 by didimakeamistake

[Caseynotes]

ok @didimakeamistake, the order ticket decides whether it's a entry stop order or an entry limit order by where price is and where you place your entry and stop level. By setting the sell entry price at the Friday close and the stop above the platform decided it was a sell stop entry.

So looking at the chart and if I've understood correctly what happened was that price on the Monday open had very big gap down and the diff between bid and ask (spread) was a very large 25 points, the first available price for a sell entry was at 1213 so the short was opened with the stop at 1238. Price then rose from the open, in order to get out of a short contract (your stop) you buy an equal long contract which means buying the ask price, the ask price certainly got to 1238 so the stop was triggered.

Looking at the chart it is very prone to gaps, in fact there seems to be a gap every Monday. Gaps are like slippage, the order can only be filled at the best available price after market open if there are no buyers or sellers at the specified price.

  

[didimakeamistake]

Ok, so I think I understand. Thank you.

I guess then there's no way to set an entry price that will only open the trade if that price is available, if the market then gaps down below (or above for a long) then it wouldn't fill? If I'm placing orders afterhours and there's a big gap on open then I probably wouldn't want to be entered at that worse price.

[Caseynotes]

@didimakeamistake, most markets are nowhere near as bad as that one, I noticed that not only did it gap every weekend but when looking up the opening spread on Monday's first hourly bar that most of the hourly bars gapped as well. So we know it is a very illiquid market and best avoided for that very reason alone, or at least avoid using orders and go 'at market' on the deal ticket instead. 

[didimakeamistake]

Okey dokey, thanks for your help.

[Guest Same]

I'm late to this conversation, I understand the issue and the explanation. I understand gapping, bid/ask, increased spreads around market open, volatility, liquidity etc. But I'm having some similar issues. I usually place stop orders prior to market open. I understand that the last close will be different to wherever the market opens, and depending on volatility this price might be very different. It's abit of a con, because when you try the Demo platform the spreads are small and the fill price is ALWAYS what you ask for - but when you put your hard earned cash in the live platform is hugely different. If IG guarantee ' best execution' this shouldn't happen should it? Either the order fills at my price or the order shouldn't fill? What it shouldn't do is fill miles away, sometimes 4, 5, 6% away from my specified entry price, which is has on some occasions? How do we know IG are honest enough to say what the actual sell/buy balance is and if there really was a buyer or seller at the level we want to fill at, or rather IG just inflate/deflate the price to suit them and mitigate their loss and manage down our win? We don't actually get to see this in action, it's all behind the scenes, and we just take the result? How do we get transparency to see the 'first available price' to corroborate the accuracy and reality? Otherwise, we might as well be placing abet on a horse and never seeing the race, just accepting that our horse was placed 4th?

[CharlotteIG]

On 13/03/2021 at 08:32, Guest Same said:

I'm late to this conversation, I understand the issue and the explanation. I understand gapping, bid/ask, increased spreads around market open, volatility, liquidity etc. But I'm having some similar issues. I usually place stop orders prior to market open. I understand that the last close will be different to wherever the market opens, and depending on volatility this price might be very different. It's abit of a con, because when you try the Demo platform the spreads are small and the fill price is ALWAYS what you ask for - but when you put your hard earned cash in the live platform is hugely different. If IG guarantee ' best execution' this shouldn't happen should it? Either the order fills at my price or the order shouldn't fill? What it shouldn't do is fill miles away, sometimes 4, 5, 6% away from my specified entry price, which is has on some occasions? How do we know IG are honest enough to say what the actual sell/buy balance is and if there really was a buyer or seller at the level we want to fill at, or rather IG just inflate/deflate the price to suit them and mitigate their loss and manage down our win? We don't actually get to see this in action, it's all behind the scenes, and we just take the result? How do we get transparency to see the 'first available price' to corroborate the accuracy and reality? Otherwise, we might as well be placing abet on a horse and never seeing the race, just accepting that our horse was placed 4th?

Hey, 

Thanks for your post. 

I understand your point and I will suggest having limit/ stop orders that only execute at a fixed price.

When trading in the underlying market if you choose a limit order what you're asking from us is to execute at that price or better, same with the stop order but you're telling the broker to fill you at that price or worse. (Which from what you've written I can see you understand but just for anyone reading over this with the same question). 

We make money from spread and commission we have no benefit filling you at a worse price than what we can get. There are other brokers out there that make money from clients losing, we're not one of them. We don't find it beneficial filling clients at worse prices because they would be upset with the execution and won't continue trading with us. Also, this would be a regulatory breach and we're FCA regulated.

I hope this helps

Charlotte