Fills at open using Island ECN.
I am not a daytrader (burned too often, too hard for guys like me with modem access only and no level II that have a regular job as well)but this thread obviously has the expertise to address a question of mine.
I am trying to figure out details of how orders are filled at open through Island ECN. I assume that for market orders, it is "first come, first served", that is, an order placed at 9:02 is filled before an order placed at 9:04. Is an ECN required to match orders in such a way that spread between bid and ask is minimized? At open, you will have a large number of orders in the "book"; say you are a buyer who has put in a market order (for simplicity forget about limit orders for now)- does electronic matching system get you best possible price?
For high volume, liquid stocks, fills on market orders tend to be very near opening price, as long as a market order is used. Interestingly, when I place a limit order (through Datek) that is marketable, I have had very slow fills on occasion during first 1/2 hr of trading- any explanation of this phenomenon? Is it simply that placing a limit order places you at end of line when it comes to trades, behind the group of orders that have been labeled "market orders"?
Any comments are welcome. |
