***Trading Options*** Tom, I don't know about index options, but on stock options, (to keep it simple), if you have the highest bid, that bid is supposed to be shown. Sometimes, though, it might not be shown immediately (even though it's supposed to be). A trade below your bid is not supposed to execute until your bid has been executed (but there is also some rule about the number of options in your order).
The statement above applies to trades on a specific exchange.
Some stocks have options that are traded on more than one exchange. In that case, you can have a bid at 3, and you might see trades at 2 7/8, but those should be taking place at an exchange that is separate from the one your order was sent to.
To get nit-picky, there's also late reporting of trades, and probably a lot of other factors as well.
Larry |
