Jeff,
Well, five minutes for order review is too long. Unless the market was
extraordinarily active (500-600 million shares traded), that IS too long.
Even then, it sounds like too much. Re the FORE order, you should
leave a limit order like that in longer. The reason being that the trader
knows how long its been in and when the bid/ask changed. He sees
you order and says that is due but then your cancel comes in and so
he cancels it. There's no risk to you to wait a little on a limit order.
The execution of the order and the actual reporting back of the execution
are two separate things and often don't occur simultaneously.
The MSFT order you were probably due. Even during extra active mkts,
they will auto execute 1000 shares or less (normally its 2000) if its a
market or market-type (i.e. buy at current ask) order. The fact that it
was unfilled for 90 seconds doesn't necessarily mean it was manually
reviewed (or if it was, that the review took that long). If you really feel
you are due, speak to a manager. Most reps are inexperienced at
interpreting T&S and the technicalities we are discussing. Most don't
know how to read NASDAQ Level II let alone determine whether you
are due a fill.
You are correct on the computer aspect. Computers can easily be
programmed to check for the CA/BP necessary, etc. However, Schwab's
computer system is much larger than you may appreciate and making
such a seemingly minor change runs into 7 figures. Some day it
will change because it has to, but right now it isn't a major priority.
Good luck trading
RR |
