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Non-Tech : MB TRADING
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To: bobby is sleepless in seattle who wrote (4163)3/1/1999 2:03:00 PM
From: brec  Read Replies (1) of 7382
 
> some knucklehead says market orders not available with isld which in fact they are

That knucklehead would be me.

The fact that the RealTrade order entry window always has a MKT selection available does not mean that market orders can literally be executed by the Island ECN. The window is a generalized facility for entering all kinds of orders to all available destinations. All orders that are executable on Island are in fact limit orders, regardless of the labels used by the software originating the order.

A market order is "an order to buy or sell a stated amount of a security at the best possible price at the time the order is received in the marketplace" [1]. Island is not a "marketplace"; it's a limit order book: "ECNs are books, or files, of orders. These orders are ranked by price" [2]. But a market order does not have a specific price associated with the entry of the order; that is what distinguishes it from a limit order. (A limit order is "An order to buy or sell a security at a customer-specified price" [3].) If a market order were possible for Island, then it would be possible to enter such an order without a specified price and obtain an execution on the Island ECN; but that is not possible. The explanation as to why it's not (the post which earned me the "knucklehead" moniker) is at Message 8067775

Notes:
[1] NASDAQ Glossary: nasdaqnews.com
[2] isld.com Also on that page, with a claim that Island is fast: "Your limit order will be instantly added to the Island book."
[3] NASDAQ Glossary: nasdaqnews.com
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