Order parked until 9:30AM, not executed until 9:31

Is it normal for a trade that is parked until 9:30am not to go through until 9:31am? That happened to me this morning. It resulted in quite a bit of slippage. I was hoping for the order to immediately release and execute when the markets opened. Matthew, is this normal? How can I guarantee proper execution at the open of the market? I want to get as close to the ask (or bid if selling) at market open as possible.



Thanks,

Samuel Vincent

Then just submit a market order any time before the market opens. Do not use park. You will get the opening price.

The futures instrument I’m trading (EMD) actually trades before the cash market is open. If I make the order a DAY order rather than GTC, will it wait until the cash market opens at 9:30?



Also, that didn’t really answer the question on the delay. Is a delay of 60-119 seconds normal for parked orders? Is there any way to fix this?



Thanks,

Samuel Vincent

Thank you Samuel, you (may) have indirectly answered a question of mine. So if you use DAY, futures execute at the 9:30 am EST open?



Yes there is mostly a delay and if you follow the exact price at the specific time and put in a fix ticket MK can change it - but this can be exhausting.



I have found that if you have your order “conditional” with another order they execute at the same time and price if it is the same instrument - if not the same instrument… I’d guess the code retrieves pricing at the same time (perhaps Matthew can clarify).



That being said – if you want the order to immediately execute at the specified minute, wait until the second hand passes the “12” and then hit cancel. It will say it is too late to cancel and execute the order (instead of waiting a couple of minutes).



I know it is wierd, but this approach actually forces the order to execute. For my system, exact timing isn’t critical but I have found these things out from experience.



I hope this helps,



Gilbert