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ok, this is really something new to me and I trade many years, is this a order resting (what limit order are in general) or you just get the same fill as a Market-Order just left-clicking in the Bid-column above the current price (of course we are not talking about Stop-Limit Orders and also not about MIT orders)
Trading: Primarily Energy but also a little Equities, Fixed Income, Metals and Crypto.
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Yes that.
The exchange considers it a limit order at the price you clicked on but you actually get filled at the best offer price.
Note: That if you did this for size >1 lot you would sweep the market. So if the market is 1009/1010 with 2@10, 2@11 and 2@12 and you enter an order to buy 10 at 1012, you will get 2@10, 2@11 and 2@12 and the market would now be 1012 bid for 4. (Ignoring the possibilities of icebergs or implieds of course).
Trading: Primarily Energy but also a little Equities, Fixed Income, Metals and Crypto.
Frequency: Many times daily
Duration: Never
Posts: 5,057 since Dec 2013
Thanks Given: 4,409
Thanks Received: 10,225
It's not a market order because it has a limit. If somebody else enters an order milliseconds before you do you might not get filled. Might not happen in ES but in more volatile, thinner markets (like a lot of the Natural Gas Products), sweep orders are very common.
It's probably very clear by now what the difference is between a limit buy above the current ask and a market order, after this post by @SMCJB, but to summarize:
You can expect a market buy order to get filled, at some price, but you don't know the price for sure. It may be filled in pieces at different prices as the exchange ratchets the price up to find sells to match it to. But at least in a liquid market you can expect it to all get filled, perhaps at a range of prices, depending on the number of contracts it is for, and what's available for it to be matched against at different prices.
You do not know if a limit buy order will be filled at all, but you do know that none of it will be filled at a price above its limit. It may still be filled in pieces at different prices as the exchange seeks to match some or all of it to available sell orders. But if it's not all filled and there are no offers left to match the remainder to at (or below) the limit price, and the market moves up, then there's no more matching done. Conceivably, there could be zero matching at all. if, when its place in the queue comes around, there are no offers available at or below its limit.
It appears that some platforms may not give the option to enter a buy limit above the current ask, but some do. I didn't dig deeply into NT on this, just used a right-click on a chart to see what it would offer to let me do. Maybe there's another way to do it.
I think all this is (mostly) right, and it shows the difference between a buy limit above the ask and a market buy order -- you may run out of matchable offers to get a fill below your limit with a limit buy order.
I say that it is mostly right, because a "market order" is not as simple as it seems.... for example, can a market order by filled at any price at all, so long as there is some offer out there to match it to, no matter the price? Not really. It's worthwhile, just to understand that there is more to it than there seems, to read the rest of the section previously cited on the CME website, the part under the heading "Market Orders":
"Market Order
"Market orders can be broken down into two types: a market limit order and a market order with protection.
"A market limit order is executed at the best possible price available in the market. If the market limit order can only be partially filled, the order becomes a limit order and the remaining quantity remains on the order book at the specified limit price.
Speaking for myself, I am a simple person who doesn't need to know all the fine points, so I don't. I am happy to just enter with "market orders" and accept the usual slippage as a cost for knowing I'm in. I don't use limits so I know I will get a fill, and if I want to be in, I want to be sure I'm in. Other traders will prefer other choices, which is fine.
I have no actual idea how my platform is going to submit the different types of "market orders" to the exchange, and that is OK with me. If a person trades smallish size, in a very liquid, active equity contract, as I do, probably it will not matter that there are these nuances. But there are. But all this has to do with issues that came up about the differences between market and limit orders in relation to the current ask. This is interesting, in a way, but different from the original topic.
However, to get back to @Tuglife's question, I don't know how to answer it. I suspect the matter is platform-specific, which requires someone more knowledgeable in Sierra Chart than I am.
Bob.
When one door closes, another opens.
-- Cervantes, Don Quixote
Entering a BuyLimit at 4901.00, when the Ask is 4900.25, will not protect you from an entry at an extreme price. It will simply fill at Market.
Use a BuyStopLImit entry to limit the entry price range.
If you place a BuyLimit order at 4901.00, when the Ask is 4900.25, it will fill at Market.
If you place a BuyStopLimit at 4900.25, with a Limit Offset of 3 ticks, it will fill no higher than 4901.00
"https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?page=doc/TradeWindow.html#StopLimitOrderLimitOffset"
(Copy/paste this link without the quotes.)
IMO, this is the way. Some algos with which I am familiar will check the spread and cast the buy stop limit or a straight buy market if the spread is "normal" per setting. The big headache to avoid IMO is when "news" happens and the nbbo vacates leaving you holding the bag. Most of those situations can be avoided...but what is described here is the best way I can think of.