Subterranean datek blues

Discussion in 'Trading' started by babe714, Jul 22, 2001.

  1. babe714


    I entered a limit order fri 7/20/2001 :
    Buying 200 shrs HI-T @24.75 12:33 :37

    10 seconds later it executed for 100 shrs :
    Bought 100 shrs HI-T @24.75 12:33:47
    Buying 100 shrs HI-T @24.75 ( now trying to buy the other 100 shrs )

    At this point the quote according to time and sales was 25.75 (100) x 24.99 (1200) 12:33:50

    obviously my 100 shares being next in line to be bought

    the next trade occured 37 min. later with 600 shares being traded at 24.75
    and I did'nt get any of them . How could this have happened ?

    their support told me it was because they routed the order to the NYSE and the 600 share trade occured on a regional exchange and that it was one of those one in a million type things ?????????????

  2. mgregor


    NYSE and AMEX stocks routinely trade on the regional exchanges as well. This would include Chicago, Pacific, NASDAQ, Cincinnati, etc...

    This is not a 1 in a million occurance. In fact, it happened quite often when I used to scalp thinly traded stocks on the NYSE/AMEX.

    To solve this problem for yourself, get a quote feed such as PC Quote which shows you the regional exchanges, as well as the Time & Sales including which exchange the trade went off on. That way you can verify for yourself that the trade did happen on a regional exchange.
  3. ktm


    You were lucky to get the full hundred. I've had Datek fill me for so many partials, I'm about to leave. It's frustrating getting 13 shares of a stock every third or fourth trade.
  4. mgregor


    This really has nothing to do with Datek or any broker. There are specific order handling rules on NYSE, which any broker would have to follow.

    If a trade goes off on a regional exchange and your order is being represented/worked on NYSE, no matter which broker you're with, you aren't getting filled!

    Besides, Datek is one of the only brokers who do not charge you for partial fills. If you have an order for 500 shares and are only filled for 499, as long as you cancel the remaining order, you won't be charged any commission.
  5. babe714


    Thanks for the help Mcgregor , guess I can't blame datek after all. Incidentally they charged half a commision (4.99)on the partial fill of 100 shares .
  6. mgregor


    Next time it happens, just cancel the remaining order (if you're sure you won't get a fill), and you won't be charged anything.

    Or you could cancel your order for the remaining 100 shares, then place it again. This will insure that you only get charged a commission should you get the other 100 shares. However, by doing so, you'll lose your place in line (order handling rules), so you need to first check the BID/ASK size and determine how many others are bidding at your price level.

    By the way, what I said before about partial fills, I'm assuming we're talking about NYSE/AMEX stocks, not NASDAQ, which has entirely different order handling rules.

    I know a lot of people get upset by the frequency of partial fills on NASDAQ stocks traded on the ISLAND exchange, but that is an entirely different ballgame.