OEC Demo & Limit Order Fills

[brownsfan019 17]

I didn't want this to get lost in another thread, so I this thread is to highlight how the demo version of OEC trader works on limit orders.

 

First, I should explain why this is important for any new traders reading this. When you send a limit order to the exchange, you are saying - fill me at this price or better, but do not fill me any worse. The concern with limit orders on demo's is that when you send a limit order on a real, production platform your order 'goes to the back of the line'. In other words, you will get placed at the back of the queue and as price progresses through it, some people get filled and others are left waiting. On some demo platforms, your limit order is filled instantly with no consideration given to the queue system. That is not the best way to work a demo environment b/c it can lead to a false sense of how your fills work in real-time.

 

Second, the OEC demo platform does provide some 'queue filtering' where your order is not immediately triggered when price is touched. It does have to trade it a bit or trade through it in order to get a fill.

 

Here's an example from the RLM on 12-16-09:

 

 

On this example, my 10 contract demo order was filled only after it traded through my entry level even though price had hit my level 2 times.

 

With that said, I don't know of any demo's that can give you perfect, real-time type entries. The queue system is one which is changing by the milli-second so it's unreasonable to assume a demo platform will be able to mimic this perfectly. But it is nice to know whether or not your demo does provide some queue filtering. If you don't know, ask!

 

I also suggest on all demos, including OEC, that if you really want to see if your limit orders got filled in real-time, set your limit 1 tick above/below where you really want to enter. If price touches this level, your limit would have filled in real-time.

 

Example: You want to buy the RLM @ 607.5 with a limit order. Place your limit order @ 607.4. If your 607.4 level is touched (even for 1 second) your 607.5 order would have been guaranteed a fill.

[Guest Tresor]

A bit off-topic. Does one trade forex with OEC via the same trading platform as one trades futures?

[garak 10]

A bit off-topic. Does one trade forex with OEC via the same trading platform as one trades futures?

Well, it is OEC but it is a different Order Tool. See http://www.traderslaboratory.com/forums/f218/bracket-order-newbie-7272.html#post83636