Does the volume of a stock order affect the time until execution?
I put in a large volume sell limit order on a particular stock about a month ago and although the stock has hit my limit price numerous times, the order is still not filled. Would I have a better chance of getting the order filled faster if I broke the large order into a set of smaller orders that, combined, equal the volume of my current large order. I would think that execution time will be the same, since I am allowing partial fills. For instance, would a partial fill of 10 out of 100 shares have the same probability of getting executed in a certain period of time than an order where 10 was the total volume? Any insight on this would be helpful.
Thanks a bunch.
Tagged with: better chance • execution time • insight • period of time • probability • sell limit order • stock • thanks a bunch
Filed under: sell my timeshare
As previously said, an AON order would explain it. But, you said you are allowing partial fills, which suggests you did not use an AON. Without the AON, it doesn’t matter if you have one large order, or break it up. The large order would be partially filled.
Another possible explanation is how long it was at your price. Did it just hit it and bounce back? Remember that your order goes into a queue. Any orders at the same price, which were placed before yours, would get filled first. And your order would just move closer to the front of the line. I have seen this happen before, when a stock I was trying to buy or sell kept bouncing off my price.
Yes it’s possible that the order limit price is passing before your volume can fill. If it’s a low volume stock and only 100 buys are ordered at the price, but your limit volume is 1000 I suppose it will not execute since it’s your order specific of 1000. If it’s penny stocks you would have to have someone who actually want the amount. Can’t say I ever heard of this problem in real life. You could try a regular market sell. If you divide the shares the broker will charge a fee for each trade transaction.
Yes…but are you talking 10 shares or 10,000 shares?
Multiples of 1000 shares are technically large orders…I think 100000 shares is now the WS starting definition of a large order…
Your situation depends on a minimum of three things (1) exchange rules, (2) your brokers rules, and (3) the type of limit order you placed.
For example (1), if you are talking OTC, pink sheet, and penny stocks…who the heck knows. That’s the wild wild west down there and I wouldn’t count on anything being predictable. On the other hand, a general limit order would have been at least partially executed on a highly liquid stock like KO on the NYSE — unless your price was at the high or low and in hundreds of thousands of shares (on a slow day).
(2) Routing of orders is often at the discretion of your broker or your brokerage house. A FOK or AON limit order may be routed differently and may or may not be "seen" by all parties…
(3) Obviously an AON limit order will not execute unless your order can be matched in total to your price. In low volume issues, this is frequently the case with prices near and at the top and bottom of the price range.
Make sure you don’t have the AON ( All or None ) option in place. If you don’t have it the brokerage is suppose to sell it either complete or small pieces at a time, you don’t have to bother making small orders. If you don’t mind may I ask which stock and what price you are trying to sell so I can look at the charts and get a better idea on why this is happening to you. Thanks.
ps: A BIG factor into selling your stocks is also the VOLUME of buying and selling during that day. A big company like let’s say Wells Fargo will have lots of volume everyday making it easy to get in and out. A really small company is a whole different deal.