Newbie Alert!

[eXor]

Hi everyone.

Stumbled upon this board by accident and have been impressed with what I've read so far. The Motely Fool webmasters should get a modern board like this

A couple of questions about the way the UK markets operate:

I found this at Imiweb's websites:

"Limit orders can only be placed on UK orders outside of market hours. A UK limit order (which is only possible outside market hours) will be cancelled or "killed" if it is not executed at the first attempt"

"Fill or kill’ only applies to UK orders placed out of hours"

Is it just this particular broker or is it a limitation of the UK markets as a whole?

Also what is the typical execution speed of discount brokers? I've read that market makers will sit on or pass my order around until they can profit from it

Apart from the MMs, who can trade at prices between the quoted bid and ask?

 

[FTSE Beater]

Hi eXor

Welcome to T2W

I think it must be unique to Imiweb's - I've never heard of limit orders, that don't have the option to close it on the day or leave it open. I think with http://www.schwab-worldwide.com/Europe you can place an order that is live until you cancel it.

The problem with discount brokers is that you can't place stop-losses (or none that I know of), which is far more important than Limit orders.

I don't think you can trade between the bid / ask in the UK. You can place a limit on the bid side and hope that you get that price.

Hope this helps

 

[eXor]

who do you use? Or do you go through the US like a lot of folks

 

[FTSE Beater]

Hi eXor

When I trade UK stocks, I trade through www.deal4free.com/spreadbet . It takes a bit of getting used to, but the trading is the same.

HTH

 

[JonnyT]

Hi FTSE,

You can place Stop orders, Limit Orders etc with www.idealing.com

Normal rates are £10 per trade but you get a surcharge of £2.50 if a limit or stop order is exercised.

These are my preffered broker for tax free accounts.

JonnyT

 

[eXor]

Say my entry point is 71.2p and my exit point is 68.2 p. The ask hits 71.2p while I'm watching and I immediately place a buy order at that price. Then it goes wrong and when the bid hits 68.2p, I immediately place a sell order at that price.

Are stop loss and limit orders really neccessary if I'm around to keep an eye on the price? Of course if their website and telephone back up go down simultaneously it would be bad

I mean even with a stop loss order, the price is not guaranteed.

I'll check out idealing but I'm not really keen to switch after I've just signed up with imiweb. The process is so lengthy and even in this age of online banking, with Idealing you have to send a cheque and there's a minimum deposit. They must be racking up a ton of interest from customer's deposits.

 

[fillyerboots]

Exor, you can trade between the spread on the UK market with Interactive Brokers www.interactivebrokers.co.uk ( assuming that the bid offer is wide enough )

This outfit are direct access and you can join the bid, offer etc..

Don't know if many people use them for UK but they are big in Futures.

I think they are pretty cheap in UK 0.1% but may start to be dearer for larger size orders ( no maximum comm )