What order types are available?
There are two types of orders you can place through the platform – limit IOC orders and protected market IOC orders. The latter is shown in the example below.
Limit IOC orders: this is a type of limit order that requires immediate execution, either partially or entirely. If the order cannot be filled entirely at either the specified price or a better one, the remaining unfilled portion of the order is automatically cancelled.
Protected market IOC orders: this is a market order with a minimum or maximum price set by us. The purpose is to give protection against slippage. These orders work just like a limit IOC order once the order is submitted, with the upper or lower price as the limit.
As mentioned above, your order may not always be filled at the best buy and sell prices available. To offset this effect, limit orders are a good way to ensure that your order gets placed at a price you’re happy with. When the order book shifts, a limit order can help prevent your trade from getting executed at an unfavourable price, as explained in the example below.
Limit IOC order example
The hypothetical order ticket below shows a sell price of £9.80 and a buy price of £11.20. The expanded order book shows prices at various sell and buy sizes:
Sell size | Sell | Buy | Buy size |
|---|
100 | £9.80 | £11.20 | 100 |
500 | £7.90 | £12.70 | 500 |
1000 | £4.80 | £18.10 | 1000 |
Let’s imagine you were to place a limit IOC order to buy 1,000 contracts with a limit price of £19.
Then, just as you place the order, the order book shifts slightly. At the precise moment we receive your order, the order book looks like this:
Sell size | Sell | Buy | Buy size |
|---|
100 | £11.80 | £12.90 | 100 |
500 | £9.90 | £15.40 | 500 |
1000 | £6.80 | £20.10 | 1000 |
In this scenario, you would get a fill of 600 contracts bought at an average of £14.98 per contract (100 at £12.90 and 500 at £15.40 (100 * 12.90 + 500 * 15.40/600) = 14.98).
Since you set a limit of £19, the remaining, unfilled portion of your order – 400 contracts – would be cancelled, rather than be executed at the price of £20.10 per unit.
Protected market IOC order example
Now let’s look at a protected market IOC order. The intent of the “protected” aspect of the Order is that it limits the level of slippage that you may be subject to, but this is not guaranteed. As in the previous example, for 100 units the sell price is £9.80 and the buy price is £11.20. The minimum price is £4.80 and the maximum is £18.10. The expanded order book looks as follows:
Sell size | Sell | Buy | Buy size |
|---|
100 | £9.8 | £11.20 | 100 |
500 | £7.90 | £12.70 | 500 |
1000 | £4.80 | £18.10 | 1000 |
You place an order to buy 1,000 contracts, but by the time your order is submitted, the order book changes and looks as follows:
Sell size | Sell | Buy | Buy size |
|---|
100 | £11.80 | £12.9 | 100 |
500 | £9.90 | £15.40 | 500 |
1000 | £6.80 | £20.10 | 1000 |
The price set by the platform and detailed on the order ticket will be the maximum price at which any portion of the protected market IoC order will be executed. Once the order is submitted and accepted by the platform, it will convert into a limit IoC order with the maximum price as the limit price; here it’s £18.10.
As a result, your order would only be filled with the contracts available under this maximum price, which is 500 contracts at £15.40 and 100 contracts at £12.90. This means you would buy 600 contracts at an average price of £14.98 per contract, and the unfilled portion of 400 contracts would be cancelled.
{{{ SECTION-Where can I view my open positions? }}}
Where can I view my open positions?
After placing your order, you will receive an order confirmation like the one shown below.
Your open position(s) can then be viewed on the platform under ‘Options Positions’, as shown below. Here, you can monitor the live profit and loss (P&L) of all your open positions. You can close a position by selecting the red cross next to the corresponding position.
A - Expand position to show an order breakdown if you have multiple orders on the same contract
B - Instrument name
C- Expiration date
D - Strike price
E - Long/short position indicator
F - Option type (put/call)
G - Number of contracts
H - The average entry price of your aggregate position for this specific instrument
I - Premium amount
J - Margin of position
K - Total P&L
L - Open an order ticket to sell
M - Open an order ticket to buy
N - Close position
