3 Sigma Trading - Order Types

Why was my Limit order not filled?

For most products, Futures contracts are filled using a FIFO (First in, First out) method.  

If the market traded at the price where you placed a Limit Order, but there were not enough contracts filled to reach your order, it may not be filled. 
 
Example: The ES is trading at a price of 2999.50, you place a working Buy Limit Order for one contract at 2999.00, but there are already 400 contracts at this price waiting to be filled.  Your order should go in as the 401st contract in the queue. 

  1. Price trades down to 2999.00, but only fills 350 contracts, then trades back to 2999.50 - You are not entitled to a fill.  
  2. Price trades down to 2998.75 - You should be filled at 2999.00, where your working order was, or 2998.75, a better price 


    • Related Articles

    • Why can't I see data for a specific contract/market?

      Since futures contracts trade on different exchanges, please check that you have enabled, or requested your broker to enable data for any exchange you wish to view or trade. Please also be sure to check that you are using the correct symbol, and ...
    • Stop Loss and Stop Limit Orders

      Stop Market Orders Stop market orders are placed at a specific price, and if the market price reaches the order price, the order should be triggered and executed as a market order. Market orders are filled at the best available price, which may not ...
    • Futures Offset Method (Platform vs. Statement)

      Futures Offset Method (Platform vs. Statement) Due to different offset methodologies used by the platform and the daily statements, the open position showing on your platform could differ from what shows on your statement. Platform Method First in ...
    • Can I trade Stocks or ETF's in a live account?

      Edge Clear is a Futures only firm and does not offer trading on Stocks or ETF's. You are able to view other market data using a third party data source, such as DTN IQFeed.
    • Matching Algorithms

      FIFO (First In, First Out) The FIFO algorithm uses price and time as the only criteria for filling an order. In this algorithm, all orders at the same price level are filled according to time priority; the first order at a price level is the first ...