# Order partially filled but closing price below my order limit



## MrBlackhill (Jun 10, 2020)

I know that orders are prioritized by lots of 100 and 1000 so if the order isn't a multiple of 100 then it's harder to fill it.

But today I placed a limit order at $2.95 for a stock and throughout the day it filled the 1000 and 100 lots over a few minutes but then there was 39 left to fill... Yes, what an odd number, why in the world would I do that... Don't ask, ha.

But during the last 30 minutes of trade, the trading price went down the $2.91 yet my remaining order for 39 at $2.95 didn't fill.

Seems odd... That means that in order to avoid breaking a buy order of a few multiples of 1000 or 100 at $2.91, it didn't take my 39 at $2.95.

Ok we're just talking about a few dollars here, but just move the decimal to the right two times. Ok even 39 at $295 vs 39 at $291 that's just a $156 difference so who cares, but anyways.

I still find it odd to be left with an open order at a higher limit price than the closing price.

But I guess it makes sense actually. Anyways.

Is there a time limit for my order to be filled completely (otherwise what happen?) or the shares that were filled are already considered mine? I set the order at GTC, so I guess if the 39 don't get filled within 3 months, something will happen.


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## like_to_retire (Oct 9, 2016)

MrBlackhill said:


> But during the last 30 minutes of trade, the trading price went down the $2.91 yet my remaining order for 39 at $2.95 didn't fill.


Mr. B - the market maker has no time for your odd lot of 39 shares and that's the long and short of it. You'll find over time that if you stick to full lots, you'll make out better overall. Many times, I've put in bids and offers of full lots that were outside the market and the market maker filled them because he it worked out for them at the time. Don't make their job more difficult and you'll be rewarded. 

ltr


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## scorpion_ca (Nov 3, 2014)

Who is your brokerage? It depends on your brokerage too.


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## MrBlackhill (Jun 10, 2020)

Questrade


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

Some broker has to try and match the odd lot at the limit price with the other side. It is not something I would do with an individual stock but have occasionally done with an ETF in my RRIF or TFSA.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

like_to_retire said:


> Mr. B - the market maker has no time for your odd lot of 39 shares and that's the long and short of it. You'll find over time that if you stick to full lots, you'll make out better overall. Many times, I've put in bids and offers of full lots that were outside the market and the market maker filled them because he it worked out for them at the time. Don't make their job more difficult and you'll be rewarded.


like_to_retire is spot on.

Board lot orders get priority. The odd lots don't even show up in the order book and they don't get posted as the "last" trade price.

I sometimes trade odd lots in my high-risk stock picking portfolio. One should always avoid trading in the first hour and last hour of the day. Look at the bid and ask price, and place your odd lot (buy) limit order somewhere in the middle, but pretty close to the ask price. *There is an art to this*, because you have to eyeball the bid / ask and see if there is enough volatility and liquidity to give you a fill slightly below the ask.

However if there does not appear to be enough liquidity, with an odd lot order you MUST meet the "ask" (or the bid if selling) and that's your best chance for getting a fill.

@MrBlackhill My broker (TD) does a very good job giving me fills on these kinds of orders. Often they get routed to the TriAct dark pool, which is a good place to get fills for odd lots.

Other brokerages, especially the bargain basement ones, might not route the orders quite as well. It's possible that Questrade does not have as good order routing as TD and the big ones. You might ask Questrade if they are capable of routing orders to TriAct - Match Now (the dark pool).

//// Example 1

Say it's CJT with bid 198.60 ask 198.70. You watch the ticker for a while and see very little activity. If you're buying an odd lot, I would just place a limit order to buy at 198.70. It's highly unlikely you would get a fill otherwise.

//// Example2

Now it's CSU with bid 2,195 ask 2,199. You watch the ticker and see quite a bit of activity, both bid/ask are moving around, shares are moving. In this case I might put a limit buy order at 2,197 at the mid point, or maybe 2,198. Then I would go get a cup of coffee... if I come back after a few minutes and there's no fill, then just buy at the asking price.


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## AMABILE (Apr 3, 2009)

Would the 39 shares be filled if you changed the limit order to a market order?


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## MrBlackhill (Jun 10, 2020)

AMABILE said:


> Would the 39 shares be filled if you changed the limit order to a market order?


How don't know what happens if I change my order, I'd have to ask the customer service. It seems like I already own the stocks which were filled except for those 39 but if I want to modify the order it seems like it would modify the entire order.


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## twa2w (Mar 5, 2016)

Yes you should own the stocks that were filled. Your order may not have been filled because all the existing sell orders may be all or nothing orders or fill or kill orders which is common if the stock is small and thinly traded. It may sit on the odd lot book for a few days or longer depending on the stock.
Your order should remain open if you set it up as good until cancelled as you indicated. This may depend on your own brokerage how long they let this sit open.


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

If you're at a commissioned broker, you will need to pay commission again on the last 39 when they trade. You might prefer to cancel the order.


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## MrBlackhill (Jun 10, 2020)

Spudd said:


> If you're at a commissioned broker, you will need to pay commission again on the last 39 when they trade. You might prefer to cancel the order.


Oh wow, you are right! That's because the partial order wasn't filled within the day? Thanks for pointing that out, the order just filled today and there's a commission, so those remaining 39 shares at $2.95 with a commission at $4.95 won't be very profitable!


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## AMABILE (Apr 3, 2009)

that's why it should be changed to a market
order on the same day just to get rid of 39 shares


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Some brokers will also let you modify the order even when it has a partial fill. What I sometimes do is leave the original order for a while to see if it fully fills. If it doesn't, I simply modify the order and change the limit price to meet the current ask (kind of like a market order).

At TD, the commission remains the same even when the order is modified *before the end of the trading day*. @MrBlackhill maybe you can try that

Note that I'm not saying cancel the order. Modify or change the order, even with a partial fill. It's a bit tricky and you might have to click through it quickly.


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