The Snap to Midpoint order works with US stocks, options, and futures. The original order price is determined by the current bid\/ask midpoint plus or minus the offset. A sell order price is calculated by adding the offset to the bid\/ask midpoint and a buy order price is calculated by subtracting the offset from the bid\/ask midpoint. While this is similar to a pegged order it doesn\u2019t continue to peg as the price moves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Snap to Midpoint order type can be useful on stocks where the bid\/ask spread is wide. Instead of just entering a market order you can submit the trade using the Snap to Midpoint order type and potentially get a better fill somewhere in between the spread, using the offset amount to determine precisely how aggressive you want the order to be without hitting bid or ask prices. Adjust the offset amount to determine just how aggressive you want the order to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The order panel in IBKR Desktop can be populated by either clicking on a symbol in the Portfolio or Watchlist screens or typing in a symbol in the search bar. Once the symbol is selected the investor can click \u201cBuy\u201d or \u201cSell\u201d to create an order window. In this example the investor chooses to create a \u201cBuy\u201d order and can select the quantity, please note that the Snap to Midpoint Order type is not available for fractional shares. Directly below are three order types; Limit, Market, and Stop. To access the Snap to Midpoint order type the investor clicks on \u201cStop\u201d and scrolls down in the drop-down box to \u201cSnap to Midpoint\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The investor then enters an offset amount which computes the active limit price as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sell order price<\/strong> = Midpoint of the Bid\/Ask price + offset amount Next the investor selects the Time-in-force by clicking on the box. They can select Day or Good \u2018Till Cancelled, known as GTC. For more information on these terms please see the IBKR Traders\u2019 Glossary. The investor can also select whether to have the order active outside regular trading hours by checking the box below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the investor is satisfied with the order inputs they can either click on \u201cPreview\u201d to see a breakdown of the order as well as its effect on margin, \u201cSave\u201d to save the order to be transmitted later, or \u201cTransmit\u201d to send the order. The investor chooses \u201cSubmit Buy Order\u201d and the Order Confirmation window appears. Once satisfied they click \u201cTransmit\u201d to send the order. Once sent if not filled, the investor can view trades, modify the order, cancel order from the Order Confirmation screen. If the investor clicks on the three dots next to Cancel order they can Pause execution, Duplicate the order, or create the opposite order ticket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Snap to Midpoint order type allows the investor to send an order to trade between the spread using the midpoint of the bid\/ask price as reference point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this lesson, we\u2019ll define the objective of the Snap to Midpoint order type and show the investor how to create a Snap to Midpoint order in IBKR Desktop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1134,"featured_media":223953,"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"contributors-categories":[13576],"traders-academy":[13125,13128,13132],"class_list":{"0":"post-223789","1":"trading-lessons","2":"type-trading-lessons","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"contributors-categories-interactive-brokers","7":"traders-academy-beginner-trading","8":"traders-academy-level","9":"traders-academy-trading-lesson"},"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Buy order price<\/strong> = Midpoint of the Bid\/Ask price – offset amount<\/p>\n\n\n\nSubmitting a Snap to Midpoint order in IBKR Desktop<\/h3>\n\n\n\n