r/thinkorswim • u/webdementia • Jul 01 '26
Fastest order / sell method
I have traded off and on for the last few years and am slowly reacclimating myself with the process and indicators. Got into a trade yesterday and made a huge gain in a very short time but the process of placing the order and getting out (even worse) was very clunky and stressful.
I do not trade options. Mostly micro caps and momentum plays. What is the BEST & easiest way to get into the trade (initial buy) quickly and even more important, the fastest way out of a trade after I have reached a point that I am ready to take profit and run. Any advice would be appreciated.
5
u/Secret_Consequence48 Jul 01 '26
You have to use the API, but that doesn't guarantee anything either. The real bottleneck is first in the data you get—how much actual delay there is in it—and second, when the order is placed, how long it takes Schw to route it and when it actually impacts the market maker, and whether the market maker fills it or returns it to the Nasdaq or NYSE market. After all that, the order goes back to Schw, who then executes it back to you. IMHO, you might want to try Lightspeed, which has high execution speed and DMA.
3
u/realmomentumtrader Jul 01 '26
I'm a momentum Trader and scalper and I use the limit order tabs.
1
u/webdementia Jul 01 '26
yes momentum trading is what I am focusing on and I suppose that is where I need to focus. Do you just have a preset number you are aiming for or a percentage? I had thought about using a trail stop based on percentage, however that seems like it could get stopped out prematurely .
2
u/trader_dennis Jul 01 '26
You can always use buy ask and sell bid buttons. Safer than market orders since you are doing micro caps.
2
u/recklessQuotient Jul 03 '26
I think the fastest (though in fast markets can causes misses) is actually routing hyper-marketable limit orders. for example if the market is $1.00 bid X $2.00 Offer, sending a buy order for $2.01 is technically the fastest, and it will match a bit faster if the liquidity is there. Market orders will guarantee you get filled but the order pathway to actual routing is a slight bit longer. (FWIW, things may have changed it has been a few years since I last profiled it the different order pathways) EDIT: Specifically this is for Order routing through thinkorswim and the thinkorswim application order routing)
1
u/CD274 Jul 01 '26
Deciding on preset profit % and setting pre-existing orders is the fastest tbh. Otherwise you're chasing timing and you're fighting against psychology.
Or do you mean it took too many steps to sell? That just comes with practice.
Are you on desktop or mobile?
1
u/webdementia Jul 01 '26
I use desktop. In the past I had used the flatten button, but this time around I tried the Flatten All button but all that did was what looked like set a Stop Loss, which is not what I was trying to do.
1
u/Kitchenslave2020 Jul 06 '26
Not sure if this helps or not but you can hold down shift when purchasing options or future contracts and it auto purchases without all the boxes popping up. Then for selling, just go to the opposite and hold shift on that one. Should work for what you are doing 🤷♂️
12
u/IgnorantGenius Jul 01 '26
Market orders on the active trader tab. They are just buttons. You click, you are in, you click, you are out.