TD Webbroker.ca did not execute my limit sell order even though my stock went .02 over limit

Question

On March 18th 1 AM I placed a simple limit sell order without constraints at $94.64 for 2000 shares of a NYSE listed refinery stock.

The daily high went through $94.64 and into $94.66 – .02 above my sell price on volume of 3,029,500.

My order wasn't executed and my would have been profitable sell from a stock purchased earlier in the week dropped below my cost that same day.

The stock went through my limit sell order price points of 94.64, 94.65 and into 94.66 then back down to 94.65 and back down through 94.64 (around 1:28:24 ) – all without being filled. Can someone explain how this could happen with daily volume of 3,029,500?

Now my account is in a sizeable loss position. All of my TD Webbroker orders default to partial execution when ever possible. I would have needed to: Check here for "All or none (optional)" But not a single share was sold.
I am very disappointed that TD Waterhouse did not fill my limit sell order which was .02 BELOW the fill price - and gets away with it scott free!

TD Webbroker.ca advertises that they have a regulatory obligation to diligently pursue execution. TD help line staff answered me “if the price goes to .2cents above the sell price you set in your limit order, TD will sell the stock for you.” I spent hours on the phone without resolution, the line went dead once and a good chunk of that time spent trying to convince them that the price went above $94.50.

TD Webbroker.ca online system was down for 2 days, we were unable to log on so I wonder if another possible system failure was responsible for this.

TD Bank Group's (TD) Ombudsman won't act unless I get written response from management but contact people at TD management refuse to respond to my problem in writing by email.

What, if any, recourse might I have?

Answer 1

TD will only sell the stock for you if there's a buyer. There was a buyer, for at least one transaction of at least one stock at 96.66. But who said there were more? Obviously, the stocks later fell, i.e.: there were not that many buyers as there were sellers.

What I'm saying is that once the stock passed/reached the limit, the order becomes an active order. But it doesn't become the only active order. It is added to the list, and to the bottom of that list. Obviously, in this case, there were not enough buyers to go through the whole list and get to your order, and since it was a limit order - it would only execute with the limit price you put. Once the price went down you got out of luck.

That said, there could of course be a possibility of a system failure. But given the story of the market behavior - it just looks like you miscalculated and lost on a bet.

Answer 2

On most exchanges, if you place a limit order to sell at 94.64, you will be executed before the market can trade at a higher price. However most stocks in the US trade across several exchanges and your broker won't place your limit order on all exchanges (otherwise you could be executed several times).

The likeliest reason for wht happened to you is that your order was not on the market where those transactions were executed. Reviewing the ticks, there were only 8 transactions above your limit, all at 1:28:24, for a total 1,864 shares and all on the NYSE ARCA exchange. If your order was on a different exchange (NYSE for example) you would not have been executed. If your broker uses a smart routing system they would not have had time to route your order to ARCA in time for execution because the market traded lower straight after.

Volume at each price on that day:

Price   # trades  # shares
94.66          5     1,064
94.65          3       800
94.64          1       100
94.63          2       700

Answer 3

What happened here is pretty obvious:

You were trying to sell 2000 shares and apparently didn't mark your order to permit partial execution. While they had a buyer at 94.66 they didn't want 2000 shares. Thus your order went unfilled.