When you click Buy or Sell, the market price can move before your order reaches the execution venue. The price you see may not always be the exact price you receive.
Two important execution concepts are slippage and requotes.
What is slippage?
Slippage is the difference between the price you expected and the price where your order was filled.
Slippage can happen because prices move quickly, especially during news, market open, low liquidity, or high volatility.
Slippage can be:
- Negative slippage: Your order fills at a worse price than expected.
- Positive slippage: Your order fills at a better price than expected.
What is a requote?
A requote happens when a broker cannot execute at the requested price and instead pauses the order to show a new price. You then need to accept or reject the new quote before the trade is placed.
Requotes are often associated with instant execution models or slower dealing setups.
How TabTrade handles execution
TabTrade uses market execution. That means orders are sent to be filled at the next available market price, rather than pausing for a manual requote.
This approach removes requote pop-ups, but it does not remove slippage. In fast markets, the next available price can still be better or worse than the price visible when you clicked.
How to manage slippage risk
- Avoid placing market orders during major news if you do not want event volatility.
- Use limit orders when you need a specific entry price.
- Use stop-loss orders, while understanding that stops can slip in gapping markets.
- Check maximum deviation settings in MetaTrader 5 where applicable.
- Use stable internet and avoid trading from unreliable connections.
- Consider VPS hosting for automated strategies that need consistent connectivity.
Slippage is a normal part of real market execution. The goal is to understand when it is more likely and size trades accordingly.