Did you get "off quotes"? Nothing exceptional in forex

Most of you must have had the experience that when your order was about to be executed, you were notified that the trade could not be executed (off quotes). Although this can be somewhat annoying for some traders, it is a fairly common part of trading in a market like forex.

Many traders choose to trade on forex for the reason that it is the most liquid market and is traded virtually continuously. Then, when they get a message "off quotes" at the opening of a trade and the trade could not be executed at the price they wanted, they are surprised because they do not expect it in such a liquid market.

In reality, however, this is a common occurrence, even when there is enough liquidity in the market. While Forex is the most liquid market in the world, it is also a relatively volatile environment where large price movements can occur in a short period of time. Thus, every trader should be prepared for the fact that when placing a trade, it may be impossible to execute the trade at his desired price.

Why is this happening?

There are several reasons why a trader gets a message "off-quotes".

Volatility

As we have already mentioned, volatility can spike to extreme levels in forex. When the price moves rapidly in one direction or the other over a short period of time, it is not uncommon for a trader to find no counterparty at that price. Increases in volatility can occur for a variety of reasons.

It often occurs when important macroeconomic news are published. Large players who supply ample liquidity to the market may change their positions by leaps and bounds at the time of the publication of macro data, and you simply will not find a counterparty at the price you have entered on your platform.

Liquidity issues

Liquidity shortages can also occur in other cases, for example when an unexpected event comes up. In such a case, liquidity can literally disappear from the market, as happened, for example, in January 2015 when the Swiss National Bank decided to no longer maintain the minimum exchange rate of 1.20 francs per euro.

Trading hours and holidays

Your trade may also not be executed if you are trying to trade at a time that is unusual for the currency pair or other instruments and not normally traded in the markets. You should also be careful, for example, when rollovers are taking place.

Internet connection

It is not uncommon for your trade to not be executed due to a poor internet connection. A slow connection might be one of the reasons why the execution of your order is delayed. Your trading platform simply cannot connect to the market in a short enough time, and your trade might not be executed.

Requotes

The worst off are those Traders, who use the services of brokers like Market Maker. This is because such a broker may deliberately prevent the client from executing the trade, offering a different, less favourable prices and thus penalizing the Trader. Fortunately, FTMO clients do not have to worry about such a scenario because FTMO provides its clients with actual market quotes from liquidity providers.

Technical issues

In exceptional cases, you as a trader may not be able to execute a trade due to technical problems on the brokerage company's server. In such cases, you need to contact client support, who can help you solve the problem. Here we must point out that in the above cases, we cannot help our clients in any way, as these are factors beyond FTMO's control.

How to prevent this from happening?

The key to avoiding a similar problem is to follow a few basic rules. It is a good idea to pay attention to the publication of important macroeconomic news. An economic calendar is useful for this, with clearly marked news that can have a big impact on market volatility.

It is a good idea to trade at times when there is sufficient liquidity on a given instrument or currency pair. At the same time, it is not recommended to trade during holiday periods or during market rollover.

Choosing an established and reliable company to use for trading is very important. Also make sure that your internet connection is stable and fast enough. Last but not least, it is a good idea to stay patient and not try to make big money on fast markets at any cost. There are plenty of trading opportunities in forex every day that are worth waiting for. Trade safely!