Creating a custom step limit order for options trading

addman16

New member
Hey guys. New to the forum and I've been using TOS for a while but never got into the script side of things.

I have a unique need. I trade options that are more thinly traded and have wider bid ask spreads. On top of that I usually trade spreads not just single leg long or short calls /puts

What I end up having to do to get filed on my spreads is start at the mid price and work my way down or up. I have to do this work manually.Here's an example (simplified with a single leg)

Call 120 3/20
Bid: 3.00 x Ask: 4.00
Mid price : 3.50

So I enter my first order in with a limit price of 3.50 to go long this call. Ten seconds pass and the order hasn't filled. I cancel the order and place another limit order this time at 3.55 going up by .05 in my willingness to pay for the call basically. Another twenty seconds goes by and it's not filed so I have to manually cancel the order and enter another limit order at 3.60 and so on and so forth until I get filed.

I'm basically looking for a way to place a limit order that will start at the mid price and if it's not filed after 20 second or so then it cancels and bumps the limit price up or down by a few cents and enters in a new order and it keeps doing this until it gets filled.

Reason being that usually with wide bid ask spread you can actually counter offer the market maker who will decide to come down or up to your price. Usually it's a computer.

This kind of order can help get in our out of options trades when volatility is high esp these days
 
I believe there is an option in ToS to automatically have the slider (where you choose bid, mid, or ask) set and adjust to mid. Not sure about the timer thing. Don't know if that is possible.
 

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