Buying US shares

[NeilKitch]

Good Morning Forum

I am relatively new to IG and joined because it offered more buying opportunities in the US than my traditional share platform which were only comfortable with me buying blue chip FTSE stock.

Last Friday i was out for a walk an needed to buy a stock when the market opened at 2.30pm. i had to use the mobile app for this. When the share became available i clicked buy entered 1000 was then asked for a limit ? then got a message to say order had been executed? When i checked back later i was puzzled to see i had purchased 638 shares? When i got home i checked my past activity an saw 4 actions all at 2.30pm for this share. The first was order sent, then order partially filled, then order deleted and finally position opened with 638 shares not the 1000 i had ordered.

Can anyone explain these actions and why only 638 shares. 

The other thing i am struggling with is being asked for a limit before i can buy shares. Why can i not just put in a quantity or total cost an purchase. 

I have tried calling the helpline but cant get through. It would be nice to know IG when you put us on hold if it will be closer to 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour or 5 hours!

[CharlotteIG]

8 hours ago, NeilKitch said:

Good Morning Forum

I am relatively new to IG and joined because it offered more buying opportunities in the US than my traditional share platform which were only comfortable with me buying blue chip FTSE stock.

Last Friday i was out for a walk an needed to buy a stock when the market opened at 2.30pm. i had to use the mobile app for this. When the share became available i clicked buy entered 1000 was then asked for a limit ? then got a message to say order had been executed? When i checked back later i was puzzled to see i had purchased 638 shares? When i got home i checked my past activity an saw 4 actions all at 2.30pm for this share. The first was order sent, then order partially filled, then order deleted and finally position opened with 638 shares not the 1000 i had ordered.

Can anyone explain these actions and why only 638 shares. 

The other thing i am struggling with is being asked for a limit before i can buy shares. Why can i not just put in a quantity or total cost an purchase. 

I have tried calling the helpline but cant get through. It would be nice to know IG when you put us on hold if it will be closer to 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour or 5 hours!

Hey @NeilKitch, 

Thanks for your first post. 

From what you've mentioned here it seems you requested a limit 'Execute & Eliminate'. When placing orders on US shares you have to chose a limit, market or stop order. You can see the difference below: 

If you chose the limit execute & eliminate option it would have bought as many shares as possible at the price you selected or better. 

You can select the day order if you want the full day to see if you can get the full amount of shares at the price you selected or better. Good til cancelled will leave the order running however if you get partially filled on different days you get charges commission each day. 

I hope this helps if you have anymore questions let me know. 

All the best

Charlotte