When you are trading Forex, you are going to come across the term “requote” sooner or later. While it isn’t all that common, it can happen and you should be aware of what it means, why you should try to avoid requotes, and why.
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What is a requote?
A requote in the Forex world means that the broker you are dealing with is not able or willing to give you a trade based upon the price you entered. Generally this happens in a fast-moving market, usually around the time of a big news announcement or some kind of shock to the system. In essence, you decide to buy or sell a currency pair at a particular price and press the button to execute the trade. By the time your broker gets the order, the market will have moved too fast to execute at the price advertised. The requote announcement comes up on your platform letting you know price has moved, and gives you the opportunity to decide whether or not you are willing to accept that price. It is almost always a price that is worse than the one you ordered. This is why reputable brokers ask you first, before executing the trade. Generally requotes are bad for you and good for the broker. It is not always an outward attempt to charge you more, but it can be. Most of the time requotes happen on very large trades, not to an average trader. The more direct your trading is, the less likely you will receive a requote. Individual traders usually use small brokers, those brokers serve as proxies for larger brokerages, which means the orders take more time to get from the trader to the actual sale, which can create the need for requotes. If your broker cannot execute the order immediately, there can be significant variations in price, even in the space of one minute. Brokers that do not execute orders immediately are called market makers. They will often have a “market” or “please wait” indicator on the buttons for buying and selling on your screen. Market makers should in theory provide requotes in both directions, positive and negative but this rarely happens. Instead, most cases of requotes are at the trader’s expense, which is another reason traders should remain on alert and should strongly consider whether they want to use a market maker.
If, when you received a requote, it was explained that there was a price change between when the order was made and when the server received it, perhaps it would make traders less uncomfortable or suspicious of their brokers. Requotes are a part of any Forex trading experience, so you can expect to encounter them occasionally. When requotes happen in quiet markets and occur regularly, then it becomes a matter of concern. If you are upset by requotes and they happen often, it might be a reason to switch brokers. You can then begin to search for a no requote Forex broker. It is strongly suggested to use an ECN brokerage to avoid a time lag that might cause requotes. If your broker has an electronic communications network (ECN) trades will reach the servers quicker which will reduce requotes dramatically.
What causes Forex requotes?
As mentioned above, the markets are normally moving very quickly, but they can move even more dramatically when news is announced. This makes it very difficult for the broker to place the order at the price you request. The broker you are dealing with has their own brokers that they deal with. The liquidity pool, or broker’s brokers, can pull orders, raise the prices, or even simply refuse to acknowledge anything if they want to. Your broker finds that the available price isn’t the one you asked for – and it warns you that you are going to get a worse fill than you wanted. Some markets are much more prone to requotes than others. These markets are more volatile and have rapid price fluctuation.
Since a requote means that your broker cannot provide the trade at the price they originally quoted, it is important to determine the reason. If the reason for your requote is that the specific market is volatile and there was a news announcement that affected this already volatile market, it is much more justifiable than if the reason for your requote is that your broker neglected to put in the order when you made it. Technology can help reduce the time lag that can cause requotes as well so make sure your broker has the most up to date technology possible.
How to protect yourself from a requote
With a solid Forex broker, it’s easy to protect yourself from a requote. By placing a limit order, you are telling your broker that you are only willing to place an order at a specific price or better. By doing this, you are telling them ahead of time that you are not willing to pay more for the trade than this specific price, and that you are willing to sit out on the trade if it can’t be done in these parameters.
You can set a minimum profit level, called a take profit level (also referred to as a TP) guaranteeing you the profit level you are looking for even if the price varies. You can use these to gain an even higher profit margin than your original market order. Knowing exactly what you expect the currency you hold to do is extremely helpful in setting these TP levels.
Stop losses can be set before the trade as well. There are different varieties of stop loss orders and you can use the one that best suits your approach to trading and risk management. Automated stop loss orders can be less efficient but they are an option to consider. These can help to prevent requoting but will make it possible for a trader to be stop hunting which is part of the risk.
If you are using MT4 you might be able to check a box that allows you to “enable maximum deviation from quoted price”. This is a way to prevent requotes but you are risking losing the trade if it deviates more than you chose but still would be a worthwhile trade.
It is quite common to find requotes during the Non-Farm Payroll report . When this report is released on the first Friday of the month, it is one of the largest movements you will see in the Forex market. If the report deviates from the expectations, it makes the Forex market very volatile. These changes make it much more likely to receive a requote from the average Forex broker. Give your broker a break – every broker is swamped at times like these. Avoiding trading at times like these can help you to avoid Forex broker requotes. Major regulators are also doing their best to prevent market maker brokers that use requotes as a technique to take advantage of the trader. If traders are concerned that there is a scam going on in the form of requotes its best to inform the authorities who can closely monitor the issue. The best market makers manage to limit the number and frequency of requotes even though they are dealing in the more volatile areas of the Forex market. They can be connected to the most advanced technology and liquidity providers possible. As long as your broker is preventing the requotes as much as they can, you can give them the benefit of the doubt and continue trading with confidence.