What Is Slippage?
Slippage is when your trade fills at a different price than expected — often worse. It’s a common issue in fast-moving futures markets.
For example, if your strategy says to buy Nasdaq futures (NQ) at 17,900, but your order actually fills at 17,905, that 5-point difference can cost you over $100 especially if you’re trading multiple contracts.
This kind of price slip adds up quickly and can hurt performance even if your strategy is solid.
Why Does Slippage Happen?
Most slippage comes from one thing: market orders.
A market order means “buy or sell immediately at the best available price.” But in volatile markets like NQ, MNQ, or ES, that “best price” can change in milliseconds.
And if you’re sending automated trades from TradingView to Tradovate or Rithmic through PickMyTrade, even a small delay in alert processing can mean entering at a worse price than you intended.
The Solution: Use Limit Orders
Limit orders put you in control of your price.
Instead of saying “buy now,” a limit order says “buy only at this price or better.” If the market doesn’t reach your price, the order simply waits.
This helps reduce slippage because it forces the trade to execute only on your terms.
Why Futures Traders Should Care
In futures trading, each point matters. On MNQ (Micro Nasdaq), a 5-point slippage on 2 contracts equals $50 lost. Do that across 10 trades, and you’ve given up $500 not from strategy failure, but just from bad execution.
By switching to limit orders, you can avoid this unnecessary cost and make your automation far more reliable.
How PickMyTrade Helps
PickMyTrade connects your TradingView alerts to live trades on Tradovate or Rithmic, enabling precise and automated execution of your futures strategies.
To help reduce slippage, you can:
- Send limit orders by setting
"order_type": "limit"in your TradingView alert message - Specify your entry price using TradingView variables like
{{close}}or a fixed number
By using limit orders, your trade will only execute if the market reaches your defined price helping you avoid unexpected fills and maintain better control over your strategy’s performance.
This approach is especially useful when automating strategies in fast-moving markets, where price precision can directly impact your profitability.
Final Thoughts
Automating your strategy doesn’t mean sacrificing execution quality. With PickMyTrade, you can retain control over entry price by using limit orders—helping reduce slippage and keep your trades aligned with your intended strategy.
If you’re sending trades from TradingView into Tradovate or Rithmic, incorporating limit orders can lead to more consistent results in volatile markets.
Define your price. Automate with precision. Let PickMyTrade handle the execution.
