A Reply From Scottrade

Yesterday I got an email reply from a Scottrade representative explaining their side regarding what have happened to my REDF buy stop order. In the spirit of transparency I'm publishing their email so you have the opportunity to read their explanation.  Names have been omitted for privacy.

Dear :

Thank you for your e-mail. We have reviewed the order in your *****0 account and determined that the order was filled appropriately. On 6/3/09, you submitted a buy stop order for 300 shares of REDF, with a stop price of $3.75, good for the day, at 01:00:19 ET (Order ID # XADED2E).

Please note that a stop order can be triggered if the Bid or Ask price reaches the stated stop price. It is not required that the security actually trade at the stated stop price for the order to trigger.

As shown in the Time & Sales detail below, REDF opened at 09:30:04 ET with an Ask price of $3.91. The opening Ask price triggered your stop order and it was routed to the market center as a Market buy order. The order was filled at the available price of $3.59 at that time.

Date   Time       X  Volume  Price  VWAP   Bid Bid ID   Ask Ask ID  Size Cond Corr# Seq# 
06/03  09:30:51 K   300      3.59   3.5524                                                            30692 
06/03  09:30:49                                      3.45Q        3.59Q         10x1    
06/03  09:30:47                                      3.45Q        3.60P          10x1    
06/03  09:30:14                                      3.45Q        3.61W         10x1    
06/03  09:30:13                                      3.45Q        3.62Q         10x10    
06/03  09:30:09                                      3.45Q        3.61Q          10x1    
06/03  09:30:04                                      3.45Q        3.62Q          10x10    
06/03  09:30:04                                      3.45Q        3.91P          10x15    
06/03  09:30:04 Q   110      3.45   3.4500                                            AGX          20914 

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Regards,

National Service Center, Scottrade Inc.

When this type of situation happens there's no way for a regular trader like me to see what's really going on with the price action during that particular trading time. The price 3.91 did not got printed in the price bar of the day. Nonetheless, I appreciate Scottrade's prompt reply.