Hit stop-loss:
Six MHGK5 contracts sold at a price of 3088.8.

I made a blunder. On the order tab in the IBKR app, there is a toggle for “Outside RTH”. When enabled, this means the order will be executed during and outside regular trading hours.

The futures markets trade round-the-clock 24/5, except for one daily hour of maintenance by the exchange. Hence, there should be no regular or non-regular trading hours to speak of. It isn’t clear how IBKR defines the trading period.

Because I did not activate this setting, my stop-loss order was not filled when the gold future price nosedived during early morning Eastern Time.

I was reviewing the positions when I caught this anomaly. I immediately sold the position, as dictated by my trading plan. Luckily, the fill price was not far from my stop-loss price. I got away with a loss of a couple of hundred bucks more than intended.

I now know better.

Checklist:
Was it a planned trade? Yes.
Did I stick by my rules? Yes.
Am I back to a calm state? Yes.

Mind reset… Done. On to the next trade.

TMT