‘Latency’ meaning in trading
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Hi, newbie here trying to wrap my head around the whole ‘latency’ thing. I’ve done some Googling (shoutout to the rabbit holes of the internet), and from what I gather, latency is basically the time it takes for my trading order to get from me to the broker’s server and back. Sounds simple (ish), but apparently, it’s a huge deal for day traders, especially if you’re trying to catch fast-moving action.
So now I’m sitting here wondering… why is it so important? Like, does a tiny delay of a millisecond or two really make THAT much of a difference unless you’re some hedge fund with bots?
Also, how do I even go about finding a broker with ‘low latency’? Is it something brokers advertise, or do I need to dig through reviews or ask them outright?
Appreciate the help!