what to look for to knwo you'll get 'filled'?

[avidinuq]

Pretty simple question but I don't know what to look for. I think the info I need is on each stock's yahoo finance page.

I'm not putting a lot of money into the market. I'll probably only start with $100-$500 trades with a tight stop loss (either mental or auto set as a limit or market order). Some times, I might put in like $1,000-$5,000 with a tight stop loss.

I know that with pretty much any well-know big board blue chip type stock, I should get filled even with a limit order no problem asap and not have to worry about the stock suddenly going the opposite direction I want it to and thus causing me a big loss before I can get filled.

I don't have a direct access broker (I use SogoTrade), so I know my fills could be possibly really bad on certain stocks.

[azoduwez]

I am basically randomly scanning through charts looking for a pattern(s) I am willing to try. Some that come up as potential trades could be penny stocks, and others could be a well-know often-traded stock like Apple/Google/etc.

So do I look for the float? Or what? Liquid/illiquid? Volatile? And whatever it is I should look for, how do I interpret it?
thank you.

edit: sorry for the title typo, it won't let me edit it, or I don't see how.

[BandaroIcer]

to answer my own question, I would just look at the spread, the difference between the bid and the ask, some stocks can have a large spread (even if not small cap). Or look how much it varies on a 1 minute chart. Also shares available matter too but I don't know how to apply that yet but I think looking at the obvious spread will be the best indicator.

[Bennierge]

Hey! I wanted to mention volume. I'm pretty sure from your lingi, you're not new....but this is what i watch. Also, try watching for a bit before you jump in. That helps.
Stops, IMO, have hurt me more than helped.
But, again, jmo

[Bitcroka]

true, volume matters a lot. thank you