success622, I had buy and sell orders "skipped over" several months ago, so I emailed my Broker, TD Ameritrade, and this was their response, FWIW:
"With a limit order you will want to keep in mind that you are only guaranteed
to receive your price or better, not a fill. Fills are directly related to how
many orders and shares are in front of your order, and how many shares are
available at each price. Consequently, your order may not fill even if your
limit price is reached.
The security you are inquiring about is listed on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin
Board (OTCBB). One of the most common mistakes made when trading stocks listed
on the OTCBB is equating the rules of trading listed stocks (i.e. NYSE, AMEX,
etc.) with the way orders are executed by OTCBB market makers. Those stocks
listed with an exchange trade in an environment that brings buyers and sellers
together so that investors primarily trade with other investors in that type of
market. However, stocks listed on the OTCBB are handled differently. With
OTCBB securities, all trades involve a market maker. The market maker usually
buys from the seller and sells to the buyer.
OTCBB securities do have "Limit Order Protection" rules in place, but that only
guarantees that the market maker holding your order cannot trade ahead of you.
It does not require the market maker to "reflect" your order to the rest of the
market, and it does not prevent a different market maker from trading at or
through your price. There may be times when the market maker holding your order
will "match" your trade with another investor, but this is done based on
opportunity only. Therefore, there are many times when you see trades above and
below your price and you still are not due a fill.
With this in mind, looking at the high, the low, or the closing price of the day
does not always provide an accurate representation as to whether your order was
due a fill. Generally speaking, the best way to tell if you are due a fill is
if your price was reached on the Ask on buy orders or the Bid on sell orders."
