FCAL bid-ask spread and liquidity

First Trust California Municipal High Income ETF
BondsFirst Trust$210m net assets0.65% fee
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As of Oct 22, 2026, FCAL’s median bid-ask spread over 30 days was 0.21%.

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Answers cite the figures on this page.

OverviewHoldingsDividendsTradingFlowsCompare

IQ Liquidity Score

2 of 6 measured · Oct 22, 2026
·
Not scored
0 · Hard to trade100 · Trades like a giant

The IQ Liquidity Score: a fixed 0 to 100 scale of trading conditions, the same anchors for every fund; 100 is the easiest to trade. It measures how cheaply and reliably the fund trades, not whether to own it. Method →

Cost to trade
0.21% median spread, 30 days to Oct 22, 2026
48.9
Capacity
Not measured · its holdings are bonds, which have no volume source here
·
Price fidelity
Not measured · 14 days of closing premium are held, under the 20 needed
·
Primary market
5 active dealers of 24; largest 77% of creations and redemptions, N-CEN to Jul 31, 2025
85.0
Bad-day behaviour
Not measured · 0 of the 10 worst days and 14 other days are held, under the 5 and 60 needed
·
Depth
Not measured · needs trade and quote data (Phase 2)
·

Cost for your order

One way, half its 30-day median spread; sizes above $10,000 are estimates
FCAL: cost for your order at each size, round trip
OrderDollarsPercentBasis
$1,000$1.050.10%spread
$10,000$110.10%spread

Spread 0.21% median, 30 days to Oct 22, 2026. Above $10,000 the cost adds an estimate of market impact that grows with the order against the holdings’ capacity; a patient limit pays less.

Premium or discount to value

Daily, 14 days to Oct 22, 2026 · the ±1% band marked
FCAL premium or discount to NAV, 14 days+1%0−1%Oct 2, 2026Oct 22, 2026
Latest close, Oct 22
0.00%
95% of days within
±0.12%
Days more than 1% from NAV
0 of 14
Widest
−0.12%, Oct 8, 2026

Close against the NAV its issuer struck the same day, from the issuer. Source: ETFIQ.

Capacity

What the holdings can absorb a day

Not measured: its holdings are bonds, which have no volume source here.

Dealers

Authorized participants · N-CEN, the year to Jul 31, 2025
Active dealers
5
of 24 authorized
Largest
77%
of creations and redemptions
One dealer
No
5 active

5 of 24 authorized participants created or redeemed FCAL shares in the year to Jul 31, 2025. From the fund’s Form N-CEN, filed Oct 10, 2025.

The active authorized participants, largest first, by share of the dollars created and redeemed: Jane Street Capital, LLC (76.6%), BofA Securities, Inc. (12.4%), Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (6.3%), Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. (3.1%), Virtu Americas LLC (1.6%). 19 more were listed and created or redeemed nothing.

How to trade FCAL

To buy or to sell, up to $100,000
Order type
Limit: midpoint + 5¢ to buy, midpoint − 5¢ to sell.At the Oct 22 close of $47.21, that’s $47.26 to buy and $47.16 to sell.
When
ETF spreads are usually widest in the first minutes after the open and the last before the close.
Watch
The premium. On 95% of days it is within ±0.12%; beyond that a buyer pays more, and a seller gets less, than the holdings are worth.
Phase 2 · drawn now, filled when trade data arrives
Spread through the dayComing with trade data

Median spread by half hour, 30 days.

Buyers against sellersComing with trade data

Share of volume at the ask against at the bid.

Retail flow, estimatedComing with trade data

Sub-penny prints as a share of volume.

Large tradesComing with trade data

Prints above $500k, count and share.

Closing auctionComing with trade data

Share of the day’s volume at the close.

Questions people ask

What is FCAL’s bid-ask spread?

0.21% of the midpoint, the median over the 30 days to Oct 22, 2026, as its issuer states it. Half of it is about 5¢ a share at the Oct 22 close.

Does FCAL trade at a premium or discount to NAV?

It closed 0.00% from its NAV on Oct 22, 2026. On 95% of the 14 days to then it was within ±0.12%, and it closed more than 1% from NAV on 0 of them.

Who is the AP for FCAL?

FCAL’s latest Form N-CEN, for the period ending Jul 31, 2025, lists 24 authorized participants (APs), and 5 created or redeemed shares. The largest were Jane Street Capital, LLC (76.6%), BofA Securities, Inc. (12.4%), Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (6.3%) of the dollars its APs created and redeemed.

Who is the LMM for FCAL?

FCAL’s lead market maker (LMM) on Nasdaq is Old Mission Capital LLC. Lead market maker per Nasdaq, as of Oct 23, 2026.

What does it cost to trade $10,000 of FCAL?

About $11 one way, 0.10%: half its 30-day median spread. In and out costs twice that.

How do I place a limit order for FCAL?

Set the limit at the midpoint + 5¢ to buy, or the midpoint − 5¢ to sell, in your broker’s quote. At the Oct 22 close of $47.21, that’s $47.26 to buy and $47.16 to sell.
Sources and dates
SpreadFirst Trust (fund page), 30-day median · to Oct 22, 2026
Premium to NAVETFIQ, close against the issuer’s NAV · Oct 2, 2026 to Oct 22, 2026
DealersForm N-CEN · the year to Jul 31, 2025
Where to next
ETF trading costs and liquidity→Cost-to-trade checker→Why low volume does not mean illiquidguide →Limit orders vs market orders for ETFsguide →How the IQ Liquidity Score is builtmethod →FCAL fund page→
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, FCAL trading: cost, capacity, premium and dealers, data as of Oct 22, 2026. https://etfiq.com/funds/fcal/trading/

Open data →

The score measures trading conditions, not the fund. ETFIQ makes no recommendations.