Chapter 5. Trading from Trading Pad

An additional option for direct order entry is Trading Pad trading using the Trading Pad dialog box (see Figure 5.1 on page 43).

You can do the following from this dialog box:

• View several price levels
• Place orders (including brackets) and perform additional functions with just one mouse click
• Cancel orders (including brackets) with just one mouse click
• Reverse your market position
• Trade out of your market position
• View positions and working orders
• And more.

The Trading Pad can be customized to suit your trading needs. For example, you can choose the number of price levels you wish to display.

NOTE: Scale-outs, Brackets and Trailing stops are available on the Trading Pad. See

Exits: Scale-Outs,

NOTE: You can use Trading Pad as a stand-alone application for your trading.

To open the Trading Pad dialog box:

In the Contracts table, double-click the contract name

OR

Click the  button.

The Trading Pad dialog box opens.

Figure 5.1: Trading Pad Dialog Box

The Trading Pad

The title bar of the Trading Pad dialog box displays the Contract name.

Below it, you can see the number of open positions for this contract (Pos:). To the right of the number of positions, you can set and view the number of lots being traded.

The Trading Pad table consists of 5 columns (from left to right):

Table 5.1: The Trading Pad Table

Column	Displays
w orders	Number of Buy working orders for the price that appears in the same row
Bids	Bid volume for price
Price	Current price (bold) and prices above and below it
Asks	Ask volume for price
w  orders	Number of Sell working orders for the price that appears in the same row

 

The total number of buy orders, denoted by B: appears below the Buy working orders column. The total number of sell orders, denoted by S: appears below the Sell working orders column.

If you are also running automatic strategies, you can view the total number of working orders originating in these strategies in the Trading Pad. (To indicate whether you want to display this number, see Displaying Orders from Automated Strategies).

The last price is highlighted and bold, and so is the average price of your positions (in the Real version only).

 

Various function buttons are available for your convenience. These buttons are denoted by numbered arrows on Figure 5.1. Table 5.2 below explains each button, edit box and display box.

Table 5.2: Buttons in Trading Pad and their usage

Number	Button/Box	Usage
1	Pos:	Displays number of  open positions
2	P&L	Displays P&L for contract
3	Lot size edit box	Set desired lot size here
4	Lot size buttons	Use to set lot size with one click. To customize, right click one of the buttons, set the desired lot size, and click Set.
5	Clear	Click to set lot size to 0.
6	Trade Out	Click to send a market order to cover your current market position. If you wish, you may also cancel all working orders (see  Canceling Orders on Reverse and Trade Out on page 49).
7	Buy Market	Click to buy the preset number of lots at market price.
8	Sell Market	Click to sell the preset number of lots at market price.
9	Reverse	Click to send a market order to cover your position and to enter a market position in the opposite direction (e.g. if you are 2 contracts long, clicking this button will sell 4 contracts, thereby making you 2 contracts short)
10	Tick Bid	Click to place a Buy Limit order one tick above current Bid
11	Tick Offer	Click to place a Sell Limit order one tick below current Ask
12	Join Bid	Click to place an order at current Bid
13	Join Offer	Click to place an order at current Ask
14	Cancel X (blue font)	Click to cancel all working bids
15	Cancel Y (red font)	Click to cancel all working offers
16	Cancel All	Click to cancel all working orders*
17	SM (stop market)	Click to place a Market order when the stop price is reached. (Click this button before clicking the desired stop price).
18	SL (stop limit)	Click to place a Limit order with your preset limit when the stop price is reached. (Click this button before clicking the desired stop price).
19	LIM (limit)	Click this button before clicking the desired Limit order. This button is used in case that you set MIT (Market if Touched) as your default limit order.
20	MIT (Market if Touched)	Click this button before clicking the desired MIT (Market if Touched) order. This button is used in case that you set Limit as your default limit order.
21	Up arrow	Click to show higher prices
22	Freeze (Ctrl) Center Price	In centralized mode, click to freeze ask/bids In static prices mode, click to center current price
23	Down arrow	Click to show lower prices
24	Hide App	Hide main application
25	Contract	Choose different contracts from list of available contracts in contracts grid

*  does not apply to positions opened by automated strategies

**does not apply to orders generated by automated strategies

Just like in the Buy and Sell order tickets, clicking the  button opens up a full view, which includes the Exit Strategies pane.

 

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