1. Overview Video
2. Video Timeline
3. Video Takeaways
4. Layout Overview
5. Order Settings
6. Watchlist
7. Watchlist Control
8. Channel
9. Symbol Detail

Overview Video

Video Timeline

00:05 - Layout overview
00:50 - Setting up a futures trade and order routing
02:31 - Adjusting the price of a working order
03:31 - Viewing symbol/underlying details
04:01 - Getting filled and position details
04:45 - Flattening and closing open positions
05:48 - Setting up a Stop-Market order
06:49 - Setting up a Stop-Limit order
07:18 - Using market orders with the SAFETY ON
07:44 - Using order settings
08:20 - Trading with the SAFETY OFF

Video Takeaways

• Only outright futures, stock/ETF shares can be traded on the Active Trader Interface. 
• If you have more than one account then please make sure you are routing trades in the correct account. To learn how to set select your default account then please click here.
• The platform defaults to the active month, or the front month, To trade a back month contract, please enter the month and year code into the symbol at the top of the platform and click the bid or ask to populate the symbol into the Active Trader Interface.
• Please be aware of the potential advantages and disadvantages when using stop-market or stop-limit orders. To learn more, please click here.
• Please be familiar with the platform and the Active Trader Interface when considering turning the Safety Off.

If you’re having trouble viewing the videos in full-screen or prefer viewing the videos on YouTube instead, then please click here. The timeline can also be found in the video’s description and clicking the time marker will jump to that place in time.

Layout Overview

Welcome to the Active Trader Interface where you can get your ding on (platform fill sound). This interface is built for the active trader in mind. Sending and revising orders is lightning quick with the Active Trader Interface. Let’s take a look at the five areas within the Active Trader Interface.

Order Settings

Located along the left-hand side of Active Trader are your order settings. Within this column, you’ll have access to (from top to bottom) Safety, Order Type (TYPE), Time-In-Force (TIF), Quantity Tick (QTY TK), Price Tick (PR TK), and Price Offset (PR OFF). 

These order settings dictate how orders will be sent from the interface and offer you flexibility when entering and editing working orders. 

Safety

The safety can either be ON or OFF. Active Trader defaults to “Safety ON.” It is indicated by being illuminated in blue. When the safety is ON you will have the opportunity to review your order within the watchlist before you push send.

Much like how our parents sat us down when they handed you the keys to the car for the first time, we have to talk about the “Safety Off” feature. We HIGHLY ENCOURAGE you to be well aware of your surroundings within the Active Trader. In other words–you want to know what you’re doing. The first time you turn the safety OFF you receive a “Disclaimer Acceptance” notification. 

The safety is off when illuminated in red like this: . A “Safety Off” warning will display in the top portion of the Channel. You will also notice that Order Type and Price Offset is outlined in red. The order type will switch to Limit (LMT), and the Price Offset will change to 0.05 as well.

You must manually switch the order type if you want a market (MKT) order. Clicking on a bid or ask in or out of the Active Trader Interface will fill an order immediately when using market orders.

The “Safety Off” feature is purpose-built for active traders. Please familiarize yourself with the Active Trader Interface and the overall functionality of the platform before switching the safety off.

 *PLEASE NOTE: Clicking on the bid or the ask on a watchlist or quote that is OUTSIDE of the Active Trader Interface when the safety is OFF will create a LIVE order to SELL or to BUY, respectively, based on your Order Settings.

Order Type (TYPE)

• Limit

• Stop-Limit
• Stop-Market
• Market

Time-In-Force (TIF)

• Day

• GTC
• GTD
• EXT

Quantity Tick (QTY TK)

You can set your increment amount for order quantity when entering orders via the Active Trader. You have the choice of four different sized round lots (divisible by 100).

• 100
• 200
• 500
• 1000

Price Tick (PR TK)

There are seven different price tick selections to help you with pricing increments. Each PR TK selection means that each time you edit the price, it will move the order price in the selected increment from the last bid (selling) or ask (buying).

• .01
• .05
• .25
• 1.00
• 2.00
• 5.00
• 10.00

Price Offset (PR OFF)

There are eight different price offset settings you can choose from when placing orders. Selecting an offset will create an order that is above (ask) or below (bid) the offset selection. For example, if you have your offset at $1.00 and you want to sell a stock that currently has an ask of $100, then it will create an order that is $1 above the ask, or $101.

• .00 (will hit the bid or ask immediately)
• .01
• .05
• .25
• 1.00
• 2.00
• 5.00
• 10.00

Watchlist

Active Trader gives you the ability to trade from pre-loaded and custom watchlists on your platform. Within this area, you’ll be able to trade directly from your portfolio using the Positions watchlist and any pre-populated watchlists curated by tastylive. 

Within each watchlist inside Active Trader, there are seven columns as illustrated below (from left to right).

1. Symbol
2. Position/Working Order (POS/WRK). Open positions will be in blue and working orders will be in yellow. Symbols with working orders will have larger rows.
3. Basis
4. Change in price (CHG)
5. Bid (SELL) - Clicking the bid will create a selling order.
6. Ask (BUY) - Clicking the ask will create a buying order.
7. Edit - As illustrated with AAPL below, this will allow you adjust the price of any working order by clicking the up or down arrow. To cancel an order just click the 'X.' Lastly, clicking the arrow pointing down to a bar  will cancel all working orders and flatten the position, or completely close out of the selected position.

Watchlist Control

Located above the watchlist is a drop-down menu where you can select a different watchlist. You have the choice of viewing built-in watchlists, a watchlist of your positions, and custom watchlists. There is also a filter to help you view working orders only (W ONLY). The animation immediately below goes over the overall functionality of the watchlist control.

Detailed view

Overall view of functionality

Additionally, if you are viewing a custom watchlist and want to quickly add a symbol, then you can input it within Active Trader by using the Quick Add feature. The Quick Add feature will ONLY appear on custom watchlists. This will not appear on pre-loaded watchlists, such as “tastylive stocks.” In the screenshot below, the Quick Add feature is displayed when a custom watchlist, titled “Black Gold,” is selected.

Detailed view

Looking to trade a stock or future that isn't listed on a watchlist? All you need to do is type in the symbol in the symbol field at the top of the platform, then click the BID (sell) or ASK (buy). After clicking BID or SELL the underlying will populate into the displayed watchlist where it can be traded within the Active Trader Interface. The populated underlying will disappear when you select a different watchlist.

Channel

The Channel makes placing, editing, and canceling orders easy and intuitive with Active Trader. Bid and ask spreads are now visualized along the channel, as pictured on the right. Also, placing and editing orders inside Active Trader are as simple as moving a slider up or down.

Placing an Order

The logic of clicking on ASK to buy and clicking on BID to sell also extends to Active Trader. Order prices can be changed by manually inputting it or using the slider within the channel. The animation below demonstrates how to input an order to BUY.

Scaling into Positions

Adding multiple orders at different prices is easy as click, drag, and send. In the animation below, we are placing three different orders below the current bid to scale into this position.

Editing a Working Order

You can change the price of a working order by clicking the arrow up or down along the working order row. Each time you click the arrow up or down, which is outlined below, you will see the price change within the row and also move along the channel. When a new price is selected, it will cancel the old order and replace it with the newly adjusted order.

Channel’s most intuitive method of editing orders is by clicking and dragging the price slider up or down. In the illustration below we are adjusting the bids of a scaled order to be closer to the market. Each time a slider is moved the old order will be canceled, and the newly adjusted order will be live. The animation below illustrates this feature.

Canceling a Working Order

Any working orders will populate beneath each symbol row. If you wish to cancel a working order, then it’s just a matter of clicking the 'X.' After clicking ‘X,' the order will disappear from Active Trader and be canceled.

Setting up Stop Orders

You can also set up stop orders to protect any open positions or scale into positions. You can quickly set up stop market or stop limit orders within the channel.

To set up a stop market order click STP MKT from the order type drop-down menu in the Order Settings. A STOP price marker will appear in the channel and a market order is sent when triggered by the last price.

When setting up a stop limit order there are two components that you’ll be working with: a stop-price and limit order. To set up a stop limit order click STP LMT from the order type drop-down menu in the Order Settings. Two price markers will appear in the Channel which will allow you to set a stop price (triggered by the last price) and a limit order. When setting a stop limit order to sell, the stop price must AT or above the limit price marker. On the other hand, when setting up a stop limit order to buy, the stop price must at AT or below the limit price marker.

Adjusting the Scale of Price Hash Marks

General Electric doesn’t move like Google when it comes to price action. You can scale how wide or narrow you want to see the price hash marks within the channel. To get a better view of the price hash marks within the channel all you need to do is place your cursor over the channel, press and hold CTRL (PC) or ⌘ (Mac) on your keyboard, and scroll up or down using the scroll wheel on a mouse or scrolling gesture on a touchpad.

Fine-tune Price Adjustments

Sometimes prices can move, and fine-tuned price adjustments (±$0.01) are needed. If you do not have the most expanded price scale displayed inside your channel, then any price adjustments made with the price slider will not be penny-wide ($0.01) ticks. In situations where your price scale is not fully expanded then you can override the non-penny tick with a simple shortcut. During order entry or order edits, press and hold the shift key on your keyboard and click and drag the price slider. 

The animation below depicts when the channel’s scale only allows moving in nickel ($0.05) price ticks and how using the fine-tune price adjuster reduces any adjustments to penny ($0.01) ticks.

Symbol Detail

Any symbol selected inside the watchlist will populate the (from top to bottom) last price, change in price ($), percentage change (%), and the tick size.

If you have an open position on the underlying, then you will see which account the position is open under indicated by the colored dot, P/L Open, and P/L Day. You also will have the ability to flatten your order. 

By clicking the chain link icon , located to the right of the symbol, it will link the active symbol listed in the active trader to the rest of the platform, just like when you click a symbol in a watchlist. When enabled the chain link is illuminated blue, and when disabled it is white.