paper trading order entry window

[garysefcak]

I have the 2 page eSignal paper trading article but it doesn't answer some of my questions. I'm refreshing my memory after a long absence about trading.

Does Bid = buy/long
Ask = sell/short?

How do I enter a Limit and a Stop Order for the same trade?

Does my Stop Order take me out of the market if the market moves against me?

Do I need to cancel my Stop Order after each trade? If so, how?

Under Intergrated Trading - Do I need to close each box (click X)
after viewing it (Open Orders, Executions, etc.) Does the Portfolio box need to be closed separately after viewing it?

Any detailed training info.on this?

ole timer

[DuaneG]

Hi ole timer,

You've got the right idea. The bid is basically the highest amount that someone is willing to pay for a stock, option, future contract and so forth. The Ask price is what someone is willing to sell a particular instrument for. The difference between the two is the spread. Now..with a basic understanding of the terminology, we need to understand that most trading occurs when traders buy the ask, or sell the bid.

How do I enter a Limit and a Stop Order for the same trade?

First a little clarification...Orders are potential trades. This just means they haven't been executed and still considered in a "working" state. Trades on the other hand are simply executed orders The reason I wanted to mention this is that the stop order is fully dependant on the execution of the limit order. Once the limit order has been filled, it is now an active trade. With this trade, we now need to place a safety net under it to protect our capital. This is done with the stop. First the trade....then the stop.

Does my Stop Order take me out of the market if the market moves against me?

Yes...stop orders are designed to protect you if the market turns against your trade. Stop Market orders are ideal as they trigger and get you out immediately. Stop at limit orders are a little riskier as the price action could jump your exit price and continue to fall never getting you out of the market.

Do I need to cancel my Stop Order after each trade? If so, how?

Most brokers are beginning to implement OCO options or Order Cancels Order. This means that when your stop or profit target are met, it cancels the other side of the order completely clearing any working orders. At this point in time, eSignal Paper Trading does not support OCO's so you will need to manually cancel any stop orders you have working.

Under IntegratedTrading - Do I need to close each box (click X) after viewing it (Open Orders, Executions, etc.) Does the Portfolio box need to be closed separately after viewing it?

Actually no, the Broker Window can be left open and will track the paper trade portfolio in real time. I've included a couple of screenshots that I thought may be helpful to illustrate both the trade/stop relationship and the usefulness of the Broker Window.

The first screenshot shows the executed trade at 1235.25. We can see this in the executions tab.



In this screenshot, we can see the working order. In this case, it is a one-point stop at 1234.25. This noted under the Open Orders tab, the upper right-hand corner of the Order Ticket



While we don't currently have any video training on this aspect of eSignal, we are looking at developing some new online tutorials that should help users began to understand all of the intricacies of this feature. Thanks for the post.