The Market Depth Window is arguably the most important tool in the Direct Pro platform. Any stock can be quoted and traded from this window. The Market Depth Window window has four basic parts. They are:
Quote Bar (Level I) : Provides a detailed quote for any stock.
Market Depth (Level II Montage): Shows current market activity for the stock. News and Fundamental Data are also available here.
Order Entry Bar (or Order Entry Bar): Provides a fast and easy way to place trades.
Trade Dollar Amount : Helps you easily calculate the amount of shares you can buy or sell based on a specified dollar amount.
Ticker: Shows all executions for the stock.
The Quote Bar provides a detailed quote for any stock using real-time market data. Type in a symbol and review current prices, highs and lows, the daily open, the previous close, P&L, shares held and short availability. A prominent arrow is used to determine the legality of shorting listed and NASDAQ NMS. For listed securities, a green arrow indicates the last sale price meets SEC short sale requirements; a red arrow indicates that it does not. For OTC securities, a green arrow indicates that the bid price meets NASD short sale plus bid requirements; a red arrow indicates that it does not.
Additionally, a Financial Status Indicator is provided adjacent to the stock symbol to denote the financial status of the NASDAQ-listed stock issuers.
Several customized Quote Bar templates are provided that maximize design and functionality.
The Quote Bar can also be customized to suit individual preferences.
The Market Depth reveals the depth of the market for a chosen stock. All market participants for that stock are displayed--Bid (left) and Ask (right)--including the price, size and time executed. The "# Best" column records the number of times market makers change their bid or ask price to move to the "inside market." This function can be used to identify the most active market maker for a stock. Color tiers separate trades by price and can be customized.
After submitting a limit order to the market, a black "My Order" line will appear on the Market Depth at the price where your order entered the market. This line will remain until the order fills. Buy-side orders appear on the left of the book in green type. Sell-sides orders appear on the right of the book in red type.
News and fundamental data for the stock can be viewed by clicking the tabs provided.
The Order Entry Bar provides an convenient way to prepare orders and send them to the market. Drop-down menus provide access to order options such as Order Type, Price, Stop, Route, TIF (Time In Force) and Action (Buy, Sell, Sell Short, Buy to Open, etc).
When an equity symbol is entered into the Market Depth Window, an equities Order Entry Bar automatically loads the symbol. When an option symbol is entered, an options Order Entry Bar automatically loads the symbol.
All order entry bars provide a fast and easy way to trade currently held positions. Simply type a symbol into the symbol field. If positions are held for the stock, the "P" button beside the symbol field will activate, and the Shares/Contracts field will automatically populate.
Several customized Order Entry templates are provided to maximize design and functionality.
For information about order types, see Place An Advanced Order.
For information about actions for trading options, see About Options.
The Trade $ Amount feature, located on the Order Entry Bar, helps you easily calculate the amount of shares you can buy or sell for a given stock based on a specified dollar amount. (To learn more, see Buy a Stock or Sell a Stock).
The Ticker shows all executions in the market for a particular stock, and includes the time, number of shares traded, and exchange used. Tickers can be customized to separate transactions by category, such as trades going off "at," "above," "below," or "between" the bid or ask price, block trades and more.
The following charts are provided to help you read the exchange codes, and interpret the default color-codes displayed in ticker prints:
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