Place an Equity Order

 

The Place Equity Order page was designed to help you quickly and efficiently place a stock order. You can Buy, Sell and Short Sell stock, and choose from a number of advanced order types including: Market, Limit, Stop Market, Stop Limit. You can also control the Time In Force (TIF) of your order (Day, GTC, Day+, GTC+). Market orders are usually executed in less than a second.

 

Open Orders, currently held Positions and account Balances can be viewed at the bottom of the page.

 

To buy a stock, you must first have funds on deposit. To buy on margin, you must complete and return the margin account agreements. You can increase your buying power by depositing additional funds or by depositing a security to be sold or used as collateral to buy on margin. Only margin eligible securities can increase buying power.

 

Place a Buy, Sell or Sell Short Equity Order

  1. Select Place Equity Order from the Trade drop-down menu.
  2. Click the "Buy", "Sell" or "Sell Short" button.
  3. Enter the quantity of shares you wish to trade and the security symbol.
    The entry can be read left to right, for example, "Buy 100 shares of QQQQ at Market".
  4. Select the type of order you wish to place from the "Order Type" drop-down menu (Market, Limit, Stop Market, Stop Limit)
    See Advanced Order Options for details.
  5. Set a Stop or Limit price if necessary.
    See Advanced Order Options for details.
  6. Select the Time In Force (TIF) for the order (DAY, GTC, DAY+, GTC+))
    See Set "Time In Force" for information on these fields.
  7. Click "Send" to enter your pending transaction.
  8. An Order Verification page will pop up. Click "Place Order" to place the order and close the window.
    "Change Order" and "Cancel Order" options are also available on this page. 



  9. An Order Acknowledgement page will appear to confirm your order.

Available Actions

The following actions are available on this page:

 

Click "Customize" -- Allows you to select a default "Watch List" and Index.

Click on a symbol -- Generates a detailed quote.

Click "Detail" -- Generates a detailed quote.

Click "Trade" -- Brings up a trading page and fills it with the stock symbol.

Click "Charts" -- Generates an Intraday Chart for the symbol.

Click "News" -- Brings up news headlines for the symbol.

Click "Chain" -- Generates a list of available options and quotes for those options.

Understanding the Data Fields

BALANCES
Account Equity The sum of Securities Value and Cash in your account.
Securities Value The Current Market Value (CMV) of all positions you currently hold.
Cash The cash or cash equivalent in your account available for trades. Funds must be settled before withdrawal.
Margin Reqmnts Minimum amount that a client must deposit in the form of cash or eligible securities in a margin account as spelled out in Regulation T of the Federal Reserve Board.
Daytrader Buying Power (DTBP) The amount available at the present to purchase additional securities. It is roughly 4-times your Excess Equity.
Excess Equity Uncommitted reserve equity. EE equals your Account Equity balance minus your Margin Requirement balance.

 

POSITIONS
Type "1" indicates a non-marginable cash purchase;
"2" indicates that the purchase was made in a margin account;
"3" indicates a short sale;
"S" indicates a straddle.
Symbol The publically traded company's registered stock symbol.
Last The price of the most recently executed transaction.
Change The difference between the Last price and the Previous Close price.
Qty Number of shares held for long positions, or sold short for short positions.
Average Price The price at which the security was transacted (purchased or shorted). If the same stock was transacted over time at different prices, the prices are averaged together.
Profit/Loss Profit or Loss. Calculated as the difference between Average Price and Market Value, excluding commission cost.
Market Value Current Market Value (CMV). During the Market session, CMV for long positions equals Quantity times the Bid and for short positions equals Quantity times the Ask. After Market close, both long and short market values are computed as Quantity times the Last price of normal market hours.

OPEN ORDERS
Date Date the order was entered.
Time Time the order was entered in Eastern Standard Time (EST).
Order Number Unique number associated with your order.
Symbol The publically traded company's registered stock symbol.
Qty Number of shares held for long positions, or sold short for short positions.
Transaction Type Type of order entered: Buy, Sell, or Sell Short.
Status Status of your order: Submitted, Routed, Executed, Expired, Done for Day, etc.
Limit Limit price if entered as a Limit order.
Order Type Type of order placed: Market, Stop Market, Stop Limit, Limit, etc.
Stop Stop price if entered as a stop order.
Time In Force Time In Force: GTC, GTC+, DAY, DAY+