Alert & Conditional Order Conditions

Click Stock/ETF for conditions using an equity symbol. Select Call or Put when using an option symbol for your condition.

Enter the symbol you want to monitor. Click the drop-down arrow in the symbol field to select from the symbols in which you hold positions.

Avoid placing alerts or conditional orders on any stock that does not have bid/ask quotes, including Pink Sheet securities. Such alerts will not fire.

TIP: For option symbols, you can copy and paste the symbol from the option chains located in the Trade tool or Symbol Hub by right-clicking on the Option symbol and selecting Copy, then Paste into the desired field, again using right-click.

Select the type of data you wish to monitor for the symbol.

• Bid - Bases your conditions on the inside Bid price.
• Ask - Bases your conditions on the inside Ask price.
• Volume - Bases your conditions on the daily cumulative volume.
• Trade Price - Bases your conditions on the last sale price reported.
  It is not uncommon for erroneous trade reports to come through the Time & Sales display with prices away from of the market. You will be responsible for any orders that are executed, even if they are based upon inaccurate information. To minimize possible issues, consider using the Bid or Ask variable when sending conditional orders. This is not a guarantee that orders will not be sent based on ‘bad prints’ and will not completely remove the risk of alerts firing based on inaccurate data.
• Change from Open* - You can set up an alert or conditional order to trigger based on the difference between the current price of a stock and the price at the open.
  Note that the change amount itself is used as a basis for the calculation, so that if the current Change from Open is .10 and you want an alert or order to trigger when the Change from Open is .30, you would need to set an alert or order that triggers when it Increases to .30.
• Change from Close* - You can set up an alert or conditional order to trigger based on the difference between the current price of a stock and the previous closing price.
  Note that the change amount itself is used as a basis for the calculation so that if the Change from Close is 10 cents, for example, and you want an alert or order to trigger when the Change from Close is 30 cents, it would need to set an alert that triggers when Change from Close Increases to .30 points.
• Time - You can set your alert or conditional order to trigger at a specific time during regular market hours or before or after a set time.
• Share P&L* - When you use the Share P&L variable, this P&L amount is based on the difference between your Original Trade Price and the current bid price if you are long the stock or the ask price if you are short.
  For example, if you purchased 100 shares of DELL at 30 and it's currently trading at 33, your share P&L in this case is 3 points. If you want be alerted or send an order to exit your position with a 6 point profit, the Share P&L would need to Increase to 6 points.
• Trade P&L* - When you use the Trade P&L variable, this P&L amount is based on the difference between your Original Trade Price and the current bid price times the number of shares you own if you are long on the stock or the ask price if you are short.
  Referencing the example in Share P&L above, your Trade P&L would be $300.00. If you want to be alerted or send an order to exit your position with a $600.00 profit, the Trade P&L would need to Increase to $600.00.

Note: P&L Alerts do not consider commissions or other transaction/account costs.

*Change/delta variable that is the result of a calculation.

• The P&L variables are the difference between the cost to you and the current price. As such, you can only use the P&L variables for securities in which you hold a position.
• Change From Open/Close are the difference between the price of the security at the open or the close and the current price.

The following operators are available depending on the variable:

• Increases to(or above)
• Decreases to (or below)
• Gains
• Loses
• Increases from open by
• Decreases from open by
• Increases from close by
• Decreases from close by

For the Time variable, choose from:

• is (the alert or order will trigger at the specified time)
• is earlier than (alert or order will only trigger prior to this time)
• is later than (alert or order will only trigger after this time)

Notes about the Gains and Loses operators:

• The Gains and Loses operators initialize from the moment the alert or conditional order is activated. So if you create an alert or order that triggers when the Bid gains 1 point, the alert or order uses the Bid at the moment you activate the it as the starting point.
• Alerts or conditional orders using the Gains or Loses operator will reinitialize or reset each day based on the inside bid/ask at opening. For example, an alert or order is set to trigger if the symbol loses 5 percent off the ask price. If the alert or order does not fire on the first day it is active, it will reinitialize the next day to the market opening value and reset the trigger price.
• If you wish to set a percentage Value or use a Trailing Stop, you must use Gains or Loses as your operator.

The amount by which you want the variable to change.

• For Time, enter the time you wish to set your alert or order to trigger at, before, or after.

The Variable and Operator you choose will change your available options for these fields.

Displays the original trade price for your position, if available. If unavailable or you want to change the cost value, you may do so. Only applies to alerts or conditional orders where the variable is Trade P&L or Share P&L.

• If the variable is Share P&L, enter the average share price you paid for the position.
• It the variable is Trade P&L, enter the total dollar amount you paid for the position.

Works only with the Gains and Loses operator, and can be applied to a point value or a percentage.

Trailing Stop Alert or Conditional Order example:

You are long 1000 shares of XYZ, which was purchased at $20 per share. If you have a risk threshold of 10%, you would want to be alerted or send an order if the bid for XYZ decreases to $18 per share, or $2 less than the highest price reached after the Trailing Stop was entered.

You enter an Alert or Conditional Order with the Trailing Stop enabled (when the bid is at $20) to trigger when the Bid loses $2. Assuming the bid then increases to $25 per share, the Trailing Stop will trigger when the Bid decreases to $23 per share. $25 - $2 = $23 per share.

If the stock never moves above $20 per share for the same type of Alert or Conditional Order, it will only trigger if the Bid loses $2. $20 - $2 = $18.