Messages

Use the Messages tool to stay informed about changes to order status, market status, notifications from Schwab and more. You may have up to 8 Messages tools open at a time.

The tool consists of two tabs:

Order Messages Tab

• Displays the current day's vital, time-sensitive messages related to order status, alerts activity, system or market center outages, and more. Messages that could affect your trading or ability to trade will display in the Order Message tab.
• Displays message time (Eastern), account number, and message text. Messages are sorted by date and time.
• Displays Price improvement is the difference between your order execution price and the market price of the security at the time of order routing multiplied by the order size. Improvements are only displayed for marketable orders <10,000 shares in REG NMS equity securities and single-leg, non-adjusted options <50 contracts entered during regular market hours. Price improvements are for informational purposes only and are based upon sources believed to be reliable. However, Schwab does not guarantee their accuracy.Price Improvement on eligible orders.
• Choose whether to display messages for the current day or only the current login session. See Session Display below for details.

Message Center

• Displays urgent and non-urgent messages from Schwab regarding holiday closures, policy changes, and other matters related to the account. Also, notifies clients about Schwab products and services.
• Messages in this tab display the date they were sent, subject, and the expiration date upon which the message will stop being displayed.
• Messages that do not need to be retained can be removed by clicking the message and then Dismiss at the bottom of the Message Center.

New Messages

A highlighted message icon at the top of your screen indicates you have unread messages in the Messages tool. When you have unread messages in the Message Center tab, the number of unread messages displays next to the tab name.

Reading Messages

In the Message Center, open a message by clicking on it to display it in the reading pane. To resize the reading pane, click on the divider bar between the panes and drag it up or down.

Notification Settings (Coming soon)

To change how you are notified of new messages, right-click in the Messages window and select Settings. Choose from:

• Show a system tray notification: Displays the message or subject of the message for 5 seconds in the lower right corner of your primary monitor. Double-click the message in the notification to open the Messages tool.
• Bring the Message tool(s) to the front: Makes the Messages tool the active window in your StreetSmart Edge® display.
• Do both of the above

Adjust Color Settings

1. From the right-click menu, select Colors...
2. In the Colors window, you can customize the colors of each element, from background and highlight colors to font colors.
3. Click Match the order status square to match the color of the order message to the color-coded status listed in the Account Details' Order Status tab.

4. Click Reset to Default Colors should you wish to return to the original colors.

TIP: Check Apply to all Order Messages tabs at the bottom of the Colors window if you want the color settings to apply to all Order Messages tabs.

Session Display

If you log off and back on multiple times during the day, all messages in the Order Messages tab for the previous session(s) will display in italics. You can show messages from the current session only by right-clicking in the window and choosing Show Current Session.

Message Sorting

Because messages are presented in a fixed order based on date and time, sorting by columns is not available in the Messages tool.

Price improvement is the difference between your order execution price and the market price of the security at the time of order routing multiplied by the order size. Improvements are only displayed for marketable orders <10,000 shares in REG NMS equity securities and single-leg, non-adjusted options <50 contracts entered during regular market hours. Price improvements are for informational purposes only and are based upon sources believed to be reliable. However, Schwab does not guarantee their accuracy.