Trading Window Menu

Will close the Trading window. To reopen, click the Trading window icon in the Main Tool Bar or go to Tools > Start Tool… and change the number of Trading Windows.

Allows you to change general settings for Orders, Level I and II data, and Time & Sales. Refer to the Trading Window Settings topic for details about this important feature.

Hot Key Orders allow you to create a fully customized Hot Key order entry system. By assigning order entry attributes such as price, delta, type, venue, and quantity to specific keystrokes, you can minimize the amount of time spent setting up an order for the stock currently loaded in your Trading window and get your bid or offer to the market in a flash.

For more information, visit the Order Routing with Hot Keys topic.

Number Pad allows you to assign either Symbols or Quantities to the keys on your keyboard number pad.

Stock symbols and price and volume data shown here and in the software are for illustrative purposes only. Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., its parent or affiliates, and/or its employees and/or directors may have positions in securities referenced herein, and may, as principal or agent, buy from or sell to clients.

1. Check Enable Number Pad Hot Keys
2. Decide whether to use the number pad keys for Symbols or Quantities.
3. If you select Use for Symbol Load, enter the full stock symbol in the fields at the bottom of the window. EXAMPLE  If you enter WXYZ in the 7 field, when you are in the Trading window and press 7 in your number pad, WXYZ will load in the Trading window.
4. If you select Use for Quantity, you can set up different quantities depending on whether you're in the Stock or Options tab. Select the type of security from the drop-down list and enter the quantity you wish to assign to each key in the fields at the bottom of the window.
5. Another alternative when using the number pad keys for quantities is to Aggregate Quantity Increments.
   EXAMPLE  If you have Number Pad Key 1 set to 100 and Number Pad Key 2 set to 500, you could set the share size to 700 by pressing 1 and then 2.
   - To reduce by the quantity assigned, press Ctrl + the Number Pad Key assignment by which you wish to reduce your quantity.
   - Press the divide symbol (/) on the number pad to set the quantity back to zero.
6. Click OK to save your changes.

Symbol Aliases can be used to assign letters (or a combination of letters) to certain stocks to load them into the Trading window more quickly. For example, in the figure to the right, AMZN's alias is AZ. You would type in AZ into the Trading window and press Enter to load AMZN into the Trading window. You can insert any combination of letters or use single letters.

If you choose to use the aliases, this will take precedence over New York stocks. For example, if W has been assigned as the alias for WXYZ, when W is typed into the Trading window, WXYZ will load instead of the stock whose actual symbol is "W."

Setting Up an Alias

1. Click in the Use Aliases box to activate
2. Type in a Symbol and Alias
3. Press the Add key or Enter to add it to the list
4. To delete one alias, click on it in the list and click Remove
5. To delete ALL aliases, click on Remove All

NOTE:  Symbol Alias Hot Keys can only be set for one Trading window and will be the same for any other Trading windows open. You cannot set different Hot Keys for each Trading window.

Links allow you to automatically load stocks into other windows when they are loaded into the Trading window. Note that only the linkable windows open in your layout will be displayed in the Links list.

1. Click on an item to link to the Trading window.

News

Strategy Matrix™ tool

Charts

Other Trading windows

2. Click on OK.
3. Every time a stock is entered into the Trading window, the items linked will display that stock's information.

Clears all symbols from the Trading window Symbol field and drop-down.

Click to change fonts.

Through the Color option you can change the background, ECNs, watches (Market Makers you specified in the Trading window General Settings to Watch) and Time & Sales colors. Click on the color wheel button to display all the color choices.

Change the Price Level Color Scheme

1. Select from the drop-down list whether to use the Custom, Traditional, Earth, etc. color scheme. An example of the colors will display at the bottom of the window.
2. For Custom, click on a level and then click the color wheel button to select a new color for that level.
3. The Price Level scheme can also be inverted to view the Level II data in black over a red background. To invert, check the Inverted box with the mouse.
4. Click on Color Rotation to keep colors with the price levels as they move.