Chart Trading and the ChartDOM (TM)

• Chart Trading
  
  • Viewing Orders and Trade Position on the Chart
  • Entering Orders from the Chart
  • Modifying Orders on the Chart
• Trading DOM Mode
• Using the ChartDOM (TM) / Order Entry Ladder
  • Scaling the ChartDOM
• Displaying Filled Orders on the Chart
• Trading Instructional Videos

Chart Trading

You can enter orders, view them and modify them directly on the chart. Here are the steps to get started with Chart Trading in Sierra Chart:

Viewing Orders and Trade Position on the Chart

To view Working Orders and your Trade Position on a chart, make sure there is a checkmark by Chart Trade Mode On or Trading Chart DOM On on the Trade menu. This option is specific to each individual chart window. The Orders and the Position that are displayed on the chart can be customized. These settings are located under Trade >> Global Trade Settings >> Chart Trade Settings. For more information, please see the Global Trade Settings documentation page.

If you wish to reduce the size of the text for Working Orders, Filled Orders, and the Trade Position displayed on the chart so that you do not cover the chart bars too much, then you can do any of the following:

1. Select Chart >> Chart Settings and enable Display Chart Drawings Underneath Main Graph and Studies.
2. Select Chart >> Chart Settings and enable Align Trade Drawings Text to Right. After doing this you will want to add some fill space to the right side of the chart by scrolling past the rightmost bar in the chart using the scrollbar at the bottom of the chart. After you add fill space, enable Chart >> Lock Fill Space. You may have to unlock the fill space first before scrolling.
3. Reduce the Chart Text Font size in Global Settings >> Graphics Settings.
4. For Working Orders and the Position, you can change the settings to display only a line and not the text. Select Trade >> Global Trade Settings >> Chart Trade Settings. Uncheck Display Detailed Buy/Sell Order Information or Display Position Profit/Loss for Position.

To view orders from your trading service, make sure there is no check mark by Trade >> Trade Simulation On on the menu, and make sure you are connected to the trade server by selecting File >> Connect to Data Feed. This means connecting to the trade server as well. To view simulated orders, make sure there is a check mark by Trade >> Trade Simulation On on the menu.

The trade Position for the symbol will be displayed on the chart if one exists. You can display either the Service Position or the Session Position. This is configured under Trade >> Global Trade Settings >> Use Session Position... on the menu. The format of the position line's text is "[quantity]@[price] P/L: [open profit/loss]" and is displayed on the left side of the position line.

When there is a working order, it is displayed on the chart as a line at the price level that matches the order price. For example, a Limit order will be displayed at the Limit price, a Stop order will be displayed at the Stop price, a Stop-Limit order will be displayed as 2 lines at both the Limit and Stop prices specified. Above each working order line contains buttons to modify (M) the order, cancel (C) the order, and the order quantity to change the quantity. Below each working order line there is text information about the order. This information can be enabled and disabled under Trade >> Global Trade Setitngs >> Chart Trade Settings. The information is explained here:

• Order Group Letter: You can enable the display of the Order Group Letter under Global Settings >> Trade Settings >> Chart Trade Settings. Enable the Display Order Group Letter option. The first letter that appears in the detailed information text is the Group Letter, if enabled. This is also found under Trade >> Trade Orders Window in the Group Letter column. This letter is simply used to identify the orders that are grouped together. A parent order and its Attached Orders will be in the same group and have the same identifying letter. The Attached Orders will have a lower case group letter. Group letters begin with the letter A and simply move to B, C, and so on.
• Buy or Sell: The next letter displayed is either B for Buy orders or S for Sell orders.
• Order Type: The next text displayed is a shorthand representation of the order type of the order.
• Order Status: The next text is the current order status of the order.
• Filled Quantity: The next number is the filled quantity. It represents the quantity that has already been filled.
• Price: The price number that is displayed is the price of the order. This number is formatted to the Price Display Format set in Chart >> Chart Settings on the menu.
• Total Quantity: When there are multiple orders at the same price, the total quantity is displayed in the text information for the order. After TQ: is the total quantity.

For example, a Limit order inputted at the price of 100 is displayed as: B|Lmt|Open|0 100. This is a Buy Limit order. The current order status is Open. Zero shares/contracts have filled. The Limit Price is 100.

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Entering Orders From the Chart

1. To enter orders from a chart you first need to enable Chart Trade Mode. To do this make sure there is a checkmark by Trade >> Chart Trade Mode On on the menu.
2. Chart Trade Mode is specific to each individual chart. They all have their own independent setting. You can tell when Chart Trade Mode for a chart is enabled by looking at the top left of the chart. You will see the Trade Mode Box which indicates the order quantity and the order price for new orders. The order price is determined by the price level that you are pointing to with your mouse pointer (see the image to the right for the Trade Mode Box). To change the Order Quantity for a new trade, simply click on the box, type in the desired Order Quantity or use the up and down arrow buttons displayed, and press the Enter key or the check button when done. If you decide that you do not want to change the Order Quantity after the input box has opened, simply click somewhere else on the chart or press the Esc key.
3. Open the Trade Window. Select Trade >> Open Trade Window for Chart on the menu. Configure the Attached Orders if you want to use them and the Time in Force (TIF) to what you want. If you want to Attached Orders ( Targets and Stops) for the order you enter from the chart, then make sure Use Attached Orders for New Orders is enabled. For more information about Attached Orders, please see the Attached Orders documentation page.
4. The price you see displayed in the Trade Mode Box at the top left is controlled by where your mouse pointer is currently pointing to on the chart. As you move the mouse pointer up and down, you will see the price change accordingly in the Trade Mode Box.
5. To enter an order from the chart, right click with your mouse pointer on the chart to display the Chart Trade Menu and select the type of order you would like to be entered. For Stop and Limit Orders, where you click is the price for your order. You can tell what price your mouse pointer is at by looking at the Trade Mode Box displayed on the top left of the chart, as described previously. You will get a confirmation window, if enabled. Press Yes to confirm or No to reject the order entry. To disable confirmations press the S button on the Trade Window and disable the confirmations that you do not want.
6. Stop-Limit Orders: To enter a Stop-Limit order, right-click on the chart and select either Buy Stop-Limit or Sell Stop-Limit. The price level you are pointing to when you right-click sets the Stop price. Move your mouse pointer to the desired Limit price and left click again. On the More tab of the associated Trade Window for the chart, if you have Auto Set Other Price for Stop-Limit Orders enabled, then the Limit price will be automatically set without you having to left click again on the chart. It will be set to a price which is the specified offset from the Stop price. The offset is set with the settings below the Auto Set... option on the More tab. You can cancel the Stop-Limit order input procedure with a right click at any time. Or when you get an order confirmation, if enabled, you can press No to not accept the order.
7. Entering OCO Orders which use 2 prices: There are several OCO order types that you can enter which use 2 prices. They are as follows:
   OCO Buy Limit Sell Limit
   OCO Buy Stop Sell Stop
   OCO Buy Stop-Limit Sell Stop-Limit
   Buy OCO Limit and Stop
   Sell OCO Limit and Stop
   Right-click on the chart at the level you want to set the first price. Select one of the above OCO order types. For example, if you selected Buy OCO Limit and Stop, then the price level where you right clicked at to open the menu sets the Limit price. Move your mouse pointer to the price level where you want to set the second price for the OCO order and left click. You can cancel the order input procedure with a second right click at any time. Or when you get an order confirmation, if enabled, you can press No to not accept the order.

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Modifying Orders on the Chart

To modify orders on the chart, you must be in Chart Trade Mode and have the orders displayed on the chart. To enable Chart Trading for a chart, you must switch to Chart Trade Mode by going to Trade >> Chart Trade Mode On. There will be a check mark by this menu command when it is on.

For Working Order lines, you will see 3 distinct areas on the top left of the line. The first one contains the quantity of the order, the second one contains the letter C, and the third one contains the letter M. To modify the quantity, click on the Quantity area. This will open a new Share/Contract Quantity input box. To Cancel the order, click on the letter C. To modify the order using the Trade Window, click on the M area.

Order prices can also be adjusted by simply clicking and dragging the line with your mouse pointer. Simply place your mouse pointer on the line, left click, drag the line to the desired price level and release your pointer button.

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Trading DOM Mode

Sierra Chart offers a traditional trading DOM like window. Open or go to a chart for the symbol that you want to trade. This can be an Intraday or Historical chart. Select Trade >> DOM Mode on the menu. If you previously were in DOM Mode for chart, you will be switched out of it. You can also select File >> Open Trading DOM on the menu. In either case this will create a traditional trading type DOM which is based upon the Sierra Chart chart object. Therefore, the trading functionality is exactly the same as what you have in a regular chart, except the chart is hidden (Chart >> Hide Chart) and there are no studies.

When DOM mode is activated, the ChartDOM will be activated, the studies will be removed, and the chart bars will be hidden. The price ladder on the right is also set so that every price tick is displayed. The Interactive Scaling features are supported on the price scale (price ladder). You can easily move the prices up and down and compress or expand the prices. To trade using this mode, see the Using the ChartDOM (TM) / Order Entry Ladder section. To Modify or Cancel orders, see the Chart Trading section.

When in DOM mode, the price ladder scale on the right side is specially managed so that it provides scale behavior which is more appropriate for this style of trading. It is strictly based upon the current price or the current replay price. It has no dependency upon the chart bars which are hidden and not relevant. This exact type of scaling, is not available when DOM Mode is disabled.

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Using the ChartDOM (TM) / Order Entry Ladder

This section documents how to use the ChartDOM (TM). The ChartDOM is for entering trading orders (simulated or live) in a way similar to a traditional trading DOM and is also known as an Order Entry Ladder. The image below is a basic overview of what you can do. This also includes the Chart Trading features described on this page.

1. Make sure there is a check mark by Trade >> Show ChartDOM. When you enable the ChartDOM, Chart Trade Mode On and Show Orders and Positions on Chart will also be enabled. Show ChartDOM will display the buy and sell order entry ladder columns on the right side of the chart that are used for trading order entry.
2. If you want to display the Depth of Market volumes, make sure there is a check mark by Trade >> Show DOM Depth. When you enable display of the DOM volumes, Chart >> Chart Settings >> Start Market Depth Updates is enabled. If you disable the DOM volumes display, you may want to disable this option and reconnet to the data feed to stop depth updates if you do not need them. Although, for some data and trading services, market depth updates for a symbol are always enabled independent of this option setting.
3. When using the ChartDOM you may want to change the scale of the chart. For instructions to do this, see Scaling the ChartDOM.
4. When using the ChartDOM, new orders entered use the settings from the associated Trade Window. This means that any Attached Orders that are set up and enabled on the Trade Window, will be used. The Time in Force (TIF) setting will also be used for new orders from the ChartDOM. Select Trade >> Open Trade Window for Chart to open the Trade Window. For more information about Attached Orders, please see the Attached Orders Documentation page.
5. Before you enter orders using the ChartDOM, confirm that Trade >> Chart Trade Mode on is checked. Otherwise, the ChartDOM may not be visible or functional, and support order entry. You can easily see if you are in Chart Trade Mode by looking at the top left of the chart. You will see a Trade Mode box that displays the quantity of each new order and the price your mouse is pointing to. To change the order Quantity for a new trade, simply click on the Trade Mode box, type in the desired order Quantity in the newly opened input box, or use the up and down arrows, and press the check button or press the Enter key to confirm. If you decide that you do not want to change the desired order Quantity after the input box has opened, simply click somewhere else on the chart or press the Escape key on your keyboard.
6. Orders are entered through the ChartDOM with left and right clicks with your mouse pointer buttons in the Buy/Sell columns to the left and the right of the column of prices on the right side of the chart. The functionality of the left or right clicks can be modified by selecting Trade >> Global Trade Settings >> ChartDOM Settingson the menu. For more information, please see the Global Trade Settings documentation page. The following list describes the default behavior of the Chart DOM:
   • To enter a Buy Limit: Left click on the left column at the level of the limit price that you want. Initially you will get a confirmation, click Yes to confirm. The confirmation can be disabled in the Trade Window by selecting Trade >> Open Trade Window for Chart >> Settings. The entered order will be displayed on the chart.
   • To enter a Buy Stop, Right click on the left column at the level of the stop price that you want. Initially you will get a confirmation, click Yes to confirm. The confirmation can be disabled in the Trade Window by selecting Trade >> Open Trade Window for Chart >> Settings. The entered order will be displayed on the chart.
   • To enter a Sell Limit, Left click on the right column at the level of the limit price that you want. Initially you will get a confirmation, click Yes to confirm. The confirmation can be disabled in the Trade Window by selecting Trade >> Open Trade Window for Chart >> Settings. The entered order will be displayed on the chart.
   • To enter a Sell Stop, Right click on the right column at the level of the stop price that you want. Initially you will get a confirmation, click Yes to confirm. The confirmation can be disabled in the Trade Window by selecting Trade >> Open Trade Window for Chart >> Settings. The entered order will be displayed on the chart.
7. Once there is an active order, the corresponding price level on the ChartDOM will fill in with the order's quantity. Left clicking on the quantity for the active order will bring up an order quantity box that lets you modify the quantity of the order. Right clicking on the quantity of the active order will Cancel the order. This behavior can be changed by selecting Trade >> Global Trade Settings >> ChartDOM Settings on the menu. For more information, please see the Global Trade Settings documentation page.

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Scaling the ChartDOM

The most rapid way to automatically scale the ChartDOM is by right clicking along the column of values displayed on the right side of the chart and selecting Auto Scale the ChartDOM. This will set the Chart Scale Range to the Constant Range type without auto-centering and set the scale increment to the Tick Size. If you wish to make further adjustments, please continue to read the other paragraphs in this section.

If the ChartDOM prices or depth of market volumes are too close together or too far apart, then you have the ability to expand or compress the chart scaling by using the Interactive Scale Range feature. Basically this is accomplished by clicking and dragging along the column of numbers on the right side of the chart.

If the ChartDOM prices and depth of market volumes are not fully into view as you require, then you have the ability to move the chart up and down by using the Interactive Scale Move feature.

After adjusting the scaling for the ChartDOM, you may find that the chart bars are not fully into view. In this case what you can do is open a second chart and use it exclusively for charting.

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Displaying Filled Orders on the Chart

To display filled orders on a chart, make sure there is a checkmark by Trade >> Show Filled Orders on the menu. Various graphics settings for Filled orders can be found in Global Settings >> Trade Settings >> Chart Trade Settings.

Filled Orders that are displayed on the chart come from the Fill Activity display of the Trade >> Trade Activity Log. You can only be assured of seeing filled orders from trades that were made from Sierra Chart. If they were made from other applications using your trading account, unless the order data has been properly received by Sierra Chart at the time they were made, they may not be available and support cannot provide any help if they do not display.

It's also helpful when using this feature to save filled orders from prior Sierra Chart sessions. To do this specify a value for Number of Days to Save in Trade Activity Log inGlobal Settings >> Trade Settings. The number of Days specifies the time between the current time and the time an order was filled. For example, if you are saving 7 days, but you have replayed data from more than 14 days ago and performed simulated trading, then the filled orders from that replay will not be saved even though the simulated trading you were doing was within the past 7 days.

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