Time and Sales Window
- Overview
- Instructions
- Settings
- Column Descriptions
- Opening Multiple Time and Sales Windows for the Same Symbol
Overview
The Time and Sales window lists in a table the Trades and Quotes received from the data feed. Trades refers to actual trades made for the symbol. Quotes refers to Bid and Ask data. Quotes can be optionally displayed based on the Show Bid and Ask Records setting.
Instructions
Follow these instructions to use the Time and Sales windows. Before you begin viewing the Time and Sales windows, you need to verify and possibly adjust certain settings in the Data/Trade Service Settings window. You will only need to verify the settings and make any changes once.
- Select Global Settings >> Data/Trade Service Settings on the Sierra Chart menu.
- In the Data Settings frame, ensure that the Time and Sales Records setting is set to the number of records you wish to store in memory. For example, if you set the records to 1000, then the Time and Sales window will be able to list 1000 records plus more as it fills up in real time. However, when you close and reopen the Time and Sales window or adjust its settings, only 1000 records will appear. Do not set the Time and Sales Records setting too high because it will slow down the Time and Sales window and maintaining a lot of records in memory will consume excessive memory.
- Press OK. If you changed any of the settings for Time and Sales, reconnect to the Data Feed by selecting File >> Disconnect and then File >> Connect to Data Feed.
- To open a Time and Sales window for a chart, select Chart >> Open Time and Sales on the Sierra Chart menu.
- The Time and Sales window is associated with a specific chart. Each chart can have only one associated Time and Sales window. Once you open a Time and Sales window for a chart, and you select Chart >> Open Time and Sales again, you will not get another Time and Sales window. If you want another Time and Sales window you will have to switch to another chart or open another chart and then open a Time and Sales window for that chart.
- If for some reason a Time and Sales window does not display when you try to open it, then select Chart >> Reset Child Windows.
- The Time and Sales window displays the individual trades and individual bid and ask price changes. Bid and Ask price changes will not be displayed, unless the Show Bid and Ask Records option is enabled in the Time and Sales Settings window. New lines are added as the data is received.
Settings
The Settings button on the Time and Sales window allows you to change various settings.
- Colors: The color controls let you set the colors for the background and text for the various Trade and Quote records in the Time and Sales window. To change a color, click on the corresponding color button. A window will appear allowing you to select the color to use.
- Columns: Enable or disable the columns you want to display in the Time and Sales window.
- Show Bid and Ask Records: Enable this option to display Quote records whenever there are changes with bid and ask data. If you have enabled this option, then ensure the Store Bid and Ask Records option is enabled in the Global Settings >> Data/Trade Service Settings window.
- Show Grid Lines: When this option is enabled Gridlines will be shown on the Time and Sales window
- Volume Filtering: These controls display and set the minimum and maximum volume of the individual trades that will be displayed in the Time and Sales window. This is for filtering out trades that do not fall within the specified volume range. For example: If you only want to see trade records that have a volume of 10 or greater, then type 10 in the Volume >= text box.
- Price Filtering: These controls display and set the minimum and maximum price of the individual trades that will be displayed in the Time and Sales window. This is for filtering out trades that do not fall within the specified price range.
- List Font: The settings display and set the font for the Time in Sales window.
- Highlight: These controls are for highlighting records based on various conditions. The controls are self-explanatory. The Color button displays and sets the color the record line in the Time and Sales window will be highlighted. If you wish to have an alert sound play whenever your Highlight condition is met as well as having the particular record highlighted, then set the Alert Number to one of the Alert Numbers in the list. You will then need to configure that particular Alert Number the Global Settings >> General Settings window.
Column Descriptions
Date
This column displays the date of the trade or quote
Time
This column displays the time of the trade or quote
Price
This column displays the trade price. This only applies to trades.
Volume
This column displays the volume of the trade.This only applies to trades.
Type
Can be one of the following:
Bid and Ask
Bid and Ask quote data.
Bid Trade
A trade that occurred at the Bid price or lower.
Ask Trade
A trade that occurred at the Ask price or higher.
Inside Trade
A trade that occurred between the Bid and Ask.
Bid
The bid price at the time of the trade or quote
Bid Size
The bid size at the time of the trade or quote
Ask
The ask price at the time of the trade or quote
Ask Size
The ask size at the time of the trade or quote
Opening Multiple Time and Sales Windows for the Same Symbol
To open multiple Time and Sales windows for the same symbol, what you will need to do is open multiple charts for the same symbol. For each of those additional charts, select Chart >> Display Time and Sales to open a Time and Sales window. If you do not need the additional charts other than for the purpose of viewing Time and Sales windows for them, then simply Minimize them. This can be done by clicking on the standard Windows Minimize button at the top right of each chart window. If the charts are minimized, it is recommended that you reduce the Days to Load setting for them since you will not be using them other than for the purpose of Time and Sales. To do this select Chart >> Chart Settings. Reduce the Days to Load to 1.