Help for Canada Stockwatch Day Trader Workstation

Introduction

Welcome to the Day Trader Workstation (DTW). This Java applet is designed to make it easy to customize the way you look at stock market data. The DTW allows you to save custom view configurations to use the next time you run the DTW applet. The motivation for developing the DTW was to make it easier to organize the multiple charts, market depths, and ticker windows that Stockwatch's Ticker applet users create when following the stock market.

The DTW organizes collections of charts, tickers and other windows on seperate pages. These pages can be displayed by clicking on their page names at the top of the DTW window.

The DTW contains the following display elements:

A collection of tabbed pages containing views of stocks or indices.
A connection indicator showing status of live connection to Stockwatch data feed
A menu for selecting options that effect the entire applet.
Individual views such as: Ticker, Historical chart, Daily chart, Depth by Price, Depth by Order, Nasdaq Level II, Trade List, Broker Activity, Event window, Index Ticker, Alarm window and Stock Scanner.
Popup menus for setting individual view options.

Tutorial

The Day Trader Workstation displays information about stocks as they trade, and updates that information in real-time. The Day Trader Workstation displays charts, market depth, trade and summary information for stocks and collections of stocks. How do you get started?

Starting the Day Trader Workstation.

To start the Day Trader Workstation, click on the link on the Stockwatch web site. The DTW will open with a blank window containing a tab called "default page".

If you want to watch several stocks, open a Ticker view.

Select Ticker from the Views menu.

A dialog will open allowing you to choose one of your numbered portfolios, or enter a list of stocks. (Stocks can be entered with or without the exchange prefix either as TD or T:TD. For US securities always include the prefix "Q" for Nasdaq and "Z" for NYSE.)

Select a portfolio, or type in a list of stocks.

A Ticker view will open displaying a summary for each stock with its current trading values.
As trades occur or bid and ask values change, the change will be highlighted in yellow, and then will fade out.
To change the colors of this display, add or remove stocks, change columns, or see further details about these stocks right click on the Ticker view and select a choice from the popup menu.

If you want to compare several stocks, open a comparison page.

Select Comparison Page from the Pages menu.

A dialog will open allowing you to choose one of your numbered portfolios, or enter a list of stocks.

Select a portfolio or type in a list of stocks.

A dialog will open allowing you to select one of the following view types

Select a view type.

A progress dialog will appear while the DTW retrieves the data needed to open a view for each stock.
The views will open on a new page.

If you want to examine a single stock in detail, open a detail page or custom detail page.

A Detail Page displays the Ticker summary, Market Depth, List of Trades, Historical and Daily chart. The Custom page allows you to create your own detail page configuration using these view elements, along with some more.

To open a Detail Page select Detail Page from the Pages menu.

A dialog allowing you to select a one stock will be displayed

Choose a stock

A detail page will open for the stock.

To open a Custom Page select Custom Page from the Pages menu.

A dialog allowing you to select a one stock will be displayed

Choose a stock

A dialog that allows you to choose several views will appear. You can select a view one or more times, and selecting New Column will cause the next view to be opened in a new column.

Choose the views that you want in your custom page.

A new page will be opened containing those views for the stock you have selected.

To save this display for next time.

The Day Trader Workstation allows you to save the pages and views you have created so that you can resume working with this configuration the next time you use the applet.

To save this configuration select Save Layout or Save Layout As from the File menu.

An input dialog will prompt you to enter a name for this layout.

Press Ok.

The named layout will be saved to a Stockwatch web server.

To restore this configuration select Open Layout from the File menu.

A dialog listing your saved Layouts will appear.

Select the layout you wish to restore from the list of Layouts. Press Ok.

The DTW will gather the data it needs and open the pages and views that you had saved as a Layout. This may take a while if it has to make several queries to our database to retrieve historical or trade data.

Day Trader Workstation Example

This is an screen shot of the Day Trader Workstation. In this example the DTW has 3 pages, the top one shows a Detail page for TD consisting of a Ticker summary, Market Depth, List of Trades, Historical chart and Daily chart. The two background pages contain combinations of other view types.

Working with Pages

A page is a screen in the Day Trader Workstation (DTW) that displays information about a stock or collection of stocks. Pages are identified by named tabs, which are located at the top of the DTW window.

When you start the DTW for the first time, a label named “default page” appears at the top of the DTW window. You can add different views to this page, create other pages, rename this page and other pages, and delete pages.

Moving Between Pages

To move between pages, click on a page's named label at the top of the DTW window. This is called a "tab". It works like a tab label on a set of index cards works to move between different cards.

Creating New Pages

To create new pages, select one of the following options found on the Pages menu.

“Empty Page” – Use this option to create a new blank page in which you can select various views to display.
“Custom Page” – Use this option to change the views for a selected stock.
“Detail Page”– Use this option to view more detailed information for a selected stock.
“Comparison Page” – Use this option to compare information between single stocks, multiple stocks, or portfolios.

Deleting Pages

To delete a single page or all pages, select either “Remove Page” or “Remove All Pages” from the Pages menu.

Organizing Pages

To organize the views on pages into rows or columns, you can choose "Cascade", "Tile", "Tile with Contraints", "Tile Vertically" or "Tile Horizontally" from the Windows menu. "Tile with Contraints" allows you to specify how many rows or columns to use. "Tile Horizontally" places view above each other. "Tile Vertically" places them side by side. Views can be positioned individually by dragging or sizing them with the mouse.

Working with Views

A view is a sub window that contains one type of information. View types include: Ticker, Index, Market Depth, Daily or Historical charts.

When you start the Day Trader Workstation no views are open. You can select the view type you are interested in from the Views menu or create a new page that contains several views. Creating a Custom, Detail or Comparison page will open several views at once.

The currently supported view types are:

Ticker - The standard spreadsheet Ticker.
Historical Chart - A one year chart with multiple indicators and news.
Daily Chart - Today's chart with multiple indicators.
Depth by Price - Market Depth by Price.
Depth by Order - Depth by Order for Canadian stocks.
Depth Histogram - A visual display of Market Depth strength for Canadian stocks
Level II - Depth by Order for Nasdaq stocks
Trades - List of trades.
Broker Activity - Trading activity sorted by broker.
Equity Options - Canadian options selected by stock and matching criteria.
Pink Sheet Traders - Information about traders for Nasdaq Pink Sheet stocks.
Time and Sales - List of inside quotation changes and trades.
Ticker Events - A scrolling event window.
Indexes - A spreadsheet Ticker for market Indices.
Alarms - A spreadsheet of Alarm conditions sorted by stock.
Alarm Events - A list of triggered alarm events.
Stock Scanner - Scan for stocks based on several criteria.
News Headlines - Streaming news headlines.
Portfolio Value - Value of a Portfolio based on Transactions.
Portfolio Transactions - Transactions for a Portfolio.

To remove a view, select it by clicking on it, and then choose Remove View from the Views menu.

Organizing Views

To organize views into rows or columns, you can choose "Cascade", "Tile", "Tile with Contraints", "Tile Vertically" or "Tile Horizontally" from the Windows menu. "Tile with Contraints" allows you to specify how many rows or columns to use. "Tile Horizontally" places view above each other. "Tile Vertically" places them side by side. Views can be positioned individually by dragging or sizing them with the mouse.

Working with Layouts

A layout is the visual state of the Day Trader Workstation (DTW) including the pages that have been created, the views on those pages, and the color choices you have made. This information can be given a layout name and stored on our server. This saved layout can be opened for use the next time you need it. There are no restrictions on the number of layouts that you can save.

Each time a layout is used it retrieves the current market data from our servers. If you save a layout containing today's chart for NT, then opening it tomorrow will open the chart with
tomorrow's trading in NT.

Saving Layouts

To save a layout
1. Select Save Layout from the File menu.

To save a layout for the first time
1. Select Save Layout As from the File menu.
The Input dialog box appears.
2. Enter a name for the layout and click the OK button.

Opening Layouts

To open a saved layout
1. Select Open Layout from the File menu.
The Day Trader Workstation dialog box appears.
2. Select the Layout you want to open and click the OK button.
The selected layout appears in the DTW window.

To open a saved layout automatically
1. Select Start with Layout from the File menu.
The Day Trader Workstation dialog box appears.
2. Select a layout and click the OK button.
The next time that you start the DTW the selected layout will be opened automatically.

Deleting Layouts

To delete a layout
1. Select Delete Layout from the File menu.
The Day Trader Workstation dialog box appears.
2. Select a layout to delete and click the OK button.

View Types

This section will describe the specific types of views available in the DTW.

Ticker View

The Ticker view displays current price and quote data for several stocks.
Stocks are displayed on a spreadsheet, which includes the following information:

Bid and ask prices,
Last trading price,
Volume,
Daily and yearly trading ranges,
Last trading time,
Change and % change.

By using the Ticker view you can follow prices and orders in several stocks as they change during trading.

You can customize the Ticker view by:

Adding and removing stocks.
Sorting stocks using any of the columns.
Adding and removing columns.
Adjusting the timing and behavior of the change highlights.

Daily Chart

The Daily Chart displays the following information:

One day of trading activity for a stock and is updated as trades occur.
Technical indicators.

Use the Daily Chart to watch how a stock trades over the course of a day. The Daily Chart enables you to do the following:

Use a variety of chart styles.
View multiple indicators.
View moving averages, etc.
Display trade details.

You can customize the Daily Chart by doing the following:

Changing the chart period or range from 1 to 20 days.
Drawing lines.
Selecting techinical indicators.

Setting View Options

In the Day Trader Workstation (DTW) each view has various options that can be changed. To change an option do one of the following:

Select an option from the Options menu.
Right click on a view and select an option from the pop-up menu that appears. The following sections outline the options that are available for each view type.

All Views

The following options apply to all views and can be set from the Options menu:

Colors – Change the colors for a selected view type by right clicking on the view and then select Colors from the pop-up menu that appears. To change colors for all views of a particular type select Colors from the Options menu.
Fonts – Change the font type, style, and size. Turn anti-aliasing on or off. By default all font sizes 14 and above are anti-aliased.
Highlights – As trades occur or as bid and ask values change the changes are highlighted in yellow and then fade out. This option enables you `to turn highlights on or off and set how long the highlights remain visible.
Exchange Rate - Some views can show values in Canadian or US dollars. This sets the exchange rate.
Show Chart Summaries – Turn on or off a display of summarized information on all chart views.

Ticker View

To access these options, right click on the view and select an option from the pop-up menu that appears.

The following are the options available for the Ticker view:

Open a view - Open a detail view, chart or depth window for the selected stock.
Open a Custom or Detail Page for the selected stock.
Add Stock – Add a new stock to the Ticker view.
Remove Stock – Remove a stock from the Ticker view.
Choose Columns – Add or remove columns in the Ticker view.
Colors – Change the colors used in the Ticker view.

Daily Chart

To access chart options, right click on the view and select an option from the pop-up menu that appears. The chart has quite a number of features and the details are described in the Daily Chart Help.

Historical Chart

To access chart options, right click on the view and select an option from the pop-up menu that appears. The chart has quite a number of features and the details are described in the Historical Chart Help.

Printing

To print the pages of information in the Day Trader Workstation (DTW)
1. Select Print from the File menu.
The Print Setup dialog box appears.
2. Select the page orientation and set the printer margins as needed.
3. Click the OK button.
The Print dialog box appears.
4. Select your printer and the desired page range.
5. Click the OK button.

Note: Only the visible lines in a list are printed, not the complete list.

Options

Some global settings can be changed from the Options menu.

Alarm properties - Alarms, alarm coverage and alarm sounds can be changed.
News properties - News can be turned on or off for US and Canadian news sources.
Colors - Color schemes can be selected for each view type.
Fonts - Font face and size can be changed.
Highlights - Change highlight behaviour can be modifiied.
Exchange Rate - Set the US to Canadian exchange rate used for Portfolio valuation, and for charting stocks in the other currency.
Chart Summaries - Turns display of cursor position summary on or off.

How do I make suggestions or get help with the Day Trader Workstation?

Send email to webmaster@stockwatch.com
Last modified: September 26, 2007