A Comprehensive Guide to Tradestation Order Entry

Tradestation order entry can be overwhelming, especially for beginners. There are multiple ways to place orders, including Market Order, Limit Order, and Stop Order.

A Market Order is a basic order type that allows you to buy or sell a security at the current market price. It's the most common type of order used by traders.

When placing a Market Order, you can choose from various execution options, such as Immediate or Cancel, which allows you to cancel the order if it's not executed immediately.

On a similar theme: How Do I Cancel an Order on Dhgate?

To get started with TradeStation order entry, you need to understand the basics of setting up your trades. You can set the default quantity and quantity increment for each asset class.

When placing a trade, you can easily change the settings on the Trade Bar, so don't worry if you need to adjust your quantities on the fly.

Previewing orders on a chart is a crucial step in the order entry process. It allows you to review and verify the details of your orders before submitting them.

You can preview orders on a chart by clicking on the "Preview" button, which is usually located at the top of the order entry screen. This will display a summary of the order, including the customer, product, quantity, and any special instructions.

The chart view can be customized to show only the information you need, making it easier to review and verify orders quickly.

Setting up your order entry preferences is a great place to start. You can set the default quantity and quantity increment for each asset class.

For instance, let's say you want to trade stocks by default. You can set the default quantity to 100 shares and the quantity increment to 10 shares. This way, when you place a trade, you can quickly adjust the quantity to your liking.

The default duration for trades is Day, but you can choose from other options depending on the asset class.

On a similar theme: How to Place an Order?

In TradeStation, you can customize your order entry settings to suit your trading style. To set up validation warnings and enable/disable order confirms for Equities orders, access the Equities - Validations & Confirms dialog.

You can receive warning messages when a limit price is more than a specified percentage from the Last value, when an order quantity exceeds a certain number of shares, when a position cost exceeds a certain dollar amount, or when Activation Rules will trigger an order to be placed immediately.

To control the Confirm dialog default settings for order placement, check the settings for displaying the Confirm dialog when placing an Equity order from various windows, such as the Matrix window, Order Bar, Macros, Market Depth window, Quick Trade Bar, and OptionStation Pro.

Here are the settings for displaying the Confirm dialog:

You can display a Confirm Order dialog containing the details of your order before you actually send the order.

To disable order confirmations, drag the slider to the left. This will turn off confirmations in all of your Web Trading orders until you re-enable them.

If you want to enable order confirmations when you drag and drop on a chart, drag the slider to the right.

Here's a quick reference guide to help you manage confirmations:

You can customize the order entry preferences to suit your trading style. This includes setting up validation warnings for Equities orders.

To access the Equities - Validations & Confirms dialog, go to File > Preferences > TradeStation Order Entry and select Equities > Validations & Confirms.

You can set up validation warnings for specific scenarios, such as limiting price deviations and excessive order quantities.

To warn if a limit price is more than a certain percentage from the Last value, check the "Warn if limit price is more than [ ] % from Last" setting and enter the desired percentage in the box.

Similarly, you can warn if an order quantity exceeds a specified number of shares or if a position cost exceeds a certain dollar amount.

Here's a summary of the validation warning settings:

You can also control the Confirm dialog default settings for order placement. This includes settings for displaying the Confirm dialog when placing an Equity order from various windows and objects.

To display the Confirm dialog when placing an Equity order from the Matrix window, check the "Matrix" setting. Similar settings are available for the Order Bar, Macros, Order Placement objects, Market Depth, Quick Trade Bar, and OptionStation Pro.

Suggestion: When Can I Order a Maverick?

You can enter equities orders directly into the Tradestation platform, or use the Order Ticket to customize and execute trades.

The Order Ticket is a pre-built template that allows you to quickly enter orders with specific parameters.

Tradestation supports multiple order types, including Market, Limit, Stop, and Bracket orders.

Market orders are executed at the current market price, while Limit orders are executed at a specified price or better.

Stop orders are triggered when a stock reaches a specified price, and Bracket orders are a combination of a Stop and Limit order.

You can also use the "at market" option to execute a Limit order at the current market price.

Tradestation's Order Ticket also allows you to specify the quantity and type of shares you want to buy or sell.

Explore further: What Is a Market Stock Order

Order types are the foundation of successful trading, and Tradestation offers a variety of options to suit different strategies.

Market orders are executed immediately at the current market price, eliminating the risk of slippage but potentially missing out on better prices.

Limit orders can be set to buy or sell at a specific price, allowing traders to take control of their entry and exit points.

Stop-loss orders are designed to limit potential losses by automatically selling a security when it falls below a certain price, helping to protect capital.

Limit orders are a type of order that can only be placed on the next bar, which can be the next minute, the next 5 minutes, or the next day, depending on the data interval.

A buy limit order enters the market on the next bar at the specified price or lower, and a sell short limit order enters the market on the next bar at the specified price or higher.

Regardless of how much lower the next bar opens, a limit order to enter the market long will be generated, which can be significant in the case of "gap down" bars.

Limit orders can be particularly useful in situations where you want to enter the market at a specific price, but you're not sure if the market will reach that price on the current bar.

Stop orders are placed on the next bar if the stop price is triggered. By default, strategy stop prices are monitored by your local computer but you also have the option of sending them to the TradeStation stop server to be monitored.

A stop order is a type of order that allows you to sell or close a position when a certain price is reached. This can be a useful tool for managing risk and limiting potential losses.

Stop orders can be placed on the next bar if the stop price is triggered, which means the order will be executed at the next available price. This can help you get out of a position quickly if the market moves against you.

You have the option to send your stop prices to the TradeStation stop server for monitoring, which can provide an added layer of protection and peace of mind.