eSignal - Chart Trading

ICE Data Services -

eSignal allows you to conveniently place trades directly from the chart window. (Please note: The chart trading feature does not work with an eSignal Classic Subscription.
 
 
To get started, visit our Trading Integration Partners page to view a complete list of brokerages and trading service provider partners. Most of our integrated broker plug-ins are automatically included in eSignal. Once you have setup your broker's plug-in via the Broker Manager, you can begin trading directly from the charts.

There are two components of Chart Trading in eSignal: (1) The Trading Panel and (2) Right-clicking on the chart.

The Trading Panel allows you to open or close a position at the market, at the bid or ask, view a summary of current profit / loss and close or reverse your current positions. Money management strategies can be employed to support partial or fully automated position management.

How to Enable the Trading Panel
To enable the trading panel, select the Chart Trading icon (up/down arrows)  from the title bar at the top of the chart. a keyboard shortcut (ctrl + t) is also available. it will appear to right of the chart and become part of the chart window itself.



Buy and Sell at Market, Bid or Ask buttons: Allows you to conveniently place market orders or limit orders at the bid or ask price.
Cancel All: Cancels all open orders associated with the symbol.
Reverse: Reverses current position from long to short or short to long depending on the Reverse Logic Option setting selected in Application Properties.
Close: Closes current open position and any open orders associated with it.
Position Summary: Shows current position profit or loss.
Number or Shares/Contracts:  Allows you set the number of shares/contracts for orders.
Change: Allows you to chose common amounts of shares/contracts.
MM Strategy: Allows you to pick an MM Strategy to be automatically applied after the position is established to set stops and/or profit targets. You can use an MMS to "bracket the market", for example. Click here for information on how to use the MM Strategy feature. Select a current MM Strategy from the drop down box arrow to select an existing strategy.

Trading by Right-Clicking on the Chart
Right-click on the chart at the price level where you wish to place the order. The following menu will appear:



New Order: The order type will also be dependent on where you clicked relative to the current price. If you click above the current market price, you have the option to place a Sell Limit, Buy Stop, or a Buy Stop Limit order. If you click below the current market price, you have the option to place a Buy Limit, Sell Stop, or a Sell Stop Limit order.
Cancel All Orders: Cancels all open orders on the chart.
Flatten All: Closes ALL open positions (even on different pages).

Display of Orders and Positions Labels on the Chart
After an order is submitted, a order label will appear on the chart, as shown below. The label in this example is colored green, since it is buy order (a sell order is colored red). The first item on the label is the number of shares or contracts. In this example, the order is for 100 shares. The type of order is the next item and in this case, it is a Buy Limit. The next item is an "X" which is the Cancel Order function (you can also use the Cancel All Button on the Trading Panel). Next is the price level of the order and in this case, since it is buy order, it is also highlighted in green.



How to Modify or Cancel an Existing Order
An open order can be modified several ways. The price, for example, of a stop, stop limit or limit order can be adjusted by dragging-and-dropping the order type section of the label to the new price. The amount of shares or contracts can be modified by simply left-clicking twice on the current number of shares or contracts displayed on the order label and entering the new amount. Orders can be also be modified by right-clicking on the label and selecting Modify Order, which will bring up the order ticket window where you can make changes to the order.

An open order can be cancelled several ways also. You click on the "X" icon on the order label, right-click on the order label and select
Cancel Order and select the order to be cancelled. Clicking on the Cancel All button on the Trading Panel will also cancel the order but will also cancel any other open order(s) on the chart.

Display of Position Labels on the Chart
After an order is executed, a position label is placed on the chart. The label in this example is colored green, since it is at a profit. If it was a loss, it would be colored red. The first item on the label is the amount of profit or loss. In this example, the position has $50.00 profit. The number of shares or contracts is the next item. In this case, it is a 1 contract position. The next item is the "R" icon which is the Reverse Position function. Next on the position label is the "X" icon which closes the position. Finally, on the price axis, the entry price of the position is highlighted with a colored arrow. The color of the arrow will be green if the position is profitable and red if it is a loss.



How to Reverse or Close a Position
There several ways to reverse positions. You can click the Reverse button on the Trading Panel or click the "R" icon on the position label. Additionally, you can right-click on the position label and select Reverse Position.  Both methods implement the Reverse Logic Option selected in Application Properties.

There several ways to close positions. You can click the Close button on the Trading Panel or click the "X" icon on the position label. Additionally, you can right-click on the position label and select Close Position.

Chart Properties - Trading



Trading
Visible With Trading Panel Only:
The order and position labels are displayed on the chart only when the Trading Panel is displayed.
Font: Changes the font of the order and position labels.
Executions: Allows the configuration of execution label.
Show Arrow: Displays an arrow showing which bar the order was executed on.
Show Text: Display text of executed order info.
Execution: Selects the color of the execution label.

Positions
Show Positions:
Toggles display of position label on the chart on or off.
Show PL (on the chart): Toggles display of current profit/loss on the position label on or off.
Extend Position Line: Toggles display of horizontal line showing price of where position was opened on or off.
Profitable Position: Selects the color to be displayed when the position is profitable.
Unprofitable Position: Selects the color to be displayed when the position is unprofitable.

Orders
Show Orders:
Displays label showing open orders.
Extend Order Lines: Toggles display of horizontal line showing price of where order was placed on or off.
Buy Order: Changes the of color of a buy order.
Sell Order: Changes the of color of a sell order.
Pending Order: Changes the of color of a pending order.
Pending Order Transparency: Adjusts the opaqueness of the pending order display.

Application Properties



Trading
Confirm Orders Before Submitting:
Toggles whether an order ticket will appear before an order is submitted.
Confirm EFS Orders: Displays the order ticket when an order is placed through an EFS study, is submitted.
Play Sound on MMS cancellations: Plays sound when MMS strategy cancelled.
Confirm MMS cancellations: Displays a warning message when new order will cancel the existing MMS or a portion of it.
Reverse Logic Option
Reverse position only, no MMS:
No MMS is applied to reversed position.
Reverse position and apply MMS defined Qty: Reverses position using the quantity of shares or contracts specified by the selected MMS.
Reverse position and apply Qty of existing position to MMS: Reverses the position using the quantity of the existing position.