Help for New IB user

F

froggie

Hi traders,

I am trying to figure out how I can input a stock symbol into IB's market depth window without having to go thru 3 steps which takes 10 seconds of valuable time!! Here is what happens:

1. Where it shows the symbol in the market depth window, I double click and it clears the current symbol. Then I put in the new symbol and hit enter.

2. It asks if the symbol is for stock, futures, etc etc...And I have to choose "stock".

3. Then it goes to the routing options window where I have to click "ok".

I finally get the symbol in and the stock price has gone up by 20 cents already!!!!!!
Can anyone who trades stocks in IB help me? I just want to enter the stock symbol, hit enter, and get the market depth info. I do not understand why things have to be so complicated at IB.

And please, don't say "ASK IB"..Thanks.
 
If you have the stock showing in your main window, you can highlight it (click on it) then select Ticker->Show Market Depth from the main menu. That will bring up a market depth window on whatever is highlighted.
 
I suggest you look at the book trader to trade as opposed to the market depth window.

In any event, the easiest thing would be to have a page of symbols you follow and click on the symbol and hit the book trader or market depth icons to quickly pop up a window. You could then either kill the old window or run both concurrently.
 
The problem is that I dont follow fixed symbols. I may buy any symbol at any point in time....Looks like this is gonna be a hassle..
 
Quote from froggie:

The problem is that I dont follow fixed symbols. I may buy any symbol at any point in time....Looks like this is gonna be a hassle..
More...

If you use TWS, sounds like it. You can however use 3rd party apps that connect to TWS that have different user interfaces. QuoteTracker for example lets you enter the symbol right in the Level II window. Same goes for a number of others:
http://www.quotetracker.com
 
thanks ill try it but I'm afraid to give up trade speed. IB is like lightning(millisecond trading). Do I have to sacrifice the speed if i use a third party front end?
 
Quote from froggie:

thanks ill try it but I'm afraid to give up trade speed. IB is like lightning(millisecond trading). Do I have to sacrifice the speed if i use a third party front end?
More...

1) you can use the front end for quotes only and still place trades via TWS

2) the front end connects to TWS via TCP/IP locally. The time it takes to send the trade from one to the other would be measured in a few hundreds of a second. If thats a problem, then you may want to reconsider your trading strategy :)
 
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