The Order Display Study
The Order Display study shows on an intraday bar chart your entry points for executed trades and any resting orders. The executed trades are upward arrows for buys and downward arrows for sells. Any open orders are shown as horizontal lines from the time point the order was placed.
The Order Display study works well in conjunction with the SnapTrader and Order Book. These two features are order routing and order management. Use the SnapTrader place market, stop and limit orders. The Order Book details your current position, open orders, and you can cancel open orders.
The Order Display study is a useful study on two counts. First, you see the placement of your fills on the chart and you can easily monitor your resting orders by seeing them marked on the chart. If you trade with set targets and set stop loss points, and don’t happed to have set them as an OCO (order-cancels-other), then you will see resting orders still on the chart to cancel if other order is filled. You can cancel any resting orders by right clicking on the line and select cancel order.
Another feature about the Order Display study is it is an excellent tool for reviewing your trades at the end of the day. You can evaluate where you are entering and exiting the market and determine if you are executing according to your plan or at least your expectations.
Are you buying when the market is testing support or are you hesitating and executing late, which will increase your risk and cut down on your potential profits. Do you tend to chase the market? Or, and even a more serious problem, is do you let a losing position get away from you and you end up with losses larger than planned.
Here are two charts to compare ideas, which I created in PhotoShop. (I am still working on getting my trading right!)
Chart 1 is an example of what you would like to see as signs that you are buying near support and selling near resistance and if the trade does not work then the trade is exited with a break of the support or resistance.
Chart 2 exhibits evidence that the trades are taken far from support and resistance levels, and that the profits are taken quickly and the losses are allowed to run. The last sell was taken based on fear that support would be broken, but support was not broken. This trading is buying high with the hope of selling higher. Instead, the trader is buying high and selling low.
Using the Order Display study to review order entry and trade management at the end of the session can lead to a clear evaluation of the results coming from trading decisions.