Esignal may be one of the best trading software out there, but when it comes to basic stuff of trading, it just toughens me up. One of the nuisances I dealt with was changing the default order size. Esignal originally sets it at 101 shares, if you are trading stocks! So, how do I change that to 100 shares or any other figure?
The problem with 101 shares
I like round numbers. I am sure most stock traders do. You hear it all the time: “I just bought 100 shares of that”, “I went short 400 shares”, “Get me 1,000 shares”!
[quote type=”center”]Would you call your broker and order 101, 401 or 1001 shares?[/quote]
Changing the default trade size was my biggest annoyance. Esignal does feature a quite useful method for users to change the size of their trade quickly. By clicking on the default order size, a new box is presented, where they can add 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 or 500 shares to the initial default size. Yet, when the default trade size is 101, users end up with all kind of peculiar trade sizes, like 121, 201 or 551 shares!
Searching for the solution to the default order size
I searched everywhere for the solution. I began by doing numerous searches at Google, visited the knowledge base of Esignal and scanned their communities’ messages. In the end, I failed to find even the slightest mention of the problem I had been dealing with for weeks.
No one seemed to even care or notice the issue. That would be because:
- Either Esignal traders have fun sizing up their trades in an odd way.
- Or it was super easy to change the default size.
I went for the second option.
Changing the default order size: Order ticket!
It turned out it wasn’t that easy to find the option to change the default size. After digging into Esignal software, I am happy to report that I finally managed to find how to change the default order size! Hurray!
- Start by picking a stock.
- Click on Trade at the top toolbar and click on New Order.
- At the right part of the new window that pops up, change the Display Size to your preferable default size. Each time you will be loading a stock chart or the Trade Manager (aka trading ladder), you will start trading using this number of shares.
- And now for the tricky part: Note the little pull down menu on the bottom left corner, still in the same Order Ticket window. It reads Defaults! Click and choose Set as Default for All Stocks. Hallelujah!
[infobox title=’Bonus tip‘]You can also change your trade’s expiration time in the same window! Check out the TIF option. My favorite is Good Till Cancel(led).[/infobox]
My trading life just got easier. Hopefully yours did too, if you can afford Esignal trading software that is! In case you are using other popular software like NinjaTrader, I am sure you never had trouble changing the default order size. And why would you? That’s elementary stuff for a trading software. I guess Esignal has their reasons for hiding it so well. Or maybe it’s just me.
So, what trading software/platform do you use when trading stocks? Have you invested in third-party software or do you stick with your broker’s platform (I already compared Esignal and Interactive Brokers)? Let me know in the comments below.
