Home >> (Table of Contents) Trading >> Trade Account and Risk Management

Trade Account and Risk Management

Introduction
Commands
Account and Risk Management Settings
Update and Commit Buttons
Alerts
Global Positions View
Start/End of Trading Day
End of Day Processing Times
Specific Tasks
Account Balances Import File
Account Positions Import File
Uploading Import Files
Trading Spreads and Position Reporting for Spreads
How Margin Percentage is Determined

Introduction

This page documents the user interfaces and all of the tasks, for creating and managing trade accounts and setting risk management settings for those accounts for the Sierra Chart simulated and live server-based order routing and trading environments.

2021-07-24: This page is still in the process of being updated and completed.

Commands

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This section describes the commands accessible from the Trade >> Trade Account Monitor >> Manage menu.

New Trade Account

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Follow the instructions below to create a new trading account and share it to a user.

Select Global Settings >> Data/Trade Service Settings.
Set the Current Selected Service to Trading Evaluator [trading] or Trading Evaluator - Delayed [trading] depending upon whether you want to use the real-time or delayed trading evaluator.

For live trading this needs to be set to Teton [exchange name] Futures Order Routing

Refer to the image below.
Make sure Sierra Chart is connected to the data feed with File >> Connect to Data Feed.
Press the OK button.
From within Sierra Chart, select Trade >> Trade Account Monitor. If this window does not display, then select Window >> Reset Windows. And repeat opening the Trade Account Monitor again.
From the Trade Account Monitor window, select Manage >> New Trade Account.
Enter the trade account identifier, use letters and numbers only (_ and - are allowed). Press the OK button.
The Trade Account Settings window will display.
Select Main from the menu.
On the Main tab, set the Currency Code.
On the Main tab, set other settings as required. The defaults should be fine for most cases.
On the Main tab in the Margin Settings section, set Use Percent of Required Margin to the percentage of the exchange specified margin requirement to actually use. 100 will use the exchange specified margin. 50 will use 50% of the exchange specified margin.
Press the Commit button to save the new trade account to the server.
If successful, you will receive a Commit is Successful prompt. Press OK for that.
Select Read/Write Shared Usernames from the menu.
In the Add New Read/Write Shared SC Username >> SC Username box, enter the Sierra Chart username (Account Name) that you want to share the trading account with. This will be the user who is meant to trade the account.

If you do not know this, you need to ask the user this. They will find it under Help >> About in their Sierra Chart installation.
Left click on the [Add] button below twice to invoke the add action. Refer to the image below. There is no need to perform a Commit after this, as this operation is sent to the server immediately. You will receive a prompt confirming the add is successful.

Press the Close button.
You can monitor the new trade account through the Trade >> Trade Account Monitor window.

Edit Trade Account

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Follow the instructions below to edit an existing Trade Account, and change its settings including risk management settings.

Select Global Settings >> Data/Trade Service Settings.
Set the Current Selected Service to Trading Evaluator [trading] or Trading Evaluator - Delayed [trading] depending upon whether you want to use the real-time or delayed trading evaluator.

For live trading this needs to be set to Teton CME Order Routing.

Refer to the image below.
Press the OK button.
Make sure Sierra Chart is connected to the data feed with File >> Connect to Data Feed.
From within Sierra Chart, select Trade >> Trade Account Monitor. If this window does not display, then select Window >> Reset Windows. And repeat opening the Trade Account Monitor again.
From the Trade Account Monitor window, select the specific account in the list that you want to edit.
From the Trade Account Monitor window, select Manage >> Edit Trade Account.
The Trade Account Settings window will display for that account. You will receive a message indicating the Update is successful. This indicates all of the existing settings have been received from the server. Until this message is displayed, you cannot edit the account.
Use the menus at the top to select between the different available tabs.
After making the necessary changes, press the Commit button to commit the changes to the server.
If successful, you will receive a Commit is successful prompt.
Press the Close button.

Duplicate Trade Account

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Follow the instructions below to duplicate an existing Trade Account to create a new Trade Account based upon an existing Trade Account and then to share this new Trade Account to a user for trading.

Using this method, you can use existing Trade Accounts as templates. These template accounts, do not have to be used for trading. They can be set to have trading disabled and just used as templates.

Select Global Settings >> Data/Trade Service Settings.
Set the Current Selected Service to Trading Evaluator [trading] or Trading Evaluator - Delayed [trading] depending upon whether you want to use the real-time or delayed trading evaluator.

For live trading this needs to be set to Teton CME Order Routing.

Refer to the image below.
Press the OK button.
Make sure Sierra Chart is connected to the data feed with File >> Connect to Data Feed.
From within Sierra Chart, select Trade >> Trade Account Monitor. If this window does not display, then select Window >> Reset Windows. And repeat opening the Trade Account Monitor again.
From the Trade Account Monitor window, select the line for the Trade Account you want to duplicate, in the list.
From the Trade Account Monitor window, select Manage >> Duplicate Trade Account.
Enter the new trade account identifier you want to use, use letters and numbers only (_ and - are allowed). Press the OK button.
At the Include existing shared usernames prompt, click No to prevent the existing usernames from being included since most likely you will want to share the account with other usernames.
The Trade Account Settings window will display.
Select Main from the menu.
Press the Commit button to save the new trade account to the server.
If successful, you will receive a Commit is successful prompt. Press OK for that.
Select Read/Write Shared Usernames from the menu.
In the Add New Read/Write Shared SC Username >> SC Username box, enter the Sierra Chart username (Account Name) that you want to share the trading account with. If you do not know this, you need to ask the user this. They will find it under Help >> About in their Sierra Chart installation.
Left click on the [Add] button below twice to invoke the add action. Refer to the image below. There is no need to perform a Commit after this, as this operation is sent to the server immediately. You will receive a prompt confirming the add is successful.

Press the Close button.
You can monitor the new trade account through the Trade >> Trade Account Monitor window.

Add Manual/Correcting Order Fill

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To add a correcting or manual fill to a Trade Account for a symbol, follow the instructions below.

This does not result in submitting of an order to the exchange. It is only an internal adjustment to the Position Quantity for a specific Trade Account.

After adding a correcting/manual fill, the margin requirement is recalculated for the Trade Position and Trade Account.

From within Sierra Chart, select Trade >> Trade Account Monitor. If this window does not display, then select Window >> Reset Windows. And repeat opening the Trade Account Monitor again.
From the Trade Account Monitor window, select the line for the Trade Account you want to add a correcting order fill for in the list.
From the Trade Account Monitor window, select Manage >> Add Correcting Order Fill.
Left click twice on the [Select Symbol] button field. Select the symbol that you want to add a correcting order fill for and press OK.
Enter a unique Client Order ID for the fill. This can be any identifier that you want to use for the fill. If you are not sure what to use, use the current date. Example: 20220214.
Choose whether this is a Buy or Sell fill.
Enter a Fill Price.
Enter the Fill Quantity.
Enter optional text in the Free Form Text field.
Press the Commit button to submit the fill. The Trade Positions window will then update with the correction.

Deleting Trade Account

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To delete a Trade Account, follow the instructions below. You would want to delete a Trade Account, if it is no longer needed or it was created by mistake.

If you want to change the Trade Account identifier of an account, then you need to duplicate the existing account. After that delete the Trade Account following the instructions below.

When you delete a Trade Account, the order and fill history for the account will still be preserved and can be accessed later by re-creating the account.

Working orders and positions, are not removed when deleting a Trade Account.

From within Sierra Chart, select Trade >> Trade Account Monitor. If this window does not display, then select Window >> Reset Windows. And repeat opening the Trade Account Monitor again.
From the Trade Account Monitor window, select the line for the Trade Account you want to delete. If you do not see the account listed, then on the Trade Account Monitor menu, uncheck Balance >> Hide Disabled Accounts.
If you still do not see the Trade Account listed, then select Edit >> Clear Trade Account Filter.
From the Trade Account Monitor window, select Manage >> Edit Trade Account.
Select Manage Trade Account from the menu of the new opened window for the account.
In the Value column, left click twice on [Delete Trade Account?].
Read the message and press Yes to confirm.
Press Yes to confirm the second confirmation. The account will then be deleted.

Account Balance Adjustments

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It is supported to perform credit and debit transactions on the Account Balance of a trading account.

In the case of a live trading account, these adjustments can only be done by authorized users.

Go to Sierra Chart and select Trade >> Trade Account Monitor.
Left click on the line in the list, the specific Trade Account you want to adjust the balance for.
On the Trade Account Monitor window menu, select Balance >> Adjust Account Balance.
Enter a positive number to increase the balance. Enter a negative number to decrease to balance. Do not use the comma (,) character.
Press OK.
The adjustment goes into effect immediately. You will see the adjustment reflected on the line in the Trade Account Monitor window for the Trade Account.

Account and Risk Management Settings

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Main

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This is the main tab that specifies all the settings for a trade account, except settings which are specific to individual symbols and assignments of the trade account to specific Sierra Chart usernames.

Trade Account (General Settings)

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This is the unique identifier for the trade account which is used throughout all of the order and trade processing and management functionality.

It can consist of the letters A through Z, both uppercase and lowercase. And the numbers 0 through 9, and the characters '-' and '_'.

This setting is read-only. The Trade Account identifier is either entered, or selected from the Trade Account Monitor list before the Trade Account Settings window is displayed.

Avoid using a naming pattern like Sim#[##] (where the # are numbers) for a Trade Account identifier because these conflict with Sierra Chart simulated account identifiers. This would only be for accounts created in the simulated trading service.

Currency Code (General Settings)

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This setting is a standard currency for the currency of the account. It is supported to have a currency different than the currency used for the securities/contracts being traded. Current exchange rates are used to do the currency conversions.

Although it is recommended normally to use a currency which matches the predominant currency used for the securities/contracts being traded.

Firm ID (Live account only) (Identification Settings)

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This setting is the firm identifier, as provided by the exchange. It is submitted with the orders sent to the exchange.

This is an optional setting, and it is recommended not to set this. It will be set at the server level based upon the configuration for the clearing firm.

If this has been set to a nonempty string, and it is not set correctly, it will result in an order rejection.

Sender Sub ID (Tag50) (Live account Only) (Identification Settings)

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This setting is the Sender Sub ID field sent with the orders to the exchange. This needs to be set if the exchange requires it.

Sender Sub IDs for Usernames (Live account Only) (Identification Settings)

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When a Trade Account is shared to multiple usernames, this field is used to specify a different Sender Sub ID and Location ID for each username.

For proper support for this field, it is necessary to use version 2599 or higher of Sierra Chart.

There can be multiple usernames specified on a single line with each one separated by a semicolon. The format is: [Username]=[SenderSubID]|[LocationID];

Example: UserJohn=John100;UserJoe=Joe100|US,MI

If the Sender Sub IDs for Usernames field is blank, or a particular username does not specify a Sender Sub ID, then the Sender Sub ID field is used instead.

Sender Sub IDs for Usernames is also supported on the master firm control account. The reason you would want to set this field on the master firm control account is for risk managers who have access to more than one trading account. This is so that you can set the Username and their Sender Sub identifier and Location identifier, once and have it globally applied to all trading accounts.

Sender Location ID (Live account Only) (List) (Identification Settings)

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This setting is the Sender Location ID of the trader. This is set with the orders sent to the exchange. Select a location from the list.

Self Match Prevention ID (Live account Only) (Identification Settings)

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This setting is an optional self match prevention ID sent with the orders to the exchange. It is used to prevent the orders from the same clearing firm from being matched with each other.

CTI Code (Live account Only) (List) (Identification Settings)

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This setting is the Customer Type Indicator (CTI) code sent with the orders to the exchange. Choose the appropriate one from the list. Consult the exchange for the meaning of the different identifiers. Below is information from the CME for the meaning of CTI codes 1 through 4.

CTI 1: Applies to orders entered or trades executed by an individual member for their own account, for an account they controls, or for an account in which they have an ownership or financial interest. However, transactions initiated and executed by a member for the proprietary account of a member firm must be designated as CTI 2 transactions.
CTI 2: Applies to orders entered or trades executed for the proprietary accounts of a member firm, including Rule 106.H., I., N., R. and S. firms.
CTI 3: Applies to orders entered by a member or a nonmember terminal operator for the account of another individual member or an account controlled by such individual member.
CTI 4: Applies to all orders and transactions not included in CTI categories 1, 2, or 3. These typically are orders entered by or on behalf of nonmember entities.

Descriptive Name (Identification Settings)

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This setting is an optional descriptive name that you can assign to the Trade Account. It is a free-form text field. It is visible in the Trade Account Monitor.

Customer Or Firm (Identification Settings)

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Require Sufficient Margin For New Positions (Margin Settings)

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This is a Yes/No setting. It controls if there must be a sufficient Net Liquidating Value in the account, to meet the required margin requirement for the current open Orders and Positions.

This must be set to Yes, for Live trading accounts. Otherwise, the order would be rejected. There must be a margin check, for live order routing.

This setting can be set to No for simulated trading accounts. However, when it is set to No, a Position Limit needs to be set for the symbol being traded.

Use Percent of Required Margin (Margin Settings)

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This setting specifies the percent of the exchange specified margin to use for Orders and Positions. If it is set to 100, then 100% of the exchange specified margin is required.

This is a global value that applies to all symbols. Although it can be set individually for symbols. In which case if it is set for a specific symbol, then this setting is overridden for that symbol.

To set this individually for a symbol, refer to Symbol/Product Limits.

Minimum Required Account Balance For Positions (Margin Settings)

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This is a Yes/No setting. This specifies as a currency value in the currency of the Trade Account, the minimum required Account Value (Net Liquidating Value), which is required to submit orders. If the Account Value of the Trade Account is below this value, the orders are rejected.

When Flatten Positions When Under Margin Intraday is set to Yes, and the Minimum Required Account Balance For Positions setting is greater than zero, and the current Account Value is below the Minimum Required Account Balance For Positions, then all of the positions for the Trade Account will be closed. This can happen at any time during the trading day.

Maximum Allowed Account Balance For Margin Positions As Percentage (Margin Settings)

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This setting specifies as a percentage, the percent of the Net Liquidating Value of the account which will be used for margin for Orders and Positions.

For example, if this were to be set to 50, then only 50% of the account value would be allowed to be used for margin. The other 50% would be in reserve.

Flatten Positions When Under Margin Intraday (Margin Settings)

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This is a Yes/No setting. When this setting is set to Yes, then when the Net Liquidating Value of the account is less than 10% of the required margin, then all of the Positions in the Trade Account will be closed/flattened. The evaluation for this condition is every 500 ms.

This functionality is currently only available for simulated trading accounts. This functionality is disabled for Live trading regardless of this setting.

Flatten Positions When Under Margin At End Of Day (Margin Settings)

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This is a Yes/No setting. When this setting is set to Yes, then when the Net Liquidating Value of the account is less than 99% of the required margin, then all of the Positions in the Trade Account will be closed/flattened. The evaluation for this condition is at the end of the trading day. Refer to Start/End of Trading Day.

This functionality is disabled for Live trading regardless of this setting. It is only used for simulated trading accounts.

Use Fixed Cash on Hand Balance (Margin Settings)

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It is supported to reset an account balance, at the end of the trading day to a fixed specified balance.

Set the Use Fixed Cash on Hand Balance setting to Yes to reset the account balance at the end of the trading day to the amount specified in the Fixed Cash on Hand Balance setting.

Refer to the image below for these settings.

Fixed Cash on Hand Balance (Margin Settings)

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When the Use Fixed Cash on Hand Balance setting is set to Yes, then the Fixed Cash on Hand Balance setting specifies the fixed cash value to set the account balance to at the end of the day.

Funds on Hold to Deduct from Account Balance (Margin Settings)

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This setting specifies funds as a currency value, to deduct from the available margin for the account. It has an expiration date set with the Funds on Hold Expiration Date setting.

If the account balance is 250 USD. And 100 USD is set as the funds on hold, then the available balance for margin is 150 USD.

Funds on Hold Expiration Date (YYYY-MM-DD) (Margin Settings)

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This is the expiration date, according to UTC time for the funds specified to be on hold through the Funds on Hold to Deduct from Account Balance setting.

The expiration date, is always the end of the day, ending at 23:59:59 UTC time, on the specified date.

Use Percent of Required Margin for Day Trading (Day Trade Margin Settings)

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This setting is only used when the Begin/End Time For Day Trading Margin settings have specified a day trade time range.

This setting specifies the percent of the exchange specified margin to use for Orders submitted during the day trade time range. If there is already a Position on the Trade Account for the symbol from the prior day or outside of the day trade time range, then this setting is not used and the standard margin setting applies.

If it is set to 100, then 100% of the exchange specified margin is required.

This is a global value that applies to all symbols. Although it can be set individually for symbols. In which case if it is set for a specific symbol, then this setting is overridden for that symbol.

To set this individually for a symbol, refer to Symbol/Product Limits.

Close Positions At End Of Day (Day Trade Margin Settings)

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This is a Yes/No setting. When this setting is set to Yes, then Positions in the Trade Account are closed at the end of the trading day according to the Start/End of Trading Day setting.

This setting is ignored for Live trading.

Begin Time For Day Trading Margin (Day Trade Margin Settings)

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This setting specifies the beginning time of the day, to use the Use Percent of Required Margin for Day Trading setting for required margin calculations.

If this is set to 00:00 and End Time for Day Trading Margin is also set to 00:00, then the day trading margin settings are all ignored and effectively disabled.

End Time For Day Trading Margin (Day Trade Margin Settings)

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This setting specifies the ending time of the day, to use the Use Percent of Required Margin for Day Trading setting for required margin calculations.

If this is set to 00:00 and Begin Time for Day Trading Margin is also set to 00:00, then the day trading margin settings are all ignored and effectively disabled.

Day Margin Time Zone (List) (Day Trade Margin Settings)

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This setting specifies the time zone for the Begin/End Time For Day Trading Margin time settings. Those time values are interpreted according to this time zone.

Use Percent of Required Margin for Overnight Trading (Day Trade Margin Settings)

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This setting specifies the Daily Net Loss limit, as a fixed currency value in the currency of the account.

This setting is ignored, if Percent Of Account Value For Daily Net Loss Limit is set to a nonzero value.

The Daily Net Loss is calculated from the sum of the closed positions profit/loss for the trading day, and the open profit/loss for the currently open positions.

This is a negative number but if it is entered as a positive number it will be interpreted as a negative number regardless.

When the Daily Net Loss has been reached, and Do Not Allow Increase In Positions At Daily Loss Limit is set to Yes, then until the new trading day begins, usually during the start of the evening session, it is not possible to increase or establish new positions until then.

Percent Of Account Value For Daily Net Loss Limit (Daily Net Loss Limit Settings)

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This setting specifies the Daily Net Loss Limit, as a percentage of the Net Liquidating Value (NLV) of the account, at the time this is set, or at the start of the trading day when that is encountered.

This setting is only used when it has been set to a nonzero percentage. 1 = 1% and 100 = 100%.

The Daily Net Loss Limit is recalculated each day at the Start/End of Trading Day. It is also recalculated when there is an account balance adjustmentif Recalculate Daily Loss Limit is enabled on the Account Balance Adjustment window.

The Daily Loss is calculated from the sum of the closed positions profit/loss for the trading day, and the open profit/loss for the currently open positions.

When the Daily Loss has been reached, and Do Not Allow Increase In Positions At Daily Loss Limit is set to Yes, then until the new trading day begins, usually during the start of the evening session, it is not possible to increase or establish new positions until then.

The Daily Net Loss Limit is recalculated when there is an account balance adjustment and Recalculate Daily Loss Limit is enabled on the Account Balance Adjustment window.

This also includes account balance adjustments that occur overnight, when processing the Account Balances Import File. Therefore, if there is an account balance adjustment at that time, the Daily Net Loss Limit will be recalculated based the Net Liquidating Value for the account provided in this import file.

The Daily Net Loss Limit is recalculated each day at the Start/End of Trading Day based upon the net liquidating value of the account which includes, any open position profit or loss. The profit or loss of open positions are using the official settlement price at this time.

If an account has an open position loss of 100 USD and their net liquidating value is 125 which includes this 100 USD loss, then 80% of this is 100. The account balance is actually 225 and then there is a 100 USD loss which means the net liquidating value is 125. So therefore, at the time that the Daily Net Loss Limit, is recalculated, it becomes 100 USD. In this example, the account also has a 100 USD loss which means the account will have the positions closed at the time of the recalculation or when the market begins trading again.

The point here is that there is a recalculation every day of the Daily Net Loss Limitif it is based upon a percentage of account value. However, the open position loss continues to carry forward day to day. It does not reset. In other words the 100 USD the account has does not reset back to zero the next trading day. However, the Daily Net Loss Limit is recalculated every day. So the 100 USD open position loss is not reset to zero and the account can lose another 100. It does not work that way. That existing 100 USD loss, is used against the Daily Net Loss Limit of 100 in this case.

Do Not Allow Increase In Positions At Daily Loss Limit (Daily Net Loss Limit Settings)

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This is a Yes/No setting. When the Daily Loss Limit has been reached and this is set to Yes, then an increase in Position quantity is not allowed. Therefore, an order which can potentially increase the Position quantity will be rejected.

Flatten Positions At Daily Loss Limit (Daily Net Loss Limit Settings)

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This is a Yes/No setting. When the Daily Loss Limit has been reached and this is set to Yes, then all Positions for the Trade Account are flattened and closed out. Working orders are also canceled at the same time.

Another name for this feature is Auto Liquidation.

In the case of live trading, when this is triggered, the email address specified for Trade Account Data notices receives a notice of the triggering along with details.

This functionality is currently only available for simulated trading accounts. It will become available for live trading accounts in February 2022.

Use Trailing Account Value To Not Allow Increase In Positions (Daily Net Loss Limit Settings)

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Not currently documented or implemented. Implementation to be changed.

Reset Daily Net Loss Limit Has Been Reached (Daily Net Loss Limit Settings)

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When the Daily Net Loss Limit has been reached for a Trade Account, by default it will not be possible to enter a Position or increase a Position afterwards, until this state has been reset at the end of the trading day.

To allow the Trade Account to trade again, before the end of the day, set the Reset Daily Net Loss Limit Has Been Reached setting to Yes and perform a Commit. After performing a commit, this setting will change back to No.

Trading Is Disabled (Access Control Settings)

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This is a Yes/No setting. When this is set to Yes, then trading is disabled for the account. This means that order entry, order modifications and order cancellations are not possible. It is still possible to view Orders and Positions.

Trade Account Is Read Only (Access Control Settings)

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Liquidation Only Mode (Access Control Settings)

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This is a Yes/No setting. When this is set to Yes, then the Trade Account is in Liquidation Only mode. In this mode, it is only possible to reduce the quantity of existing positions. It is not possible to establish a new Position or increase the quantity of any existing Position.

Message Limit Per Ten Seconds (Access Control Settings)

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The default value for this is 0 which means the global server-based setting is used.

If this set to a nonzero number, it overrides the global default for the specific Trade Account being edited.

This can be set to a positive value indicating the number of allowed messages per 10 seconds. This includes order submissions, modifications and cancellations.

Maximum Global Position Quantity (Global Position Limit Settings)

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This setting specifies the maximum allowed Position quantity limit for the total of all Symbols in the Trade Account. This considers the quantity of both working Orders and Positions.

As an example, if this is set to 5, symbol AA has a Position quantity of 2 and symbol BB has a Position quantity of 3, then there will not be any additional increase allowed through new or existing orders for the Trade Account because the quantity limit has already been reached.

This value must be entered as a positive value. It applies to the total of all Long and Short Positions and Orders across all symbols for the Trade Account.

When this setting is set to 0, it means it is disabled.

This setting is ignored for a master firm control account. It only applies to the Trade Account for which it is set on.

Trade Fee Per Contract (one side) (Commission Settings)

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This setting is optional. This is the trade fee per contract per side. It is applied to the account, when a position is closed. It is also supported to set a fee per individual symbol. Refer to Symbol Commissions.

Authorized Usernames

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The authorized Usernames, are the usernames of the Sierra Chart users who are authorized to edit the trade account settings, and adjust account balances.

In the case of live trading, there should be no authorized usernames set here. This needs to remain blank in that case. Authorized users are not set through this interface and have to be configured on the server directly.

SC Usernames >> Trade Account Data Usernames (List) (SC Usernames)

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This list shows the currently set authorized users for the Trade Account.

Remove (Button) (SC Usernames)

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To remove a username from the list, select the username from the Trade Account Data Usernames drop-down list and left click on the Remove button field.

You will receive a prompt to remove the username, and another prompt when the operation is complete.

Add New SC Username >> SCUsername (Add New SC Username)

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This is an edit box, for adding a new authorized username. These are Sierra Chart usernames and the username that you are using in Sierra Chart can be found in Help >> About.

After entering the username, left click on the Add button field

Add (Button) (Add New SC Username)

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To add a username to the list, enter the username in the Add New SC Username >> SCUsername edit box and left click on the Add button field.

You will receive a prompt to dd the username, and another prompt when the operation is complete.

Symbol/Product Limits

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The Symbol/Product Limits tab is for specifying various limits and other risk parameters, per individual symbol or product.

Current Symbol Limits >> Symbols (List) (Current Symbol Limits)

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This is a list of all of the symbols that currently have limits set for them.

To add a symbol, refer to Add button.

Current Symbol Limits >> Trade Position Limit (Current Symbol Limits)

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This setting specifies the maximum allowed Position Quantity for the symbol for the Trade Account. This considers both working orders, and the current Position Quantity.

This setting only applies to the individual Trade Account the symbol limits are set on. In the case of the Master Firm Control Account, it has no effect upon the other Trade Accounts and is ignored.

Current Symbol Limits >> Order Quantity Limit (Current Symbol Limits)

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This setting specifies the maximum allowed order quantity for an individual order for the symbol for the Trade Account.

This setting only applies to the individual Trade Account the symbol limits are set on. In the case of the Master Firm Control Account, it has no effect upon the other Trade Accounts and is ignored.

Current Symbol Limits >> Use Percent of Required Margin (Current Symbol Limits)

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This setting specifies the Use Percent of Required Margin for the symbol for the Trade Account.

Current Symbol Limits >> Use Percent of Required Margin for Day Trading (Current Symbol Limits)

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This setting specifies the Use Percent of Required Margin for Day Trading for the symbol for the Trade Account.

Current Symbol Limits >> Fixed Margin Cash Value (Current Symbol Limits)

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This setting specifies a fixed currency value as the margin for the symbol/product. This can be used in place of a percentage. If this is set to 0, it means the setting is not used.

When Fixed Margin Cash Value is set to a nonzero value, set the Use Percent of Required Margin percentage to 0.

Current Symbol Limits >> Fixed Margin Cash Value for Day Trading (Current Symbol Limits)

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This setting specifies a fixed currency value as the margin for the symbol/product for the time when daytrading is in effect. This can be used in place of a percentage. If this is set to 0, it means the setting is not used.

When Fixed Margin Cash Value for Day Trading is set to a nonzero value, set the Use Percent of Required Margin for Day Trading percentage to 0.

Current Symbol Limits >> Override Margin Other Accounts (Current Symbol Limits)

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This setting only has an effect and is only used with on a Trade Account set as a Master Firm Control Account.

When this setting is set to Yes, and the Use Percent of Required Margin setting for the symbol is greater than zero, then the Use Percent of Required Margin setting overrides all other margin settings for all other trade accounts and the global margin settings, and sets the required margin percentage for the symbol.

When this setting is set to Yes, and the Use Percent of Required Margin for Day Trading is greater than zero, and the day trade margin percentage is required based upon the Day Trade Margin Settings and the time of day, then the Use Percent of Required Margin for Day Trading percentage is used instead and overrides all other margin settings for all other trade accounts and the global margin settings.

If the Fixed Margin Cash Value is greater than zero, then the Fixed Margin Cash Value setting overrides all other margin settings for all other trade accounts and the global margin settings, and sets the required margin for the symbol.

Current Symbol Limits >> Number of Days Before Last Trading Date to Disallow Orders (Current Symbol Limits)

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This setting specifies the number of calendar days before the last trading date for the symbol symbol, where orders will be disallowed, when an order is submitted on this date or after for the symbol.

This value can also be a negative number which means rather than the number of days before the last trading date, it becomes the number of days after the last trading date instead.

Also refer to this Master account setting: Num Days Before Last Trading Date To Disallow Orders (Global Override) (Use Master Firm Control Account Settings).

Remove (Button) (Current Symbol Limits)

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To remove a symbol and all of the associated limits from the list, select the symbol from the Current Symbol Limits >> Symbols drop-down list and left click on the Remove button field.

To actually commit the change to the server you need to press the Commit button. You will receive a prompt when the commit is completed.

Add New Symbol Limits >> New Symbols to Add (List) (Add New Symbol Limits)

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This is a drop-down list of all of the available symbols that limits can be set for. Select a symbol from the list and left click on the Add button field to add the symbol.

After adding a symbol, set the limits and then perform a Commit by pressing the Commit button.

Add (Button) (Add New Symbol Limits)

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The Add button field is for adding a new symbol to the list of symbols to set limits for. Select a symbol from the list and left click on the Add button field to add the symbol.

After adding a symbol, set the limits and then perform a Commit by pressing the Commit button.

Import Settings (Button) (Import/Export)

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Export Settings (Button) (Import/Export)

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Symbol Commissions

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The Symbol Commissions tab, is for setting commissions and fees, per individual symbol. These can be set both on the Master firm control account which can have effect over all accounts based upon the Trade Fees (Global Override) and Trade Fees - Full Override (Global Override) settings.

Or they can be set per product on the individual Trade Account to set custom commissions for each account per product.

If a commission/trade fee is not specified for a specific symbol, then the trade fee which is used for that symbol will be what is specified through the Trade Fee Per Contract (one side) (Commission Settings) setting on the Trade Account or Master firm control account, as explained above.

Current Symbol Commissions >> Symbol (List) (Current Symbol Commissions)

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This is a list of all of the symbols that currently have commissions set for them.

To add a symbol, refer to Add button.

Current Symbol Commissions >> Trade Fee Per Contract (one side) (Current Symbol Commissions)

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This setting specifies the trade fee, as a currency value, per contract per side for the selected symbol.

Remove (Button) (Current Symbol Commissions)

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To remove a symbol and all of the associated fields for that symbol from the list, select the symbol from the Current Symbol Commissions >> Symbol drop-down list and left click on the Remove button field.

To actually commit the change to the server you need to press the Commit button. You will receive a prompt when the commit is completed.

Add New Symbol Commissions >> Symbol (List) (Add New Symbol Commissions)

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This is a drop-down list of all of the available symbols that commissions can be set for. Select a symbol from the list and left click on the Add button field to add the symbol.

After adding a symbol, set the commissions and then perform a Commit by pressing the Commit button.

Add (Button) (Add New Symbol Commissions)

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The Add button field is for adding a new symbol to the list of symbols to set commissions for. Select a symbol from the list and left click on the Add button field to add the symbol.

After adding a symbol, set the commissions and then perform a Commit by pressing the Commit button.

Import Settings (Button) (Import/Export)

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The Import Settings button, will import the Symbol Commission settings from a text file. This allows you to import a large number of Symbol Commissions at once and configure them ahead of time in a file.

You are also able to export with the Export Settings button, the existing Symbol Commissions, maintain copy of them or modify them, and then reimport them at a later time or after the modifications are done. This gives a means to be able to bulk modify the settings in an easy text file format.

The format is:

Symbol,TradeFeePerContract
M2K?##_FUT_CME,0.6
M6A?##_FUT_CME,0.625
M6B?##_FUT_CME,0.625
M6E?##_FUT_CME,0.625
MBT?##_FUT_CME,3.5
MCD?##_FUT_CME,0.625
MCL?##_FUT_NYMEX,1.15
MES?##_FUT_CME,0.625
MGC?##_FUT_COMEX,0.6
MJY?##_FUT_CME,0.625
MNQ?##_FUT_CME,0.625
MSF?##_FUT_CME,0.625
MYM?##_FUT_CBOT,0.625

The first step with importing symbol commissions for a particular Trade Account is to edit this Trade Account. Go to the Symbol Commissions tab. Press the Import Settings button. Use the Folder button on the Open File window to navigate to the file following the format above that contains the symbol commissions. Press the Open button. And then after Commit the changes.

Additionally, edit the master firm control account and make sure Trade Fees - Full Override is set to No on the Master tab.

Export Settings (Button) (Import/Export)

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The Export Settings button, will export all of the existing defined Symbol Commissions to a text file. You are able to choose the file name the save the file to when exporting the settings.

The purpose of this is to save the settings in a text file, and import them into another Trade Account, or modify them in an easy to use text format and then reimport the settings.

To import settings, refer to Import Settings.

Read/Write Shared Usernames

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The Read/Write Shared Usernames tab is for entering Sierra Chart usernames that have read and write access to the trading account.

Read and write access means these usernames will be able to trade the account (submit new orders, modify orders and cancel orders) and view orders, positions and balances.

These usernames will not be able to change any settings on the trade account including risk parameters, and will not be able to make an adjustment to the account balance.

Read/Write SC Usernames (List) (Read/Write Shared Usernames)

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The Read/Write SC Usernames list, lists all of the Sierra Chart usernames which currently have read/write access to the trade account.

To add a username, refer to Add (Button) (Add New Read/Write Shared Usernames).

Remove (Button) (Read/Write Shared Usernames)

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To remove a username from the Read/Write SC Usernames list, select the user name from the list and left click on the Remove button field.

SC Username (Add New Read/Write Shared Usernames)

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This edit field is for entering a Sierra Chart username which will have read/write access to the trade account.

A user can determine their username through the Help >> About window within Sierra Chart.

To actually add the username to the list, select the Add button field below and then left click on the Add button field.

For more details, refer to Add (Button).

Add (Button) (Add New Read/Write Shared Usernames)

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The Add button field is for adding a Sierra Chart username to the list.

First select Add button field line, and then left click on the Add button to perform the operation.

For more details, refer to SC Username (Add New Read/Write Shared Usernames).

Read-Only Shared Usernames

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The Read-Only Shared Usernames tab is for entering Sierra Chart usernames that have read-only access to the trading account.

Read-only access means these usernames will only be able to view orders, positions and balances.

These usernames will not be able to trade the account, change any settings on the trade account including risk parameters, and will not be able to make an adjustment to the account balance.

Read-Only SC Usernames (List) (Read-Only Shared Usernames)

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The Read-Only SC Usernames list, lists all of the Sierra Chart usernames which currently have read-only access to the trade account.

To add a username, refer to Add (Button) (Add New Read-Only Shared Usernames).

Remove (Button) (Read-Only Shared Usernames)

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To remove a username from the Read-Only SC Usernames list, select the user name from the list, select of the Remove button field line and then left click on the Remove button field.

SC Username (Add New Read-Only Shared Usernames)

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This edit field is for entering a Sierra Chart username which will have read-only access to the trade account.

A user can determine their username through the Help >> About window within Sierra Chart.

To actually add the username to the list, select the Add button field below and then left click on the Add button field.

For more details, refer to Add (Button).

Add (Button) (Add New Read-Only Shared Usernames)

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The Add button field is for adding a Sierra Chart username to the list.

First select Add button field line, and then left click on the Add button to perform the operation.

For more details, refer to SC Username (Add New Read-Only Shared Usernames).