The All Products sub-tab enables you to trade many kinds of securities: stocks, options, futures, and forex. To start using the All Products tab, type in or pick a symbol in the symbol selector. This will pull up quotes on a specific underlying and display the following sections: Underlying, Trade Grid, Option Chain, Today’s Options Statistics, Options Time and Sales.
Underlying
The underlying section is essentially a table that displays the following columns for the selected underlying: last price, net change, bid and ask prices, size, volume of shares that have traded today, and today's pricing at the open, high, and low. A letter next to the bid and ask prices indicates the exchange that currently has the best pricing offered; you can find the list of exchanges and their corresponding letter codes here.
To view additional columns in the Underlying section, click on the V-shaped icon below the section title. This will bring up the following columns: yield, PE ratio, earnings per share, dividend, dividend frequency, dividend date, 52-week high and low, Beta, put/call ratios, and the number of outstanding shares.
If you are interested in placing an order to buy or sell an underlying, click on an ask to buy or on a bid to sell. Doing so creates an order within the Order Entry dialog that appears at the bottom of your screen. In this dialog, you can specify the number of shares you would like to trade at a defined price and/or order type. When you are ready, carefully review your order and click Confirm and send.
Trade Grid
The layout of the Trade Grid section is by default a set of three Level II gadgets. In each of these gadgets, you can view the best ask and bid prices for each of the exchanges making markets in stocks, options, and futures.
Here is how you can use Trade Grid:
- To customize the number and layout of gadgets in the Trade Grid, click on the Grid icon in the top-right corner of the section and specify the desirable layout.
- In each gadget, you can specify the symbol for which you would like to view the best ask and bid prices. The list of prices and the corresponding exchanges is updated in the real time.
- To place a trade within the Trade Grid, click on click on an ask price to buy or on a bid price to sell. This will create an order in the Order Entry dialog. Carefully review your order, adjust it if necessary, and click Confirm and send.
Option Chain
The Option Chain section displays all available option series for the underlying you have selected. Each option series is displayed as a dropdown that has the following information in the header: the option series, days to expiration, and the contract multiplier. If a series is displayed in white, this series has a standard monthly expiration. Series displayed in yellow signify a non-standard expiration, i.e, a weekly or quarterly expiration depending on the underlying.
Click on a specific series to display the individual strike prices, calls, and puts. Calls are listed on the left, puts on the right, and the series and strike prices run down the middle. By default, four strike prices are displayed. To view more strikes, click on the dropdown above and select the desired quantity. Alternatively, you can type in your own number and press Enter.
Note that the background color can be different for different options. The shaded area indicates options that are a penny or more in-the-money. The area with a black background indicates options that are out-of-the money.
To place a trade within the Trade Grid, click on an ask price to buy or on a bid price to sell. This will create an order in the Order Entry dialog. Carefully review your order, adjust it if necessary, and click Confirm and send.