Trader Screen Configurations

• Posted by admin
• on July 18th, 2011

HCPG trader screens are more or less configured in a similar fashion — emphasis is on a layout which  gives us a quick idea of what is happening in the market in terms of sector strength and breadth.   Let’s take a detailed look:

The following configuration can be done with 3-4 monitors, our ideal size.  We’ve basically had this configuration for our entire trading career (and have sent versions of it over the years to our subscribers).   It’s basic, and it works for our style.

On one monitor we have our trading broker and a  range look on an Interactive Broker page with some of our favorite trading stocks/etfs gives us a quick read during any time of the market:

We use E-Signal for our charting platform.  Even though HCPG hammered out a  partnership with E-Signal in May  (HCPG subscribers who transfer over to E-Signal are eligible for significant discount) we started using E-Signal even before that date as they are the best charting service that we can find for our trading needs.

We follow our “core” stocks in loose sector groups in one monitor.  Note that we have different pages on E-Signal that we flip through — but this is the main one.

On another monitor we have different time-frame charts of any stock we pull-up.  Note that we use 20EMA, 9EMA   and pivot points.  These are the only intraday indicators we use and find them invaluable to our style.

We follow 3 min, 5 min, 15 min and 60 min.

We have different pages on our Esignal layout.  Near the open we keep 2 monitors open just for stocks that are on the newsletter.     Here is an example from one monitor — note the chart on top left is daily and color coded to link to all charts — that means whatever chart we are on will change the  daily chart accordingly.   The rest of the charts are not linked to one another.    After first 20-30 minutes pass we change back to our default page.

On another monitor we have our StockTwits desktop and Tweetdeck.

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We’d like to thank everyone who sent us screenshots of their configurations — included below.  Enjoy.

@joeyfishface     I mostly employ a VWAP reversion strategy, supported by OHLC, Volume, T&S, and Volume Profile.

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My Screen Real Estate has changed over time but here is what I am currently watching on a daily basis:

Center Monitor:  Upper Left is my main QuoteTracker Window that shows my core watch list for the day.  The columns in all my watch lists are Last Price, Net Change, % Change, stock’s current % within daily range, % of average daily volume. Just underneath that is a list that is populated from stocks that may have fresh news that morning that pop onto my radar and below that is a watch list of index and sector ETF’s.

Next to those are my futures charts (NinjaTrader Platform) for the 3 main Indices- They are usually set on 5 minutes but can be changed easily.  Those charts contain 8 and 34 Ema’s along with a parabolic SAR.

I also have ThinkorSwim platform open with two quote windows (Indices/Futures) and charts for the TICK and Advance/Decline Line.  The red and green dots on the AD Line chart are for extreme tick readings.

The remaining ThinkorSwim Charts on this Monitor are USD futures, TLT, TNX or /ZN and Copper Futures.  All of these are 5 minute charts with 2 trading days of data.

Underneath those are 3 Quote tracker charts are for the 3 Sector ETF’s that I watch most closely- IYR, OIH and IYT.  All my quotetracker charts contain the 9/21/34 EMA’s, VWAP, Pivot Points and the prior day’s Hi/Low/Close.  I start the trading day using 1 minute charts, switch to 3 minutes around 9:45 and eventually sync them all to 5 minutes as the day goes on.  In late afternoon they are sometimes changed to 10 minute candles.

Left Monitor: Upper Left is a Notepad where I do my best to write down some thoughts on entries and exits which help me with my trade review and journal.

Next to that are 4 quote windows each containing approx 20 tickers: Retail/Casino’s/Misc Momo, Tech, Financials/REITS/Industrials and Commodity.  Several come and go but probably 70% of these tickers will typically stick around with the most change coming from the left most watch list.   I also have one “bellweather” quote window (12 stocks) for giving me a quick read of what I consider the markets key stocks.  I also have one list for levered ETF’s and for Alerts

Below the watch lists are room for 6 equities charts that I am keeping an eye on at that particular moment and one space for one random Futures chart (/GC, /SI, /ZC)

Right Monitor:

Ninja Futures charts for Euro and Crude

ThinkorSwim 6 window linked Multi-Time Frame Grid (5 min, 15 min, 30 min, hourly, daily, weekly)

Browser with FreeStockcharts and Stocktwits

Chatroom from @gtotoy’s daytraderbootcamp, where I hang out during the trading day.

GChat windows for traders that I rap with throughout the day.

TweetDeck

Laptops: On one laptop I run my Lightspeed Trading Platform.  It has 4 separate linked windows for order entry, level II and Time and Sales and on my other Laptop I have a newsfeed

The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.