Basic Scale Orders
ScaleTrader provides many “add ons” that allow you to customize your order based on your trading strategy. A basic scale order might involve simply scaling into or out of a position, with or without a profit trade.
To Create a Basic Scale Order
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Select the action, Buy or Sell.
Maximum Position - Enter the total order size. Note that this value refers only to the position for this algo order. It does not take into account or affect any current position in the underlying that you may hold.
Initial Component Size - The initial component size refers to the number of units that will be submitted at the starting price, and is used in determining the number of components and price levels needed to achieve the Maximum Position. The component size must be entered in round lots.
If you do not enter a value in the Subsequent Comp. Size field, this value will be used for both initial and subsequent components
Subsequent Comp. Size - The number of units that will be submitted at subsequent price levels. Must be entered in round lots.
Starting Price - The price at which the initial component will be submitted. The starting price defaults to the ask, but can be changed directly in the field or by dragging the blue line in the scale chart.
Price Increment - Used to define the price levels for each scale component. The increment will be subtracted from the last price level for a buy order, and added to the last price level for a sell order.
The number of components along with the Starting Price and Price Increment are used to calculate the Bottom Price, which is the lowest price at which any of the order components will be submitted. If you change the Bottom Price, the Price Increment is recalculated.
For an example of how a basic scale order like this one will behave, see Example 1: Basic Scale Order.
To view the progress of your scale order, use the View Scale Progress feature.