How To Detach & Clone Charts in OptionsXpress

In the previous post, I showed the step-by-step guide to start real-time streaming chart in OptionsXpress (OX).
After starting the chart, you can also detach the chart and make it as a new window, and clone it so that you can monitor more than one stock chart at the same time.

There are 2 ways to detach the chart:

Option 1:
Click the “Detach” button in the “Options” box at the bottom left corner. (See picture below)














Option 2:
Click the “Detach” button at the top right corner. (See picture below)

There is a difference when using Option 1 & 2:

Using Option 1, the detached chart actually does not “stand” by itself, although it’s become a separate window. So, when you go to the main page and would like to use other tools (for instance, you want to check out the Option Chain by clicking “Chain” option under the “Quotes” tab), the chart window will disappear.

Using Option 2, the detached chart would “stand” by itself. Hence, when you want to use the other tools in the main page, the chart window will not disappear.
So, after clicking “Detach” button at the top right corner, the chart will be separated in the new window. Then click the “Detach” button in the “Options” box at the bottom left corner in the new window. Another window will pop up again.

If you need to monitor more than one stock chart at the same time, you can “clone” the chart by clicking the “Clone” button, just next to the “Detach” button in the “Options” box. You can then arrange the charts (say, 4 charts) in such a way that they all can be shown in one screen.

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How To Start A Real-time Streaming Chart in OptionsXpress

In the earlier post, I mentioned that if you open an account with OptionsXpress (OX), you can use their real-time streaming chart for free. Since I’m familiar with OX charts, for the benefit of the beginners or those who have just opened an account with OX and still not familiar with it, I’d like to share here the steps to start live streaming chart in OX, so that you can save some exploring time. Hope it can be useful. :)

Note:
You need to ensure that you’ve install (latest) Java software so that the streaming charts will work.

STEPS TO START THE JAVA STREAMING CHART IN OPTIONSXPRESS (OX):

1. Click: Quotes >> Chart >> Java Charts.
2. Wait for a while. Take some times for loading the chart.

3. After the chart is loaded, you can then select your chart setting:
a) Chart type: Candle, Bar, Line, etc.
b) Chart Window (Period of the chart): 1 day, 2 days, 1 mth, 3 mth, 6 mth, 1 year, etc.
c) Time frame: D (Daily), W (Weekly), M (Monthly), Q (Quarterly), Y (Yearly).



4. You can also set your chart options and select respectively in the “Options” box at the bottom left corner if you want: Log scale or normal scale, color the chart or just black & white, to hide / unhide studies or drawn item or volume.

5. To activate the real-time streamline chart, you need to tick the “Streaming Chart” in the “Options” box. Once it’s ticked, a new box appears in the top left corner below the stock ticker (“Symbol”), showing Last, Bid, Ask, Volume, etc. You will notice that these quotes and the price highlighted in black (at the left side) are moving during trading hours.

6. However, the candle (if you choose candle as your chart type) may not be adjusting the price movement as fast. You can refresh it by clicking “Go” near the box where you type the stock ticker (top left corner).

Update:
If you want the chart to stand by itself as a separate window, you can detach the chart.
You can also clone the charts, so that you can monitor a few stock charts simultaneously.
Read this post on how to detact & clone charts in OptionsXpress.

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My Online Stock Option Brokers (Part 2)

Go to “Part 1”.

Interactive Brokers (IB):

• Fewer steps for placing a trading order, and hence it’s faster in order placement procedure. Very good for those who are already familiar with trading order placement.


• Fee and Charges for Options Transaction: USD 0.75 / contract.
  Minimum commission charges per order is USD 1.
  Hence, when you buy only 1 contract, they will charge you USD 1. And when you sell to close your position, they will charge you another USD 1.
  For more details, you can check out here.


• Minimum initial deposit to open an account: USD 5,000.


• For IB, after you apply for account opening, you need to get their approval first before you can open an account with them. After your application is approved, you can then proceed to fund the account. Please note that for IB, your account will get activated only after you fund the account.


• Getting market data (real-time streaming quotes) is not automatic after your account is activated. To get real-time market data, you need to subscribe market data. The monthly subscription fee is USD 10, but it will be waived if your monthly commission is more than USD 30.


• To do virtual trading in IB, you need to apply for it too. They will then open a virtual trading account with a different User ID and password, separated from your real trading account.


• IB charges minimum monthly fee of USD 10. So, after your account is activated, although you have not subscribed for market data, they will still charge you USD 10. But when you subscribe for market data and suppose you don’t have any trades at all (so commission charges = 0), they will charge you only USD 10 too, which is for the market data subscription (not USD 20 which is for minimum monthly fee plus market data subscription.
  Therefore, I think, if you choose to use IB, you should open an account with them only after you are ready to start real trading.


• When you make modification / cancellation for your order, they will charge you too. The charges will vary depending on exchanges. You can check here for more details.

Note:
I have no commercial affiliation with OptionsXpress (OX) or Interactive Brokers (IB). Nor am I recommending or promoting these brokers. Here, I’m only sharing with you my experience and what I know about the brokers I use. So, this is for informational purpose only. You should do your own research and comparison with the other brokers. Here is the list of some online stock options brokers.

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