TradeStation Adds Chart Trading to its Platform

The click-and-drag functionality will make it simpler to place, edit, and cancel orders.

TradeStation, a broker-dealer and futures commission merchant (FCM), has added chart trading functionality to its analysis and trading platform.

Used in conjunction with a chart analysis window in the TradeStation platform, the new chart trading feature integrates click-and-drag order-entry functionality, allowing traders to place trades and manage positions and orders from a chart in real time. Buy and sell orders can be placed, edited or canceled by clicking directly on the chart or by clicking on the various order-entry buttons in the chart trading bar. Open orders can be moved to new price levels by clicking and dragging the corresponding order lines.

"Chart Trading is the first of a new generation of TradeStation features powered by the new generation of EasyLanguage," says CEO Salomon Sredni, referencing the company's proprietary programming language. "Going forward, traders will no longer be limited to creating indicators that simply plot lines or generate static alerts. With this release, analysis techniques have evolved to become fully interactive and dynamic applications in their own right."

Orders can be changed by dragging the order line to a new price level, canceled with a press of the delete key or edited with a right-click. Traders can also use the chart trading panel, attached to the side of a chart, to view position details and close or reverse a position. Commonly used orders such as hit/take, market, one-cancels-the-other (OCO), and trailing stops can be quickly placed with a button click.