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Trading Desk

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Accessing the Trading Desk

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Interface Layout

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Left Panel — Market Analysis

• Company/instrument full name and exchange badge (e.g., “Apple Inc. · NASDAQ”)
• Current market price with live tick indicator (flashes green on uptick, red on downtick)
• Absolute change ($) and percentage change (%) from previous close
• Trading session indicator (Pre-Market / Regular / After-Hours / Closed)

• Full-featured candlestick chart with zoom (mouse wheel), pan (click-drag), and crosshair cursor
• Configurable timeframes: 1min, 5min, 15min, 1hr, 4hr, 1D, 1W
• Multiple chart types: Candlestick (OHLC), Line (close only), Area (filled)
• Technical indicator overlay system (detailed below)
• Volume histogram beneath the price chart
• Drawing tools: trend lines, horizontal lines, Fibonacci retracements

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Right Panel — Order Execution

• Auto-complete search field — type ticker symbols or company names
• Results display full name, ticker, exchange badge, and asset class icon
• Supports fuzzy matching (e.g., typing “app” surfaces “Apple Inc. — AAPL”)

• BUY (green) — Establish or add to a long position
• SELL (red) — Establish a short position or close/reduce a long position

• Order type selector (Market, Limit, Stop, Stop-Limit)
• Quantity field with ± stepper and percentage-of-buying-power quick buttons (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%)
• Price field(s) — conditionally visible based on order type
• Time-in-force selector
• Extended hours toggle (when applicable)

• Quick-add to Watchlist
• Quick-add to Favorites
• Request Copilot analysis (opens side panel with AI insight for this symbol)
• Toggle extended hours data visibility

• Open Orders — All pending/working orders for any symbol
• Positions — All current holdings with P&L

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Instrument Discovery

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Search Capabilities

• Full instrument name
• Ticker symbol
• Exchange badge (NASDAQ, NYSE, LSE, TSE, KOSDAQ, CRYPTO, FOREX)
• Asset class icon (stock, ETF, crypto, forex, commodity, index)
• Current price and change %

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Order Types — Complete Reference

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Market Order

• Guarantees execution (assuming sufficient liquidity)
• Does NOT guarantee a specific fill price
• Subject to slippage in fast-moving or illiquid markets
• Fastest time-to-fill of all order types

• Immediate entry when timing matters more than price precision
• Highly liquid instruments where bid-ask spread is minimal (e.g., AAPL, SPY)
• Exiting a losing position quickly to limit further damage

AAPL is trading at $185.40 (bid) /$185.42 (ask). You submit a market buy for 100 shares. The order fills at $185.42 — the current ask price. In volatile conditions, the fill could be$185.44 or $185.50 if the ask moved during transmission.

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Limit Order

• Guarantees price (if filled) — you will never receive a worse price than specified
• Does NOT guarantee execution — the market may never reach your price
• Remains pending until filled, expired, or cancelled
• Visible to the order book (provides liquidity)

• Entering a position at a predetermined price level (support zones, technical targets)
• Taking profit at a specific upside target
• Accumulating shares during a pullback without watching the screen

AAPL is trading at $185.42. You believe it will dip to$180 before continuing higher. You place a buy limit at $180.00, GTC. Three days later, AAPL dips to$179.80 on a market pullback — your order fills at $180.00 or better.

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Stop Order (Stop-Loss)

• Does not execute until the stop price is touched
• After trigger, behaves exactly like a market order (subject to slippage)
• Used primarily for risk management (downside protection)
• Can also be used for breakout entries (buy-stop above resistance)

• Protecting a long position against unexpected decline (stop-loss)
• Entering a breakout: place a buy-stop above resistance, it triggers only if the breakout occurs
• Automating exit discipline to avoid emotional decision-making

You own 100 shares of AAPL at an average cost of $185. You set a sell-stop at$175.00 to limit your maximum loss to ~$10/share. If AAPL drops to$175, the stop triggers and a market sell is executed — likely filling near $175, but potentially lower in a gap-down scenario.

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Stop-Limit Order

• Stop Price — The trigger level that activates the order
• Limit Price — The worst acceptable fill price after trigger
• If the market gaps through both prices, the order may never fill
• Provides more control than a plain stop order

• Stop-loss protection where you refuse to sell below a minimum price (prefer no fill over a terrible fill)
• Earnings events where you want downside protection but fear a flash crash that recovers

You own AAPL at $185. You set a stop-limit with stop at$175 and limit at $174.00. If AAPL drops to$175, a limit sell at $174.00 is placed. If AAPL gaps from$176 directly to $172 (below your$174 limit), the order will NOT fill — you retain the position.

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Time-in-Force — Duration Parameters

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Step-by-Step: Executing a Buy Order

1. Load the instrument — Type the ticker symbol (e.g., NVDA) in the search field. Select the correct result from the dropdown (verify the exchange badge matches your intent).
2. Analyze the chart — Review the current price action, identify support/resistance levels, and assess momentum using technical indicators. Switch timeframes as needed.
3. Select direction — Click the green BUY button. The order form configuration updates to reflect a purchase.
4. Choose order type — Select from the dropdown: Market (immediate), Limit (price-controlled), Stop (breakout/protection), or Stop-Limit (price-controlled trigger).
5. Set quantity — Enter the number of shares/units manually, use the ± stepper, or click the percentage buttons:
   • 25% — Uses 25% of available buying power
   • 50% — Uses 50% of available buying power
   • 75% — Uses 75% of available buying power
   • 100% — Uses entire available buying power (max position)
6. Configure price (if applicable) — For Limit orders, enter your target buy price. For Stop orders, enter the trigger price. For Stop-Limit orders, enter both the stop trigger and limit price.
7. Set time-in-force — Select GTC, DAY, IOC, or FOK based on your urgency and strategy.
8. Review the cost preview — Before submission, examine:
   • Estimated fill price (for market orders, based on current ask)
   • Total estimated cost (quantity × estimated price)
   • Trading fee breakdown
   • Net debit amount
   • Post-trade buying power remaining
9. Submit the order — Click the submit button. A confirmation dialog appears showing all order parameters. Click Confirm to send the order to the matching engine.
10. Monitor status — The order appears in the Open Orders tab (bottom of right panel) showing status: Working, Partially Filled, or Filled. Once fully filled, the position appears in the Positions tab.

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Step-by-Step: Executing a Sell Order

1. Select the instrument — Either search for the ticker, or click directly on an existing position in the Positions tab.
2. Click SELL — The red sell button activates the sell order form.
3. Set quantity — Enter shares to sell manually, or click Max to close the entire position. For partial position reduction, enter the specific quantity.
4. Configure order type and price — Follow the same logic as buy orders. For take-profit exits, use Limit orders. For stop-loss protection, use Stop orders.
5. Review and submit — Verify the proceeds estimate and confirm.

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Execution Simulation Engine

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Slippage Model

• Instrument liquidity — High-volume instruments (AAPL, SPY) experience minimal slippage (0–2 basis points). Low-volume instruments experience wider slippage (5–20 bps).
• Order size — Larger orders relative to average volume experience greater market impact.
• Volatility regime — During high-VIX environments, slippage parameters increase.

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Partial Fill Simulation

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Market Hours Enforcement

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Commission Structure

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Position Limits

• Maximum single-position size: 25% of total portfolio value
• Maximum leverage: 2:1 for equities, 1:1 for crypto
• Minimum order size: 1 share/unit (fractional shares not supported)

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Position Management

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Open Orders Panel

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Positions Panel

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Chart Analysis Tools

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Timeframe Options

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Technical Indicators

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Drawing Tools

• Trend Line — Draw diagonal support/resistance lines
• Horizontal Line — Mark key price levels
• Fibonacci Retracement — Standard 23.6%, 38.2%, 50%, 61.8%, 78.6% levels
• Rectangle — Highlight consolidation zones
• Text Annotation — Add notes to the chart

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Programmatic Order Execution

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Python SDK

from vectrade import VecTrade

client = VecTrade(api_key="your_api_key")

# Market buy
order = client.trade.place_order(
    symbol="AAPL",
    exchange="NASDAQ",
    side="BUY",
    order_type="MARKET",
    quantity=10
)
print(f"Order {order.id}: {order.status} — filled at ${order.fill_price}")

# Limit buy with GTC
order = client.trade.place_order(
    symbol="NVDA",
    exchange="NASDAQ",
    side="BUY",
    order_type="LIMIT",
    quantity=5,
    limit_price=800.00,
    time_in_force="GTC"
)

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TypeScript/Node SDK

import { VecTrade } from '@vectrade/sdk';

const client = new VecTrade({ apiKey: 'your_api_key' });

const order = await client.trade.placeOrder({
  symbol: 'AAPL',
  exchange: 'NASDAQ',
  side: 'BUY',
  orderType: 'LIMIT',
  quantity: 10,
  limitPrice: 180.00,
  timeInForce: 'GTC',
});

console.log(`Order ${order.id}: ${order.status}`);