Account Differences Explained
When you set up your Live Account with TD Ameritrade, Choice Trade or other Brokerage you may notice account value differences on the Positions summary tab.
The Trade Tool Positions Account Values are tied to the Bid price (if you own a stock or option) and Ask price (if you are short a stock or option). Were you to close the position, you would receive the corresponding price – or better, since you are able to try to get a better price than Bid/Ask. This method ensures you will get at least the listed value – or better.
Choice Trade Accounts can be set up to have the price shown in the Positions Summary tied to the Bid/Ask or the default, “Last Trade Price“. Last Trade Price differs from Bid/Ask in that it shows the most recent transaction price, but does not always reflect the price you will receive if you were to buy or sell the security.
TD Ameritrade ties trade values to Mark – the point between Bid and Ask. Some trades will be closed at this price, but not all. Mark does not take into account if you own or are short a position, it is simply the halfway point between the two.
Journal - Color Tagging
After Reconciling your closed trades, click “OK” to have the Journal entries updated.
Yellow tag: There was a change in the Option position. For example, an option was exercised before expiration – or the order was adjusted.
No tag: There was no change and the Option expired worthless.
Green Tab: Profitable trade
Red Tab: Losing trade
Working Orders Displayed on Chart
Charts display working orders and existing positions of selected brokerage accounts, currently Choice Trade and TD Ameritrade. More brokerages will be forthcoming.
- Stocks show a horizontal line at the entry price.
- Options show a horizontal line at the strike price.
- Green for Long and Red for Short.
The group of 4 icons, located above the Working Order, allow you to Edit (Gear), Hide(Eye) Refresh (Circle arrows) or Remove (X).
Display choices including colors and line width are available in settings by clicking the “Gear” Icon.
Options Chain Analysis
The Option Chain pages offers a 3-D analysis comparing expiration dates by selected criteria.
Click on “Chain Analysis” to display the graph.
Use the drop-down boxes to view the tables by Implied Volatility, Volume, Open Interest, Price, Extrinsic Value, Delta or Intrinsic Value.
Toggle the view by using the clickable legend to select the Expiration Dates to view.
Other Navigation
Icons = Navigation
The Action (Arrow) icon will provide different actions depending on where you are in the platform. For example if you are in the Market or Find tab, ‘Detail‘ will provide a Quote Popup. ‘Research‘ will take you to the Dashboard – overview – of the stock. ‘Options‘ will take you to that part of the platform etc.
When in a “Trade Finder Scan” (identified by the 
icon), the Action icon choices includes: ‘Analyze Position’ which will take you to the Options tables and/or ‘Trade’ which will lead you to the Order Ticket of the Brokerage Account from the menu.
The Action Icon is also found in the Journal. Under the “Positions” tab, clicking on the icon allows you to Expand/Collapse details of the trade, Analyze or Close the trade among other choices.
