Virtual Account Overview

Virtual Trading gives you the real trading experience without risking any money.     It is a valuable “next step” learning tool – designed to mimic the trading experience as closely as possible.

You’ll start with a $100,000 account.  Virtual, of course.

Trades are executed during Market hours – 9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Eastern Time, however there is a 15 minute delay after Market open for orders to begin executing.

As with Live Accounts, there are limits on trades if there is not sufficient Buying Power in your Virtual Account.   There can be expensive Spread/Margin Requirements to adhere to.

Virtual Accounts do have limitations that Live Accounts do not have:

Virtual Accounts are not subject or responsive to Corporate actions such as buyouts, name or symbol changes, stock/option splits and strike price adjustments to name some examples.

Virtual Accounts are “Auto-Journaled”.   This automatically keeps record of all trades for later analysis and reconciling.

These practice accounts are identified by a yellow bar on the left side of the account window.

Virtual Accounts are powered by Choice Trade to provide the real trading experience.


Positions Tab

The Positions Tab offers 4 table views of your current trades.   You can access these by clicking on the drop-down box in the upper right of the screen.  “All” combines the 4 views.  

Total Gains
This table view displays the Overall $ and % Gain/Loss and the Daily $ and % Gain/Loss based on the previous trading day’s results.

Share Performance
This table breaks down Total Gains by showing Entry Cost compared to Current Value per Share.

Total Performance
Similar to Share Performance, but shows Total Entry Cost and Total Current Value.

Greeks


Trade from the Options Tab

Trading from the Options Table is easy!

When a position is set up on the Option Chain or from one of the Strategy Templates,  simply click the “Trade” button.

The Position will be sent to the Order Ticket where you can further edit:

  • Adjust Price between “Mid” and “Nat”
  • Change Duration:  Day or Good Til Cancelled
  • Change Order Type:  Limit, Market, etc.
  • Click “Review” to confirm Order Details and Account are correct
  • Then “Submit” to send to brokerage.


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.