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Lesson 3 of 6
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In this video, we will review how to configure presets for your most used order attributes to save time and speed up order entry. Instead of starting from scratch for each trade, the order fields will display your default presets which can be modified if needed before transmitting the trade.
As an example, let’s say I want my default stock orders to be for 1,000 shares with a limit price at the midpoint between the Bid and the Ask prices. I would also like my orders to be good until cancelled and allow for the order to be filled outside of regular trading hours.
Presets also allow you to manage your Precautionary Settings which can be used as safety checks to avoid mistakenly entering larger orders than intended. If an order is entered for a value greater than your specified precautionary settings, you will receive a warning message within the Order Confirmation popup window prior to transmitting the order. You can override the warning and transmit the order or cancel the order and return to the order entry panel. If you would like to disable any of the precautionary settings, enter Zero in the boxes for the different limits. 
For example, I will set my precautionary settings for stocks at 2,000 shares or $200,000 in total value. If I now submit a trade for 4,000 shares, the order confirmation page will open and display two warnings in yellow indicating the order size I entered is above my specified limits – both the share value and the total dollar value. To proceed with submitting the order, I can select Override and Transmit or I can select Cancel to return back to the order entry widow. If I now adjust my Precautionary Settings for stocks to be 5,000 shares or $500,000 in total value when I place the same trade for 4,000 shares, I no longer receive the warnings as my entered order size is below the limits I specified within my precautionary Settings. If you have common order attributes or different precautionary settings for specific tickers, you can create different presets for a specific symbol.
If I enter IBKR in the order entry, my specific order attributes of a market order for 200 shares will populate. However, if I enter AAPL in the order entry, the order attributes will use my general stock presets that I had previously entered . As we’ve reviewed, Presets can save time when trading by pre-populating order attributes with your defaults so that you do not need to enter commonly used attributes for every order. Additionally, the Precautionary Settings within Presets can help you avoid mistakenly placing a larger trade than intended.For specific platform feedback and suggestions, please submit it directly to our team using these instructions.
If you have an account-specific question or concern, please reach out to Client Services.
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The analysis in this material is provided for information only and is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security. To the extent that this material discusses general market activity, industry or sector trends or other broad-based economic or political conditions, it should not be construed as research or investment advice. To the extent that it includes references to specific securities, commodities, currencies, or other instruments, those references do not constitute a recommendation by IBKR to buy, sell or hold such investments. This material does not and is not intended to take into account the particular financial conditions, investment objectives or requirements of individual customers. Before acting on this material, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and, as necessary, seek professional advice.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Interactive Brokers, its affiliates, or its employees.
I am trying to figure out how to preset a Market Order in the Primary Order area and then attach a Trail to this. This seems to be an impossible task where I thought with all the configurations you have it should be easy. Can someone help with this?
Hello Shaun, we appreciate your question. If the trailing amount field does not show up in the Primary Order area for you, please go to the top of the window and select “All possible fields.” This is also mentioned in the video at around 1 minute 15 seconds. We hope this helps!
I need to define the presets for all my OPTIONS’ Orders. How to have a preset SELL on every BUY order to limit a Stop Loss and a Limit Sell on every trade ? I understand that it should be configured on the Presets – Options, Primary Order section, but need the details for the definition of each field. Thanks in advance
Hello Daniel, thank you for reaching out. This User Guide has definitions for each available preset. We hope this helps!
How to preset a close position?
Hello, thank you for reaching out. We are not entirely sure what you are referring to. To best answer your question, can you please provide more details?
The Target Order ( Profit-Taker) does not work no matter how i tried, if i set “auto-Attach Order Type” to Limit, Limit price set to Parent Order, Offset set to 10% of parent order, this does not work, it gives an error at execution, the error is: Enter a valid Limit price for the target, how can i enter a valid Limit price if i dont know the price of my parent order? what i want is my target order to be 10% from whatever the parent order price fills at. Emailed customer support more than 3 times and they failed to help or to respond. Disappointing
I am encountering the exact same trouble: I’m trying to set a stop loss -5% off of the limit price of the parent order. It keeps being rejected: the message prompt says: “stop price not valid, enter a valid price” PLEASE HELP OUT WITH THIS. otherwise the presets are completely useless
Hello, thank you for reaching out. For time sensitive trading inquiries, we recommend contacting Client Services: https://spr.ly/IBKR_ClientServicesCampus
I am trying to place a trade Limit order I keep getting “Display size should be should multiple of a lot size” I don’t understand what this means nor how to solve to. My preset are exactly as in the video above.
Thank you for reaching out. For a time-sensitive trading inquiry, please create a detailed web ticket: https://spr.ly/IBKR_ClientServicesCampus
It lets me make multiple presets, but how do I switch between two different presets quickly when making orders? I would like to be able to switch presets to define order size and limit etc, and then use shortcut keys to Buy / Close positions, Thanks!
Hi, thank you for asking. To define Order Presets for a specific asset class or ticker in TWS, please view: https://www.interactivebrokers.com/faq?id=71885697
For more information about using Hotkeys in TWS, please review this resource: https://ibkrguides.com/releasenotes/ibkrdesktop/2023/preview/ntws-preview-v0.04.htm
In IBKR Desktop, you can use custom keyboard combinations to complete platform controls, including Order Entry actions like creating a buy or sell order. To learn how to create custom hotkeys, please view this resource: https://www.ibkrguides.com/ibkrdesktop/hotkeys.htm