Hotkey problem

peter021072

Hi

I've recently joined a stockbroker which allows you to program hotkeys for quick trades.  For example alt Q might be programmed to buy a thousand shares, another combination to sell them. The error when I attempt the hotkey is

'Autosend is off, Time in force error in Hotkey.' (see orange background script in picture)

They have suggested a few fixes which don't work, and I can't find much evidence of others having similar problems.  This makes me wonder if the problem is with my keyboard or the way windows 11 is set up on my computer.   I know windows 11 can disengage hotkeys.  However, I've never knowingly disengaged hotkeys, and the familiar keys such as Ctrl C and Ctrl V for copying and pasting work OK.

 .

flaneurs_lobster

That's going to be down to the trading platform (which you haven't named) and how it interacts with your hardware and software.

Pretty niche, does your trading platform have a user forum (official or otherwise) where you might have more luck?

peter021072

It's called TradeZero situated in the Bahamas, although most decent day-trading platforms have this facility because it's deemed important for fast trading.  Their responses to my emails are rapid but not useful so far. They suggested using F1, F2 etc keys at the top but these are already pre-allocated on my keyboard. They suggested going from shift to alt, then using an extra step which negates the whole point of hotkeys which doesn't work anyway, a few other things as well.  They seem to be fumbling in the dark, like me!

tacpot12

peter021072 said:

I... They seem to be fumbling in the dark, like me!

That's because they haven't referred it to the development team that maintains the platform. There will be a developer who can tell them exactly what conditions produce that error message. 

PHK

That error doesn't mean there's a problem with the Hotkey. It's doing its job, but the platform is refusing to send the order because of an error with the TIF.

Are you sending a FOK? Or an IOC?

The brokerage team should be able to advise you of the correct TIF for the order.

peter021072

PHK said:

That error doesn't mean there's a problem with the Hotkey. It's doing its job, but the platform is refusing to send the order because of an error with the TIF.

Are you sending a FOK? Or an IOC?

The brokerage team should be able to advise you of the correct TIF for the order.

I was passed onto their chat assistant who seemed to give me the correct adjustments, which I thought I'd already tried, this included changing the time in force (TIF) from day+ to day amongst others. Maybe they've tweaked something on their side! 

I'm hoping orders will receive partial fills if they are unable to complete the whole order.  They have a liquidate hotkey option as well as more conventional sell orders which could fail to execute in a fast moving market, you can place +/-10 pips on the Bid or Ask to allow for slippage. I'm only dealing in a paper account at present so I doubt if such issues will arise until I place real money on the table. I'll probably start dealing in ridiculously small amounts which isn't very efficient (commissions are only free for pure limit orders), but at least that'll avoid any disasters. 

This Caribbean brokerage allows 6x leverage, so at least I only need to put $250 in to start with. Important considering they aren't covered by the UK or US financial authorities. Neither do they invoke pattern day trading rules (unlike IBRK) which would otherwise necessitate risking sending out $20,000.