Rapid Order Entry Window

Study Notes:

Let’s take a look at submitting orders using the Rapid Order Entry feature in IBKR Desktop.

To get started, open a Watchlist and select an instrument. As you select a different symbol, notice that the Price Panel on the right reflects data for the asset you selected.

We’re using a Watchlist, but you could also select an instrument from your Portfolio or the Financial Instrument Quote list.

There are two ways to open the Rapid Order Entry ticket from within a Watchlist. The first is to click the Buy Order or Sell Order button in the right-side Price Panel.   

The second is to click the Bid or Ask price directly from the market data line in your Watchlist.

Mouse over a bid price to see the “Sell” label, and the Ask price to see the “Buy” label.

The Rapid Order Entry ticket has fewer fields than the full order ticket and is populated with values you have defined in your Trading Presets. Access the Preferences window by locating and clicking the gear icon to the lower left of the display.

Trading Presets

Trading Presets can be modified in the Trading section of the Preferences window and are designed to save time by pre-populating the order ticket with your most-used values.

For example, user may select Stocks and enter either the number of shares or a currency amount that they always want to populate in an order ticket. Likewise, they can determine which order type should display along with additional selections such as time in force. Use the x button to close the Preferences window.

Rapid Order Entry Window

Back in the Rapid Order Entry window, the user in this case has chosen to trade a default 100 shares of stock and mostly uses limit day orders. Setting presets can save you time to market when filling out the order ticket.

You can access additional order types using the drop-down list by clicking on the dropdown arrow next to the Stop order type.

The user should review the order parameters to be sure everything is set up correctly. If using a limit order, the user should be especially vigilant about the limit price which is set to the Ask price for a buy and the bid price for a sell when you first create the order, since the price is static once it’s set in the order ticket. Because the market is constantly moving the user may need to update it.

The beauty of the Rapid Order Entry window is that it requires minimal information so that an order can be quickly submitted. However, should the user require different parameters that aren’t available in Rapid Order Entry, such as algo orders or more advanced times in force, click the “Advanced” link to open the full order ticket. Scroll down the full Order Ticket to see all possible available choices. 

Once your order is set, simply click “Submit Order” to preview the order and transmit.

You can also elect to Save the order. Saved orders for a specific instrument can be accessed from the right-side Orders panel just above the News tile. Use the pencil icon to edit. You can also find all orders for all instruments in the Orders & Trades tab in your Portfolio. Use the right-click menu from an order to Modify.