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eSignal -- Paper Trading

Paper Trading is a feature that allows you to test trading strategies and trade in your account without risk. This window shown below gives you the ability to view prospective trades and strategies in a test environment in real time. This article will provide an overview of the Account Manager window used for paper trading.

Trade Preferences

To begin, click Trade on the main toolbar and select Preferences. Select eSignal Paper Trading and click the Make Default button and close the window. eSignal Paper Trading should now be the default selection.

Order Ticket

To open the Order Ticket window so you can place buy and sell orders, go to Trade > eSignal Paper Trading > New Order. In this window, you'll be able to change the Order Type (Market, Limit, Stop, Stop Limit) as well as Order Action (Buy, Sell, Sell Short, Buy to Cover).

Account Manager

The Account Manager window allows you to monitor Orders and Positions, as well as Executions, Accounts and Messages. To Launch the Account Manager, click Trade > eSignal Paper Trading > Account Manager.

This will launch the Account Manager. The Account Manager is set up just as a regular Broker’s Order Entry or tracking window would be. It is possible to view the status of your traders and orders by clicking on the corresponding tabs for Orders, Positions and Executions. eSignal Paper Trades are tracked in real time, and the Account value mimics the order as if it were a real trade.

Orders and Executions Tabs

The Orders tab displays all orders (Filled, Working and Cancelled) placed during the trading session (duration in which eSignal is left running). If eSignal is restarted, a new session will be created. Unfilled orders can be Canceled or Modified via the right click menu. Right click and select Flatten All if you wish to close all Open positions.

Other right click features include Format Window (customize colors and font), Notifications (audio and pop up alerts), Order Defaults (set a template for all new orders), Confirmations (check or uncheck to confirm the order), Connection Settings (adjust Broker Settings if using an integrated broker) and Style Templates (allows you to save custom templates for the Account Manager window). The Executions Tab will display all buy and sell orders for the given session.

Positions Tab

The Position Tab will display all open and closed positions. Open positions will continue to update and display the Open P / L (profit / loss) in real time. Adding a checkmark to the “Display open position only” box allows you to filter out a closed position from view. Right clicking within the Positions Tab allows you to close a single position (using close position) or close all open positions using Flatten All.
 

Accounts Tab

The Accounts Tab displays your account information including your Account ID, Balance and Total P / L (profit /l oss).

Messages Tab

The messages tab displays communications between eSignal and the default broker. In this case, our default broker is set to Paper Trading in order to test trading strategies. The columns can be sorted by Number, Time, Category and Message. The Categories include open orders, positions and executions along with additional details in the Message field. Entries are color-coded by status / category. The colors can be edited by right clicking the window and selecting Format Window.