The top of the trading panel - open counts, 1m volume, LULD and slippage
The line under AUTO - LONG and SHORT shows the armed stock and what just happened to it, with its one-minute volume, the limit-up limit-down band in market hours, and SLIPPAGE, the live spread. In Lite the two AUTO buttons stay red: no side ever opens a position by itself.
In this video
The 30-second version
The same topic in thirty seconds, made for a phone screen.
Both videos use AutoScanTrade Lite in paper mode with made-up symbols and prices.
Read the transcript
The arm buttons
At the top of the trading panel are AUTO - LONG and SHORT. They belong to the full desk's automation: in Lite, pressing one simply says so. In Lite they stay red: no side ever opens a position by itself. The number in brackets is how many positions that side has open.
The armed stock
Under them, the big line shows the armed stock and what just happened to it, such as a fill. The badge beside the price is the country the company files from. 1m vol is the volume so far in the current one-minute candle, coloured green or red with the candle.
LULD and halts
Next comes the limit-up, limit-down band, when one applies, in market hours. It says so when the price is close to the band, and it switches to the halt view when the stock is halted. On a halted stock the desk refuses new entries. Open positions on it can still be closed.
SLIPPAGE: the live spread
SLIPPAGE is the live spread: the ask minus the bid, in dollars and as a percentage, with the bid and ask beside it. It turns amber when the spread is one percent or more, which is exactly when a market-crossing order costs you the most.
Everything before you click
Read together, the strip answers the questions you have before you click: what is it, is it moving, is it near a band, and what will it cost me to cross the spread?