How to quickly set up a chart and place orders

Time = money. Traders know it better than others. The goal of this article is clear from the title — to save your time, help you focus on the trading process, and avoid getting distracted by secondary settings. We have collected six ways for you to work with ATAS even faster: This information is primarily intended for those who are new to the platform and are starting to learn it. However, it may also provide new opportunities for traders who already have experience with ATAS.

Hotkeys

The obvious solution that makes the work with any program much easier. The ATAS platform fully implements the mechanics of hotkeys. Open the main window → go to the Settings tab → click Hot Keys. In the window that opens, you can assign hotkeys to four categories of actions:

• Global;
• Trading;
• Charting;
• Smart DOM.

You can use the hints below or assign a keyboard shortcut to any frequently performed action. The following actions are convenient to synchronize with hotkeys: 

You will see a menu for sending a pending order at this level (in the example above — BUY Limit or SELL Stop). To quickly change the working volume, you can assign hot keys with numbers from 1 to 5 for its values. For example, if you press “1”, you trade one contract. If you press “2” — two contracts. The buttons on the Chart Trader panel will help speed up trading. For example, to make a market buy, click Buy/Long.

Please note:  if the ‘One-Click Mode’ option is enabled in the trading settings tab of the chart settings, the order will go to the exchange without confirmation by the button in the corresponding window. Be careful, accidental clicks can lead to bad consequences.

Exit strategies

The exit strategies functionality on the Chart Trader panel allows you to better manage your capital and save time by automatically setting stop losses and take profits.

The screenshot above shows how to make ATAS place a take and stop at a distance of 10 ticks from the opening price of a position.  On the Chart Trader panel, click the plus sign → select SL&TP → adjust the size of the take and stop if necessary → click Add. If you want to learn more about trading features and specific details of the platform, check out the article Getting acquainted with ATAS. Trading opportunities.

Templates

A template is a preconfigured set of settings for a chart. To save time and avoid reconfiguring the opening chart to your preferences each time, set it up once, save it as a template, and assign it as the default template. 

For example, if you prefer light and minimalist charts, set a white background, remove the grid, and then save the template as “White” and click the “Default” button. Now, every time you open a chart, it will use the settings from the default template: colors, footprint parameters, indicators, and others.

Workspaces and Layers

Workspaces and Layers – functionality that can confuse beginners. But as you become more proficient with the ATAS platform, it will save you a lot of time.  This is especially useful if you are monitoring multiple markets across various exchanges, implementing different trading strategies (ranging from scalping to long-term holding), and employing diverse analysis methods using various indicators.  For example, you can create five workspaces:

Numbers indicate:

1. Buttons for managing Workspaces and Layers. The are located in the Settings tab of the main window.
2. The label ‘Commodities’ in the main window header indicates which space is currently open.
3. The layer control panel shows that the crude (oil) layer is active. The layer consists of two charts: on the left is a higher time frame for tracking the big picture, on the right is a lower time frame for a more detailed analysis. You can switch between layers in one click.
4. Testing of the POC level can be seen on the left chart. The right chart, with the Delta indicator added, can be used to confirm a setup and find a more accurate entry point.

When you close the platform, you will see the question: “Save current workspace?”. If you confirm saving, next time ATAS will open the same configuration that was used at the time of closing.

For a better understanding of Workspaces and Layers, we recommend that you refer to the relevant article in the Knowledge Base.

Other ways to speed up

Ways to save time when working with the ATAS platform are not limited to those described above. The platform has many settings that can be used in various ways to save time. Each trader has an individual style, a unique set of knowledge and experience. What may be a time-saver for one person could be considered a loss of important information for another. Here is a list of additional ideas that may be relevant to speed up work with the ATAS platform.

• Main window → Settings tab → Common settings : here you can choose the rendering type to optimize the graphics performance based on your computer’s capabilities.
• In the same common settings window, you can lower the Max Candles per chart to speed up the loading of the chart.
• In the chart window, in the timeframe selection menu, reduce the number of days to load to increase chart loading speed
• Use Alerts so that you don’t waste time waiting for the moment when the price approaches the level you are interested in.
• Use Watchlist, learn more about it in this article.
• When launching the Market Replay trading simulator, use the time parameter to specify the starting point for playback. The data will load faster, and you won’t have to wait until the playback reaches the moment you are interested in.

Last but not least, use linking. For example, you have a chart open, the price is approaching the level of interest, you want to open the Smart Tape to monitor the situation in detail. Instead of performing three actions (going to the main window + opening the tape module + selecting the instrument), you can do just one thing – select the linked tape module, which is associated with this instrument, from the context menu.

Conclusions

Saving time, staying focused, minimizing the risk of human errors, maintaining a comfortable emotional state, and using preferred tools more conveniently are essential factors for achieving consistent positive results in trading. That’s why ATAS strives to provide maximum flexibility of platform customization. We would like to mention the Market Replay simulator of the ATAS platform separately, as it enables you to accelerate your trading education without risking your capital. Download Free Trial ATAS. It is free. You will get full access to the platform’s instruments during your free trial and will be able to appreciate all their benefits in order to make a purchase decision. Moreover, you will be able to continue using the program even after the 14-day trial period is over, but only for cryptocurrency trading. The ATAS platform: 

• enables you to download tick history from the futures, stocks and crypto markets so that you can get a detailed picture of the market;
• provides many benefits for traders who want to combine bounce trading with user-friendly cluster charts and useful indicators.

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