LiveInvestor
Introduction
This tutorial is aimed at the new LiveInvestor user. We will
explore some of LiveInvestor's more common features, but by no means is
this tutorial complete. We urge you to explore every inch of
LiveInvestor, and try using it in innovative ways.
First Load
The first time LiveInvestor loads, a wizard will ask you for some
information. You will need to answer some questions about your
login information, and your internet connection type. Your Client
Id (cid) and Password will have been sent to you via email. Do
your best when answering questions about your internet connection type,
but do not worry if you are unsure what kind of connection you
have. Depending upon the internet connection type chosen, the
wizard may or may not test for a "Proxy". If you see an error
message at this point, then simply choose a different internet
connection type.
Pre-loaded Portfolios
LiveInvestor comes with four pre-loaded sample portfolios. Feel
free to
customize them, delete them, or create new portfolios.
Table of Contents
Create a new portfolio
Add symbols to my
portfolio
Customize my
Favourite Links buttons
View a chart
Make a paper trade buy
Make a paper trade sell
View my open and
closed positions
How do I...
Create a new portfolio?
Open the File menu and select New Portfolio...
Enter a portofolio name, and an appropriate description
Click on Save Portfolio.
Click "Yes" if you wish to make this new portfolio your default.
If you click "No", your default portfolio will remain unchanged.
If you wish to open this new portfolio, you must close the current
portfolio. If you click "Yes", you will be presented with your
new (empty) portfolio.
Add symbols to my
portfolio?
Click on the "Add Investments..." button near the bottom of your
Portfolio window
You will be presented with the Add Investments window
If you do not know the symbol of the stock you want to add, click
"Symbol Lookup...". Otherwise, you may enter the symbol you wish
to add in the Symbol field.
Select the exchange that the stock trades on.
You may automatically fill in the stock's name by clicking "Get Company
Name", or you may fill in the Company Name field yourself.
Here is an example of a stock being added:
Click "Add Investment to Portfolio" to add the stock to your
portfolio. If you decide you do not wish to add that stock to
your portfolio, you may click "Close" and no stock will be added.
The stock will be added as the last entry in your portfolio. You
can change the order of the stocks in your portfolio by clicking and
dragging them up or down.
Customize my
Favourite Links buttons?
At the top-right of the LiveInvestor are the Favourite Links
buttons. Most of the buttons open up your web browser and brings
you to the web page labelled on the button. If you have a stock
highlighted, it will show that web site's information on the selected
stock (if available at the web site). The only exception is the
ChartSmart button, which will launch ChartSmart. It is worth
noting that these buttons are configurable, and you do not have to use
the defaults.
To change the buttons displayed, open the Edit menu and select
Preferences...
This will open up the Preferences window. Many settings can be
changed in this window. For now, we will only concern ourselves
with the Favourite Links.
Click on the "+" beside "Display Preferences"
Select "Favourite Links Preferences"
Each of the drop-down boxes contains several choices. Choose
which links you wish to use, and the order to display them.
Click the "Save" button to save the new settings. If you wish to
discard your changes, click the "Cancel" button.
View a chart?
To view a chart, just double-click a stock in your portfolio. It
may take a few seconds for the chart window to load.
You can change the period that the chart displays by using the "Chart
Period" drop-down box. To change the number of bars displayed,
change the "Chart Length" box to the number of bars you wish to display
then click "Refresh".
Make a paper trade buy?
To do a paper trade buy, open a chart of the stock you wish to
purchase, and select the period you wish to be saved in the trading
journal. Click the "Buy/Sell" button.
Wait for the "Buy" button to enable, then click "Buy".
Fill all fields as appropriate. Of particular note are the
"Target Sell Price", "Stop Loss Price", and "Trading Journal Comments"
fields. The "Target Sell Price" can either be calculated as a
percentage of the purchase price (including "Estimated Total Broker
Fees") or a specific price. The "Stop Loss Price" can either be
calculated as a percentage of the purchase price (including "Estimated
Total Broker Fees"), a specific price, or as a percentage of total
equity (including "Estimated Total Broker Fees"). You must enter
some comments into the Trading Journal Comments to finish the buy order.
Click the "Buy" button to finish the buy order. If the order was
successful, then two alerts are automatically created: The target
sell price, and the stop loss price. If the stock reaches either
price, it will be shown in the Alerts window.
Make a paper trade sell?
To do a paper trade sell, open a chart of the stock you wish to sell,
and select the period you wish to be saved in the trading
journal. Click the "Buy/Sell" button.
Wait for the "Sell" button to enable, then click "Sell".
Fill all fields as appropriate. Click the "Sell" button to finish
the sell order.
View my open and
closed positions?
Clicking on the "View Trading Journal" button, you can view all the
open and closed positions you have made in paper trading.
Double-clicking a position gives you more detail, including the
chart(s) shown when the trade was made and the journal comments made
during the buy (and sell).
