Manual Account Overview
A Manual Account is versatile resource tool which can enhance your trading effectiveness. You can also use this to track trades from an outside brokerage account.
Use the Manual Account for educational purposes.
- It offers flexibility and control, while providing the Analytics and Journal to help you reinforce the “Learning to Earning” process. This allows you to focus on learning the strategies.
- Place trades any time of day or night – all get immediately executed at the price entered. No need for the market to be open.
- No Buying Power limits – no expensive spread margin requirements to adhere to, no limit on how much you can buy/sell
- Place trades in the past.
- Enter trades from Backtest Mode
Use to tracking external accounts
- Can be used to track trades placed at brokers not integrated into the platform
- You can enter the date and fill prices of your actual trades
- This enables portfolio management along with your other accounts
- You can use full Journal function for tracking your progress
Manual Accounts are identified by a narrow Red Bar and are, by default, Auto-Journaled.
Entering trades in a Manual Account takes only a few steps and is similar to a regular trade.
You can also bring up the ticket from any trade point. Simply start a trade and select the manual account just like you would select any other account.
(Bold indicates unique to Manual ticket):
1. Enter the Stock Symbol, or name of Company (Smart search will display potential matches)
2. If this is a past trade, use the calendar/date picker to select date
3. Click “Stock”, “Call” or “Put” to build trade, change quantity, Expiry and Strike (if applicable)
4. Bid/Ask will automatically populate if a specific price is not entered
5. Complete Order Type, Duration and Condition
6. Click “Review” to confirm information is correct, then ‘Submit” on next screen.
The order will appear in Order Status as “Executed” and operate the same way as other accounts.
Color Tag Trading Accounts
Select a unique color for each trading account on the Account Summary tab. Each trade in that account will display that color on the Journal trade tab entry.
Now it’s easier than ever to identify trades at a a glance.
Expand Trade Detail - Positions Tab
There are 3 ways to expand multi-leg trades in the Positions Tab.
Smart Icon – Click on the 
icon to the left of the stock symbol, select ‘Expand/Collapse’. Repeat to close.
Expand All – Click the button above the trade entries if you wish to expand all multi-leg trades. Once clicked, the button will change to Collapse All.
Double-Click – if you want to expand one trade or specific trades, simply ‘double-click’ on an open space of the trade entry line. Repeat to close.
Journal Account Multi-Selector
Reviewing your Journal Accounts is made easier by using the Multi-Select tool on the Journal Tab. Control your Journal Account Views by selecting from Live, Virtual, Manual accounts or Notes or any combination of these.
Use the “Toggle All” button to switch or toggle your selection. Example: If you have your virtual selected and not your real accounts, Toggle will switch to real account and unselect virtual account. This can be a great way to analyze your results and compare real and virtual.
You can further sort by Symbol, Tags, Notes or Date Range within an Account by using the following tabs in the Journal:
NOTE: Any filtering, including account selection, will refine your analytics results too. Want to find your results from a specific account. Select just that account and analytics will refect accordingly.
Reconcile Trade Notice
The Tags including the P/L Summary, Graph and new Insight tabs rely on updated Journal entries which includes reconciled trades.
The following notice appears in the Journal when trades needs to be reconciled:
All trades in the trading account(s) selected will display with the option to change back to Regular View:
Individual trades are reconciled by clicking on the “Reconcile” tab outlining the Journal Entry.
The Journal Tab will update showing the trade had a profit/loss or adjustment in the underlying.
Updating Journal Entries
Logging into your account will update Journal entries for up to the last two months. However, trades that expired will need to be Reconciled. If the system is unable to match trades, a Yellow ‘Close’ tab will result, requiring manual action to close.
Follow the steps as shown below to reconcile your trades.
Note: Step 2 is not required, however, if you are just learning to use the Journal and it’s features, sorting by Symbol, especially if you have multiple trades, simplifies the process.
Tag Results-Table Summary Totals
Located below the Analytics Tab in the Journal, the Tag Result Table Summary displays trade performance by Date Range, Total P/L, Average P/L, Number of Trades (Count), % Profitable and Average Number of Days in Trades.
This data is dynamically updated by available filters including:
Type of account(s) (Manual, Virtual &/or Live)
Specific trading account(s)
Date Range
Stock symbol
Tags
Not only does this table provide valuable information, you can use it to compare strategies, track improvement in your overall trading, etc.
Insight Tab in Journal
The Insight Tab, along with Tags and Graphs update dynamically with the account(s), symbol(s), tag(s) and/or date range selected.
Insight breaks down Overall Performance by Winning and Losing trades in addition to:
- Number of closed trades
- Percent (Winning/Losing Trades)
- Total $ Profit/Loss
- Average Total Profit/Loss
- Biggest (Winning/Losing Trade)
- Average Days in Trade
P/L & Duration/Timeline Graphs
Journal Trade Graphs
This tab offers two views of your Closed, Matched or Reconciled trades: P/L by Trade Duration and P/L by Timeline. The views update dynamically by Account, Symbols, Date Range and #tags.
The Timeline Graph.
Click/Drag your cursor to adjust/enlarge the orientation view.
Hover your cursor over each graph plot for trade detail. Circles = Option Trades, Diamonds = Stock Trades. The Duration View shows P/L and # of Days in the Trade
Timeline View displays P/L on Date Closed or Expiration
SPY Price is displayed on the Timeline View. Slide your cursor along this graph line to show end-of-day price for that date.
Backtest from the Journal
You can “Replay” a trade from your Journal by sending it to Backtest Analysis.
Click on the 
icon on the Journal trade tab.
Trades are sent to the specific strategy template of the trade.
If you click on the “Trade Open” tab, you will only get that view of the trade.
View the P/L, Price History, Stock Volatility Chart – be sure to utilize the “Go Big” function to see more detail of the trade.
Click Here for more on Backtesting
Note: This function is available on a “Clean” trade. Clean means there was a clean Open and a clean Close of the trade. There were no partial closings, ‘roll-ups’, adjustments or exercise/assignments.