06/18/2021 |
TrendSpider Software Update: Ext. Market Hours Support in Dynamic and Multi-Factor Alerts
Hello everyone! Today we are releasing an exciting update to the platform, building upon earlier updates that added support for Extended Market Sessions to both the Strategy Tester and the Market Scanner. In this update, we have added support for Extended Market Sessions to both Dynamic and Multi-Factor alerts!
Many traders use pre-market and after-hours trading sessions to enter positions or take profits. Typically, this is done by manually watching the pre or post-market for price conditions to be met, and then manually reacting. To make this process easier, we have now enabled the capability to trigger alerts during the extended trading session on US equities and any other priced assets that trade during normal and extended sessions. Have a pre-market dynamic trigger you look for manually? This update will save you tons of time each morning! Enjoy.
Extended Hours Alert Firing for Alerts
Both Dynamic Price Alerts and Multi-Factor Alerts now feature additional options that allow you to control when and how the alert will be calculated and triggered.
These options are comprised of a new drop-down menu called “fire during” that is available next to the extended hours data checkbox. To learn more about this checkbox, please see our earlier software update post that covers this checkbox and its capabilities. Briefly, this checkbox tells the system to use extended market data when calculating indicators and trendlines for the purpose of triggering alerts in the future, but does not actually trigger the alert during the extended session. The new options we have added allow you to do this now. Here’s how it works.
“Fire During” Options for Alert Triggering:
- Market hours
This option will tell the system to check alert conditions ONLY during the normal trading session. For US equities, this is between 9:30 am EST and 4 pm EST. If the checkbox for extended hours is checked while this firing rule is selected, the alert will calculate all conditions used to check the status of the alert using extended hours data, and then check if the conditions are true only during the normal session. - Extended session
This option will tell the system to check all alert conditions during the entire trading session, including both the pre-market session and the after-hours session. This means you may receive alert notifications anytime between 4 am EST and 8 pm EST, including the normal trading session. This is the option that we believe most users of this feature will select most often. - Pre-market only
This option will tell the system to check alert conditions only during the pre-market session, which is from 4 am EST until 9:30 am EST every market day. Once the market opens at 9:30 am EST, the alert will stop checking the market for conditions until the next pre-market session. - Post-market only
This option will tell the system to check alert conditions only during the after-hours session, which is typically from 4 pm EST until 8 pm EST. The alert will only fire during this window of time allowing you to control when the alert goes off.
Using This Capability in Multi-Factor Alerts
To open the Multi-factor alert panel, first click “Create alert” in the top TrendSpider toolbar, then choose the Multi-factor Alert option. This will open the Multi-Factor Alert creation dialog window. To the top right of the panel, you will see a checkbox labeled “Use ext.hours”. Check the box and the drop-down menu to the right of it will illuminate and become enabled. In this drop-down menu, labeled “Fire during”, you will choose when you want the alert to fire using the four options described above.
Using Extended Hours in Dynamic Price Alerts
To use this capability in a Dynamic Price Alert, you will want to first make sure that your chart has Extended Hours turned on. To do this, move your mouse to the top left corner of your chart next to the timeframe selection box, and click on the icon with the little clock on it. This will enable extended session data to be displayed on the chart.
Once extended-hours data is enabled, right-click any indicator, trendline or horizontal level on the chart and select the menu item for “Create alert at this line”.
This will open the Dynamic alert panel that corresponds with the on chart item you wish to set your alert on. In the middle of the panel, you will see a checkbox labeled “Use ext.hours” that is selected because your extended hours data is turned on. The multi-selection box to the right will now be illuminated. In this box labeled “Fire during” you will choose when you want the alert to fire using the four options described above.
Alert warnings:
Extended hour alerts are prone to a number of edge cases that may impact the performance of the alerts for you. For example, some timeframes may not trigger properly. In cases where this may be an issue, the system will display a warning for you in the alert creation dialog that will explain the issue. Be sure to pay attention to any warnings displayed on your alert creation dialogs, as they will typically give you a heads up that you are trying to create an alert that may not work correctly. Each warning message will explain why and give you a suggestion on how to address it.
Functional descriptions:
In addition to automated warnings, the system will also generate a functional description for every alert you create to give you an idea of how it will behave. The text for this is hidden by default but will be displayed directly below the options for configuring alert timeframes. An example of one of these functional descriptions is below.
See It in Action
Please check out this video for a brief walkthrough of the feature and ways you can use it to improve your trading!
