Place trades for next day after market has closed?

I'm developing an autotrade system that trades certain NASDAQ stocks through Interactive Brokers. It operates solely on daily bars, so it's basically a swing trading system. Ideally, I'd like to open MultiCharts once every evening (Pacific time), download the OHLC data for the past day, and then transmit buy/sell orders for the next day to TWS.

However, MultiCharts doesn't seem to be able to transmit orders to TWS once the market is closed (i..e., after the 8:00 PM EST close for the after-hours session). If I right-click on a chart after the close, I don't see the "place order" command available as an option. Also, nothing happens if my strategy generates an order.

Is there any way to do this? Even though the market is closed, I'm able to enter a trade manually in TWS for tomorrow's execution. It would be great if MultiCharts could do likewise.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

I'm developing an autotrade system that trades certain NASDAQ stocks through Interactive Brokers. It operates solely on daily bars, so it's basically a swing trading system. Ideally, I'd like to open MultiCharts once every evening (Pacific time), download the OHLC data for the past day, and then transmit buy/sell orders for the next day to TWS.
However, MultiCharts doesn't seem to be able to transmit orders to TWS once the market is closed (i..e., after the 8:00 PM EST close for the after-hours session). If I right-click on a chart after the close, I don't see the "place order" command available as an option. Also, nothing happens if my strategy generates an order.
Is there any way to do this? Even though the market is closed, I'm able to enter a trade manually in TWS for tomorrow's execution. It would be great if MultiCharts could do likewise.
Thanks in advance for any tips.

Set TWS to accept after hour orders.

Thanks, but I've already tried that. I followed the instructions in this link:

http://ibkb.interactivebrokers.com/video/1274

I'm able to place orders manually in TWS after the market has closed. However, MultiCharts is not allowing me to transmit new orders to TWS during this period.

(Note that according to IB, the "after hours" period is the extended trading hours that last until 8:00 PM EST. I'm looking instead to submit trades after these hours -- i.e., after all trading has closed -- for the next day's execution.)

Hello Xyzzy,

It should be possible, if the IB broker profile in MC is configured accordingly.

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately, it doesn't help -- I already had the "Use Outside RTH tag" option set. I've attached a screenshot that shows my broker profile.

After digging into this some more, I found some more data about the cause of the problem. For reference, I've attached a screenshot of my TWS quote screen at 19:09 EST today (16:09 PST). This time is during the extended session, when volume is pretty light.

In this screenshot, note how most of the symbols have quotes for both "bid" and "ask." However, two of the symbols -- ADI and CHTR -- are missing one of those quotes. I.e., these symbols don't have a complete set of bid/ask quote spreads.

I have a workspace in MultiCharts that has charts for the same symbols. When I right-clicked on most of the charts at this time (i.e., for symbols like AAPL and ADBE that have both bid and ask quotes), then the "place order" command showed up in the context menu. However, when I right-clicked on the charts for ADI or CHTR, the "place order" command didn't show up.

I.e., it seems that MultiCharts won't transmit orders to TWS unless the symbol has active bid and ask quotes. This suggests that MultiCharts (a) can't transmit orders for some symbols during the extended session (like ADI and CHTR in this example), and (b) can't transmit any orders for any symbols after trading has completely ended for the day (the issue in my original request), since there aren't bid or ask quotes at that time.

I tested this using both charts with IQFeed as my data provider (with symbol mapping turned on), and with IB as my data provider. I had the same result in both cases.

Note that I can place orders for symbols like ADI and CHTR manually using TWS, despite the missing bid/ask quote. It's only a problem when I try to place orders through MultiCharts.

Can you confirm this? If so, is this a bug or expected behavior?

In this screenshot, note how most of the symbols have quotes for both "bid" and "ask." However, two of the symbols -- ADI and CHTR -- are missing one of those quotes. I.e., these symbols don't have a complete set of bid/ask quote spreads.

I have a workspace in MultiCharts that has charts for the same symbols. When I right-clicked on most of the charts at this time (i.e., for symbols like AAPL and ADBE that have both bid and ask quotes), then the "place order" command showed up in the context menu. However, when I right-clicked on the charts for ADI or CHTR, the "place order" command didn't show up.

It looks more like a problem with symbol mapping than a problem with sending orders outside regular hours. "Place Order" menu depends both on ask/bid availabilty and correct symbol mapping. Are asks/bids available for the ADI or the CHTR during regular session hours?

I.e., it seems that MultiCharts won't transmit orders to TWS unless the symbol has active bid and ask quotes. This suggests that MultiCharts (a) can't transmit orders for some symbols during the extended session (like ADI and CHTR in this example), and (b) can't transmit any orders for any symbols after trading has completely ended for the day (the issue in my original request), since there aren't bid or ask quotes at that time.

That is negative, Xyzzy. Even if there are no asks and bids and there is no "Place Order" menu, you still can send orders from MC if you use for example "Buy Market" button or drag and drop let's say a limit order. But of course it works completely good when mapping is configured and asks/bids are available.

Note that I can place orders for symbols like ADI and CHTR manually using TWS, despite the missing bid/ask quote. It's only a problem when I try to place orders through MultiCharts.

Could you try the following and let me know the results?
1. File -> New -> Chart -> Interactive Brokers -> ADI -> Settings -> Quote Field: Ask -> Ok.
2. File -> New -> Chart -> Interactive Brokers -> ADI -> Settings -> Quote Field: Bid-> Ok.
3. File -> New -> Chart -> Interactive Brokers -> CHTR -> Settings -> Quote Field: Ask -> Ok.
4. File -> New -> Chart -> Interactive Brokers -> CHTR -> Settings -> Quote Field: Bid -> Ok.