DOM Trading
Depth of Market (DOM) trading is a tool used by traders to view the buy and sell orders for a specific asset at various price levels, providing insights into market liquidity and sentiment. The DOM displays an order book showing pending orders, allowing traders to gauge supply and demand, assess liquidity, and monitor the bid-ask spread. By analyzing the volume and distribution of these orders, traders can predict price movements, often employing order flow strategies. This information is especially valuable for high-frequency traders or scalpers who require precise entry and exit points in fast-moving markets.
One-Click Order Placing
DOM window allows you to place Market, Stop, Limit and Stop-Limit orders with just one click.
Order confirmation for DOM is enabled on the Trading tab of Preferences. The Require Order Confirmation option is applied to manual order placing across all chart and DOM windows in MultiCharts. When the Require Order Confirmation box is checked you will see Place Order confirmation window every time you place an order. Check the Do not ask me again checkbox to disable order confirmation completely.
Placing Market Orders
To place Market orders, use the Buy Mkt and the Sell Mkt buttons under the price ladder. Order Size is defined by Quantity field, Time In Force (TIF) is defined by the value set in the Time In Force field.
Placing Limit Orders
Place a Limit order by one of the following methods:
- Click on price scale near corresponding price in Bid Size column (buy order) or Ask Size column (sell order). Order Volume is defined by Qty field (see Setting Order Quantity), Time In Force (TIF) is defined by the value set in Time In Force field (see Setting Time in Force).
- Drag-and-drop Limit order icon to the price scale near corresponding price in Bid Size column (buy order) or Ask Size column (sell order).
- Hold the Ctrl (or Shift) key on the keyboard and click Buy Bid/Buy Ask or Sell Bid/Sell Ask buttons.
Placing Stop Orders
Place a Stop order by one of the following methods:
- Click on price scale near corresponding price in Bid Size column (buy order) or Ask Size column (sell order). Order Volume is defined by Qty field (see Setting Order Quantity), Time In Force (TIF) is defined in Time In Force field (see Setting Time in Force).
- Drag-and-drop of Stop order icon to the price scale near corresponding price in Bid Size column (buy order) or Ask Size column (sell order). Order Volume is defined by Qty field (see Setting Order Quantity), Time In Force (TIF) is defined by the value set in the Time In Force field (see Setting Time in Force).
Placing Stop-Limit Orders
Place a Stop-Limit order by one of the following methods:
- Click on price scale near corresponding price in Bid Size column or Ask Size column while holding Ctrl+Shift buttons. Order Volume is defined by Qty field (see Setting Order Quantity), Time In Force (TIF) is defined in Time In Force field (see Setting Time in Force).
- Drag-and-drop of Stop-Limit order icon to the price scale near corresponding price in Bid Size column or Ask Size column. Order Volume is defined by Qty field(see Setting Order Quantity), Time In Force (TIF) is defined by the value set in the Time In Force field (see Setting Time in Force).
Place Order Menu
Place Order menu allows you to place Stop, Limit and Stop-Limit orders as well as to automate certain methods of entering or exiting positions. It’s perfect for avoiding repetitive tasks, increasing your productivity and focusing on trading. Automation is especially useful when you need to apply an order pair quickly (see Orders and Strategies).
Place Order menu strategies give you competitive advantage over other traders: they allow you to exit the position faster than others. They also reduce the risk of two orders execution and would be especially useful for traders who use pyramiding strategies. Each strategy is an OCO group – if one order is filled, the other is canceled.
Orders and Entry Strategies icons are rearranged automatically: the last used icon is displayed in the top left corner of the menu.
To expand or collapse the Place Order menu, use the Expand/Collapse buttons.
To scroll icons in the Place Order menu, use the Scroll buttons.
To select Exit Strategies Average Open Position Price calculation mode:
- Select File in the main menu, click Preferences, select the Trading tab
- Enable the Received from broker button to use the price received from broker or the Calculated based on order(s) execution price button to use the price calculated by MultiCharts based on entry order(s) execution price.
Exit Orders Management
Exit Strategies applied to an open position change the number of contracts according to the current position size.
Exit strategies applied to active orders do not change number of contracts regardless of the open position size (do not "jump" onto the active position after the parent order was filled). They remain active and keep protecting orders that were generated by the parent order.
Number of contracts for exit strategies applied to the open position changes taken into account strategies applied to filled orders and their effect on the overall position. In other words, strategies applied to the position protect the remainder that is not protected by strategies applied to individual orders.
If a position was opened by an order that has an exit strategy attached from a flat position, then this strategy is applied to the entire position and “protects” it (see Example 2 below).
Exit strategies applied to positions and strategies applied to orders are visually different on both on the chart and in the DOM: exits strategies applied to positions have “p” letter to the left of the number of contracts.
Shows exit strategy attached to an individual order:
- Open position is -1 contract.
- Sell limit order for 1 contract is sent to broker.
- Profit Target exit strategy is attached to the sell limit order.
- Sell limit order is filled. Profit Target becomes active. Open position is -2 contracts. Profit Target size is 1 (attached to the order, not the position).
- Sell market order for 2 contracts is sent to broker.
- Sell market order is filled. Open position is -4 contracts. Profit Target size is 1.
- Open position is flat.
- Buy market order for 100 contracts with a Master Strategy auto attached to it is sent to broker.
- Buy market order is filled. Master Strategy becomes active. Open position is +100 contracts. Master Strategy size is 100.
- Buy stop order for 200 contracts is sent to broker.
- Buy Stop order is filled. Open position is +300 contracts. Master Strategy size is 300 (protects entire position since the position was opened by an order that has an exit strategy attached from a flat position).
- Open position is +50 contracts.
- Buy market order for 100 contracts with a Master Strategy auto attached to it is sent to broker.
- Buy market order is filled. Master Strategy becomes active. Open position is +150 contracts. Master Strategy size is 100 (attached to the order, not the position).
- Buy stop order for 200 contracts is sent to broker.
- Buy Stop order is filled. Open position is +300 contracts. Master Strategy size is 300(attached to the position).
- Open position is +10 contracts.
- Stop-Loss #1 exit strategy is applied to the open position. Stop-Loss #1 size is 10.
- Buy stop order for 5 contracts is sent to broker.
- Stop-Loss #2 exit strategy is applied to the buy stop order. Stop-Loss #2 size is 5.
- Buy stop order is filled. Stop-Loss #2 becomes active. Open position is +15 contracts. Stop-Loss #1 size is 10. Stop-Loss #2 size is 5.
- Buy market order for 10 contracts is sent to the broker.
- Buy market order is filled. Open position is +25 contracts. Stop-Loss #1 size becomes 20 (attached to the position). Stop-Loss #2 size is 5 (attached to the order, not the position).
Orders and Strategies
Place Order and Exit Strategy menu allows you to place orders with just one click. Here is the list of orders and exit strategies you can use in the DOM window:
Setting Order Quantity
Set order quantity by one of the following methods:
- Type in order quantity in Order Quantity box in DOM window;
- Click the Trading Calculator button .
Calculator automatically increases the current trade size setting by one, e.g. if you had 1 in order quantity field, calculator would automatically make it 2.
You can modify the number of contracts by pressing +1, +2, +5 etc. buttons. The Zero button resets the number of contracts to zero.
Buttons on the right side of the calculator contain 6 last values.
You may set this number of contracts by pressing those buttons. To apply the modifications click OK, to cancel the modifications click Cancel.
Setting Time in Force
To set time in force of the order, use the Time in Force box in DOM window.
- DAY – Good for one day
- GTC – Good-Til-Cancelled
- GTD – Good-Til-Date
- IOC – Immediate or Cancel Order
- FOK – Fill or Kill Orders
Order Status Types
MultiCharts DOM indicates different order statuses with different colors.
- Order status – Sent
- Order status – Submitted
- Order status – PreCancelled, PreModified
- Order status – Inactive (Not Triggered)
Modifying Orders
Order modification allows modifying price level and changing the quantity of the active order that has not been filled yet.
Modifying Price Levels
To modify an order price, drag and drop the order marker to desired price level.
To cancel price adjustment, press Esc before you release left mouse button.
Changing Quantity
Change quantity of the order by one of the following methods:
- Click on the order marker on the chart to call context menu, select Modify Quantity and select the quantity.
- Click on volume value on order marker on the chart and modify the quantity in Trading Calculator (see Trading Calculator).
Managing Multiple Orders With the Same Price
If you place two or more orders of the same type at the same price level, they will be displayed as one order with the actual number of orders shown in brackets. Unlike Chart Trading Panel, if you drag and drop such group of orders in DOM, all orders will be replaced.
To modify quantity or cancel every single order in such group, right-click on the orders group in DOM to see the shortcut menu, select Modify Quantity or Cancel Order and click on the order ID. To cancel all orders in a group, click Cancel All Orders in this Cell.
If you place two or more orders of the same type at the same price level, they will be displayed one above the other showing bottom order color at the right side of the displayed order. To switch between the orders click on this color marker at the right side of the displayed order.
In case of Entry and Exit strategies to switch between different strategies click on the Switch button.
Cancelling Orders
Cancel separate threads or the order/strategy completely by one of the following methods:
- Click on the button on order/strategy marker.
- Right-click the order to see the shortcut menu and select Cancel Order.
To cancel all Buy orders, click on the Cancel button at the left of Buy Mkt button.
To cancel all Sell orders, click on the Cancel button at the right of Sell Mkt button.
PnL and Current Position
PnL and Current Position box indicates Current Position and Profit and Loss. Positive value (profit) is colored green, negative value (loss) is colored red.
Profit and Loss can be indicated in: dollars , ticks and percent .
To change indication type, click on PnL and Current position box.
AvgEntry Price of the position is highlighted in blue for a long position in the Price column.
In red – for a short position in the Price column.
OCO-Orders
One Cancels Other (OCO) orders are the price orders sent in a group. When any of OCO orders is filled or partially filled, the system cancels or reduces size of other orders in this OCO-group.
All Entry Strategies are placed with OCO-orders.
There are two types of OCO-groups in MultiCharts: Native and Emulated.
Native OCO-group is used when the broker’s API supports OCO-groups. In this case all OCO orders are sent to the broker directly and unfilled OCO orders will be cancelled by the broker.
Emulated OCO-group means that all OCO orders will be sent to the broker, but once one of them is filled, other orders from this OCO group will be cancelled by MultiCharts. In this case, when one of the OCO orders is filled, MultiCharts will send a command to cancel or reduce size of the second OCO order to the broker.
All OCO-orders of the same group will have the same OCO-ID. You may check it in the Orders tab of the Order and Position Tracker window.
Reversing Positions
To reverse current position:
- Click the Reverse button.
- Right-click on the Average Entry Price highlighted in white to see the shortcut menu and click Reverse Position.
Closing Positions
Close the position by one of the following methods:
- Click the Close button on Chart Trading Panel.
- Right-click on the Average Entry Price highlighted in white to see the shortcut menu and select Close Position.
Closing the current position cancels the orders associated with it. It also cancels all pending orders.