Guide 10.2
Beginner, 8 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on .
In short
Toasts are the short messages that stack at the bottom centre of Scalpel's window. The edge colour says how much it matters: blue is information, green is good news, amber is a warning and red means an order was refused, a stop fired or something needs you now. Each toast clears after 7 seconds or when you click it, and a toast about a stock reads click to load: clicking it puts that symbol on a desk.
Scalpel tells you what happened in three places at once: a toast on screen, a callout in your ear (guide 10.1) and the orders panel. The toast carries the detail the voice leaves out, such as which cap blocked an order or what a filing was. This page lists every toast Scalpel shows, word for word, and what to do about each.
| Toast | Colour | What it means and what to do |
|---|---|---|
| Order exceeds the fat-finger cap ($250000) | Red | One order was bigger than your fat-finger cap ($250,000 by default). Use a smaller preset or lower the cap to fit your account (guide 7.2) |
| Position would exceed the max ($250000) | Red | The buy would take this symbol past your max-position cap |
| Insufficient buying power: order $8000 exceeds free cash $5000 | Red | SIM is a cash account and the order does not fit in your free cash (guide 6.1) |
| Risk locked: Daily loss limit hit (-$1000) | Red | You pressed a buy while the daily loss limit is tripped: new entries are blocked until you click Resume trading or a new day starts (guide 7.1) |
| Order size resolves to zero shares | Red | The preset worked out to under one share, usually a tiny risk with a wide stop |
| ABCD is halted: buys are blocked until it resumes | Red | The stock is halted and reopens with an auction gap, so no entry may queue for it. Exits still work |
| No liquidity for ABCD | Red | SIM found nothing offered at or under your limit |
| No symbol loaded, No market data yet, No ask to price against, No book to price the exit | Red | The desk has no symbol, or no book to price the order from. Wait for Level 2 or check the desk's badges (guide 2.5) |
| No long position to sell | Red | You pressed a sell with no position on this symbol. Scalpel is long only and never sells short |
| ABCD: no shares to sell | Red | LIVE: Interactive Brokers shows no shares of this stock to sell, so the sell was not sent |
| ABCD rejected: ... with IBKR's reason and code | Red | LIVE: Interactive Brokers refused the order (guide 13.5) |
| ABCD: no acknowledgement from the order manager; order not placed | Red | LIVE: TWS never confirmed the order, so Scalpel treats it as not placed. Check TWS and your connection |
| ABCD: exit still not filled after 5 re-prices. Check it in TWS | Red | LIVE: a stop, target or catastrophe exit was re-priced under the latest price 5 times and is still open. It stays working: check it in TWS, or press Flatten All (guide 5.1) |
| Market closed - orders disabled | Amber | You pressed a buy or sell key while the session is closed (before 04:00 or after 20:00 ET, weekends, holidays) (guide 13.13) |
| D1 holds a position: close it before changing the symbol | Red | A desk with an open position keeps its symbol |
| D1 holds a position: close it before switching it to SCAN | Red | A desk with an open position stays a trader desk, so its stop keeps being watched |
| Flatten all sent | Amber | Flatten All or Esc sent an exit for every position. A sell already working is replaced, never stacked |
| Flatten all sent. The market is closed: IBKR may hold the sells until pre-market opens at 4:00 ET | Amber | LIVE, with the market closed: the exits are sent anyway and can fill from 04:00 ET |
| Flatten all sent. The market is closed: SIM fills at the last prices it saw | Blue | SIM, with the market closed |
| ABCD stopped out (working stop) or (catastrophe stop) | Red | A stop fired and closed the position (guide 5.1) |
| ABCD take profit hit | Green | The take-profit closed the position |
| ABCD: position held but on no desk, so its stop is not watched. Load it on a desk. | Amber | Load the symbol on a desk, or its stop does nothing. Repeats every 5 minutes until you do |
| Toast | Colour | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ABCD: bull trap, tends to dip in the next minute | Amber | Your long's 1-minute chart poked above the recent high and closed back under it |
| ABCD: thin bid side, exit carefully | Red | Selling your whole position into the bids on screen would slip 0.6% or more. Scale out instead of dumping |
Both come with a voice warning and can be switched off in the Level 2 panel's cog (guide 10.1).
| Toast | Colour | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| EFGH filed 424B5: ATM or takedown prospectus | Red if you hold it, amber if you are only watching | A financing filing: the company can sell stock into the move. On a held symbol you also hear the exit warning (guide 9.2) |
| CDEF offering: ... with the headline | Red if held, amber if watched | An offering headline |
| ABCD FDA: ... with the headline | Blue | A fresh catalyst graded strong or explosive (guide 9.4). Switch these off with Strong catalyst alerts in Settings > Intel |
| ABCD: no shares left to short | Blue | Borrow is gone: shorts cannot add (guide 9.3) |
| ABCD: Offering headline. Press buy again to confirm (or 424B5 filed) | Amber | The dilution entry guard held your buy back. Press the same buy within 4 seconds to send it (guide 9.7) |
A blue toast for every new name or setup a scan panel announces: New on IBKR scanner: PQRS +26%, New momo: PQRS +26%, New runner: ..., or the setup's name (Gap and go, Micro pullback, HOD break, Bull flag, Flat top, Consecutive run) followed by the symbol and its change. They only come from scan panels open on a desk with the scan's bell on, and every one can be clicked to load the symbol (guide 8.2).
| Toast | Colour | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ABCD halted: Volatility pause (LULD) or Trading halted by the exchange | Red | The stock on a desk is halted. The desk shows a HALTED banner with a timer |
| ABCD resumed trading | Green | The halt is over |
| Depth unavailable for ABCD: ... | Amber | IBKR refused Level 2 for this desk, usually your account's limit on books at once. The chart, tape and quote keep working (guide 13.4) |
| Chart engine unavailable, using the native chart | Amber | The chart fell back to Scalpel's own renderer (guide 13.12) |
| Toast | Colour |
|---|---|
| LIVE mode activated | Red: every key now sends real orders (guide 6.2) |
| SIM mode activated | Blue |
| IB connection lost | Amber: Scalpel lost TWS or IB Gateway. Stops are not watched until it reconnects (guide 13.1) |
| IBKR connecting, IBKR disconnected | Blue: you clicked the IBKR pill in the status bar |
| Reconnecting to IB | Blue: you changed the host or port in Settings |
| Connecting to TWS on port 7496 | Blue: you clicked Use port on the connection banner |
| Starting IB Gateway: log in, then Scalpel connects | Blue |
| Could not start TWS, TWS is not installed here | Red, amber |
| Toast | Colour |
|---|---|
| SIM account reset | Blue |
| Layout applied to all desks | Blue |
| UI scale 105% | Blue: Ctrl+=, Ctrl+- or Ctrl+0 |
| Could not save settings | Red: Scalpel could not write its settings file |
| Scalpel 1.12.7 is ready. It installs when you restart. | Blue (amber for an important update) (guide 12.2) |
| The update installs when you quit Scalpel | Blue |
| Scalpel 1.12.6 is up to date | Blue |
| Scalpel updated from 1.12.5 to 1.12.6 | Blue, at the first start after an update |
| Could not check for updates. Try again later. | Amber |
| Update 1.12.7 could not be installed, The update could not be installed | Amber, red (guide 13.11) |
| Version 1.12.7 did not start, so Scalpel went back to 1.12.6 | Blue, at the next start (guide 13.11) |
| You have an open position. Close it first: ... | Amber: you clicked Go back in Settings > About with a position, a working order or a live stop open. Close them, then try again |
| Could not go back: No previous version is kept on this computer | Red: there is no earlier version to restore |
Some things stay on screen until they are dealt with: