# Alerts and toasts

> Every toast and alert Scalpel shows, from fills and rejections to dilution, catalyst, borrow and connection alerts: what each colour means and what to do.

Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/alerts-and-toasts
Guide 10.2, Audio and alerts. Beginner, 8 min read.
Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team.

**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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/voice-callouts)) 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.

## How toasts work

- **Where**: at the bottom centre of the window, newest at the bottom. At most five show at once.
- **How long**: 7 seconds each. Click a toast to dismiss it early.
- **Colour and icon**: blue or green with an eye icon for information; amber or red with a warning triangle for problems.
- **Click to load**: a toast about a particular stock shows a pointer and **Click to load**. Clicking it focuses the desk already showing that symbol; otherwise it loads the symbol on an empty trader desk, then on a trader desk with no position. A desk holding a position is never changed. If every trader desk holds a position you get **No free desk: every trader desk holds a position**; if every desk is a scan desk, **No trader desk open: click SCAN on a desk to switch it to TRADER**.

*Screenshot: The four kinds: green success, blue info, amber warning and red danger. The take-profit toast is about a stock, so it can be clicked to load ABCD. Demo data.*

## Orders and positions

| 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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps)) |
| **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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)) |
| **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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)) |
| **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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/desk-status-badges)) |
| **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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-rejected)) |
| **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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)) |
| **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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-bar-greyed-out)) |
| **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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)) |
| **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 |

## Exit warnings

| 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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/voice-callouts)).

## Intel alerts

| 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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/check-dilution)) |
| **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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/catalyst-grading)). 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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/borrow-and-short-squeezes)) |
| **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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/dilution-entry-guard)) |

*Screenshot: Intel toasts: a red financing filing on a held symbol, an amber offering headline on a watched one, a blue strong catalyst. Demo data with fictional headlines.*

## Scanner alerts

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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scan-types)).

*Screenshot: A scanner alert and a held-back buy, both clickable. Demo data.*

## Halts and market data

| 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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-delayed-data)) |
| **Chart engine unavailable, using the native chart** | Amber | The chart fell back to Scalpel's own renderer ([guide 13.12](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-charts-blank)) |

## Mode and connection

| Toast | Colour |
|---|---|
| **LIVE mode activated** | Red: every key now sends real orders ([guide 6.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/go-live)) |
| **SIM mode activated** | Blue |
| **IB connection lost** | Amber: Scalpel lost TWS or IB Gateway. Stops are not watched until it reconnects ([guide 13.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected)) |
| **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 |

## Settings, layout and updates

| 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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/updates)) |
| **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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-update-failed)) |
| **Version 1.12.7 did not start, so Scalpel went back to 1.12.6** | Blue, at the next start ([guide 13.11](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-update-failed)) |
| **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 |

## Alerts that are not toasts

Some things stay on screen until they are dealt with:

- **The RISK LOCK banner**: a red bar under the header reading **RISK LOCK - Daily loss limit hit (-$1000). New entries blocked.** with **Resume trading**. It stays until you resume or switch mode ([guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)).
- **The connection banner** under the header while TWS or IB Gateway is not connected, with buttons to switch port or start the program ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)).
- **Desk badges**: DELAYED, NO DATA, STALE and the HALTED banner ([guide 2.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/desk-status-badges)).
- **Update ready** in the status bar.

## Questions

**Where do toasts appear in Scalpel?**

At the bottom centre of the window, newest at the bottom, up to five at a time. Each clears after 7 seconds or when clicked.

**How do I load a stock from a toast?**

Click it. Toasts about a stock show Click to load. Scalpel focuses the desk already showing that symbol, or loads it on an empty trader desk, then on one with no position. A desk holding a position is never changed.

**Can I turn toasts off?**

Not as a group. You can turn off the noisy ones at their source: strong catalyst alerts in Settings > Intel, each scan's bell in its panel, and the two exit warnings in the Level 2 cog.

**What does a red toast mean?**

Something was refused or needs you now: an order rejected, a buy on a halted stock, a stop fired, an exit that would not fill, LIVE mode switched on, a thin bid exit warning, or a financing filing on a stock you hold.

**Why do I keep seeing position held but on no desk?**

You hold a position whose symbol is not loaded on any desk, so its stop has no price to watch. Load the symbol on a desk. It repeats every few minutes until you do.