Settings: Trading

Every Scalpel order is a marketable limit: a limit order priced through the market so it fills now, with a cap on how far it can chase. This tab sets that cap. Open Settings (Ctrl+,) and pick Trading.

Settings

ConnectionTradingStopsRiskSizingAppearanceAudioHotkeysIntelAbout

Trading

ModeSIMHeader P&L (LIVE)Broker (IBKR)

Stocks (IBKR)

Buy offset (c)10Sell offset (c)10

Extended-hours fills

Lets entries fill in the pre-market and after hours. Exits (stops, targets, sells and Flatten All) can always fill outside regular hours, so a stop that fires before the open can get you out. Orders go to IBKR SMART routing.

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Every option

There is no setting for shorting, options, futures or crypto, because Scalpel does not trade them: it is built for long-only scalping of US stocks, first of all in the pre-market. Every sell is capped to the shares you hold, so no key can put you short (guide 7.3). Trading this way carries a significant risk of loss and is very difficult; most people who try it lose money. Stay in SIM until your results there are consistent, then start LIVE with small, fixed risk.

How the offsets price your orders

The offset is a ceiling, not the price you pay. A buy with the ask at 5.71 and a 10c offset is a limit at 5.81. If 400 shares are offered at 5.71 and the rest at 5.72, you fill 400 at 5.71 and the rest at 5.72; you only reach 5.81 if the book is that thin.

• Ask and mid exits (Ctrl+A, Ctrl+S, 1/2 Ask, 1/2 Mid) ignore the sell offset: they sit at the ask or the mid and wait for a buyer.
• Flatten All (and Esc) prices its own exit: in LIVE it crosses about 1% through the price so the whole position clears in one order.
• App-monitored stops price their own exit too: in LIVE, a marketable limit sell 5 cents under the last trade. If price keeps falling past that limit, or the order sits unfilled for a few seconds, Scalpel cancels it and sends a new one under the latest price, crossing about 1% from the first retry. After 5 retries it leaves the order working and tells you to check it in TWS. None of this is a guaranteed fill: in a fast drop the price can run past any limit. Why Scalpel watches stops itself instead of resting them at the broker is in guide 5.1.
• A sell or Flatten All while another exit is already working is never refused: the working sells are cancelled and one order replaces them for everything you still hold, at the lower of the prices.
• In SIM, a buy fills what the displayed book offers up to your limit, and the rest keeps working at the limit like a real order. See guide 4.4.

What can go wrong

• A LIVE buy did not fill. The price ran past ask plus your offset before the order reached the book. Raise Buy offset (c), or press again. See An order did not fill, or only part filled.
• An exit left shares behind. Bid exits stop at bid minus the offset. Press the exit again, or use Flatten All, which crosses about 1% through the price and replaces any sell still working. See guide 4.5.
• The header P&L does not match your trades. On Broker (IBKR), it includes positions and trades from TWS. Switch to Scalpel only.
• A pre-market LIVE buy sat unfilled. Extended-hours fills is off, so IBKR is holding it for the open. Turn it back on.

Questions

What is a good buy offset for small caps?

The default 10 cents fills most stocks between $1 and $20 in normal conditions. Fast movers with wide spreads may need 15 to 25 cents; a calm $3 stock may fill fine with 3 to 5. The offset is a ceiling: you still get the best prices on the book up to it.

Does the sell offset apply to my stop?

No. In LIVE an app-monitored stop sends a marketable limit 5 cents under the last trade, re-priced under the latest price if it does not fill, and Flatten All crosses about 1% through the price. The sell offset applies to the bid exits: Sell full, Sell half and Sell quarter.

Can Scalpel trade pre-market?

Yes. With Extended-hours fills on, LIVE entries can fill from the pre-market open at 04:00 to 20:00 New York time, as Interactive Brokers allows. Exits can always fill in those hours, even with the setting off. SIM fills in every session.

Will my stop fill pre-market if Extended-hours fills is off?

Yes. Every LIVE sell, including stop, target and Flatten All exits, carries the extended-hours flag. The setting only decides whether your buys can fill outside regular hours.

What does Header P&L (LIVE) change?

Only the DAILY P&L and UNREAL P&L figures in the header while you are in LIVE. Broker (IBKR) shows the whole account; Scalpel only shows the trades Scalpel placed.