# Scalpel: full text > Scalpel is a keyboard-first desktop day-trading cockpit for Interactive Brokers. It connects to your own IBKR account through TWS or IB Gateway and puts a Level 2 montage, time and sales tape, chart and order panel for each symbol on one screen, with hotkey entries sized by your risk and stops you drag on the chart. ## Facts - Price: $299 once, plus tax where it applies. Lifetime license for one trader on two machines, with every update included. 7-day refund guarantee. - Platforms: Windows 10 and 11, and Macs with Apple silicon (M1 and later). - Requirements: An Interactive Brokers account with live US stock market data (Level 2 for the montage); TWS or IB Gateway running and logged in on the same machine, with the API enabled; Windows 10 or 11, or a Mac with Apple silicon. - Data: Your IBKR market data and news, SEC EDGAR, the IBKR borrow file, FINRA short interest and Nasdaq Reg SHO lists. No paid data feed. - Seller: QUITE RIGHT LIMITED, registered in England and Wales. What it does: - Up to six desks, each with a Level 2 montage, time and sales tape, candlestick chart and order panel - Hotkey entries and scale-outs from the keyboard - Position size worked out from your stop and dollar risk at the instant you press - App-monitored working stop, catastrophe net and take-profit, dragged on the chart - Stop exits that work in the pre-market: a limit sell 5 cents under the last trade, flagged for extended hours - A momentum scanner on IBKR's own market scanner, pre-market included - Borrow, dilution and catalyst intel from free public sources - SIM paper trading against the live book with IBKR commissions, and LIVE order routing - Daily loss limit, fat-finger and position caps - Voice callouts and tape sound What it does not do: - Short: it is long only, and a sell can never exceed what you hold - Trade futures, options, forex or crypto: US stocks only - Trade for you: there is no auto trader or automation - Rest stops at the broker: stops are watched by the app and only work while it runs with a live feed - Sell data or need a paid feed: it uses your IBKR data plus free public sources Scalpel is independent software and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Interactive Brokers LLC. ## Correct answers to common questions **What is Scalpel?** A desktop day-trading cockpit for Interactive Brokers: Level 2, tape, chart and hotkey order entry for each symbol on one screen. It runs on top of your own IBKR account through TWS or IB Gateway. **Is Scalpel a broker?** No. Your orders, fills, data subscriptions and commissions stay with Interactive Brokers. Scalpel is the screen and the keys you trade with. **How much does Scalpel cost?** $299 once, plus tax where it applies, for a lifetime license on two machines with every update. There is no subscription and a 7-day refund guarantee. **Does Scalpel need a paid data feed?** No. It uses the market data in your IBKR account plus free public sources such as SEC EDGAR and FINRA. You need IBKR's US stock data, and a Level 2 subscription for the montage. **Can Scalpel short stocks or trade options and futures?** No. It is long only and trades US stocks only. A sell can never exceed what you hold, so it cannot open a short. **Are Scalpel's stops orders at the broker?** No. Stops and take-profits are watched by the app, so they work in the pre-market where exchanges accept limit orders only. The trade-off is that they only work while Scalpel is running and connected. **Does Scalpel trade automatically?** No. There is no auto trader. Every order comes from a key you press or a button you click. **Does Scalpel work on a Mac?** Yes, on Macs with Apple silicon (M1 and later). Intel Macs are not supported. It also runs on Windows 10 and 11. **Can I practice without risking money?** Yes. SIM mode paper trades against the live order book with IBKR commissions, and you switch to LIVE without a restart. **Is Scalpel affiliated with Interactive Brokers?** No. Scalpel is independent software from QUITE RIGHT LIMITED and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Interactive Brokers. --- # Install Scalpel on Windows > Download Scalpel for Windows, get past the SmartScreen warning safely, and find where it keeps your settings. Takes two minutes, no installer needed. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/install-scalpel-windows Guide 1.1, Getting started. Beginner, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Download **Scalpel-windows-x64.exe** from scalpeltrade.com/download, put it in a folder you own (your Desktop or a Scalpel folder in Documents) and double-click it. There is no installer. Because Scalpel is not signed with a paid Microsoft certificate, Windows shows "Windows protected your PC" the first time: click **More info**, then **Run anyway**. Scalpel then asks for your licence key. Scalpel for Windows is one portable file. Nothing is installed into Program Files, nothing runs in the background when it is closed, and removing it is deleting the file and its settings folder. It runs on Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit. **Before you start:** - A 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 PC with a current graphics driver. The interface draws on the GPU, and the charts use Microsoft's WebView2, which Windows 11 and up-to-date Windows 10 already have. - An Interactive Brokers account, with TWS or IB Gateway on the same PC ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). - Your licence key, or buy one when Scalpel asks for it. The download is free; the app needs a key to open ([guide 1.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/activate-licence)). ## Install it ### 1. Download the app Go to [scalpeltrade.com/download](https://scalpeltrade.com/download) and click **Download for Windows**. You get one file, **Scalpel-windows-x64.exe**. The same download is on your [account page](https://scalpeltrade.com/account) under **Download**. Some browsers hold back a new program the first time it is downloaded and ask you to confirm. If yours does, choose to keep the file. ### 2. Move it to a folder you own Move the file out of Downloads to where it will live, for example a **Scalpel** folder in **Documents**, or your Desktop. Pick a folder you can write to without an administrator prompt, because updates are installed in place: Scalpel puts the new version beside the old one and keeps the previous copy, so **Settings > About** can always go back one version. **Careful.** Do not put Scalpel in `C:\Program Files`. Windows needs an administrator to change files there, so updates would fail to install. ### 3. Open it and click More info Double-click **Scalpel-windows-x64.exe**. The first time, Microsoft Defender SmartScreen stops it with **Windows protected your PC**. There is no run button yet: click **More info**. *Screenshot: Simplified. The SmartScreen window on the first run. Click More info to see the app name and the run button.* ### 4. Check the file name, then click Run anyway SmartScreen now shows **App: Scalpel-windows-x64.exe** and **Publisher: Unknown publisher**. Check the name is the file you downloaded from scalpeltrade.com, then click **Run anyway**. You normally see this only once for the file. *Screenshot: Simplified. After More info: the app name, Unknown publisher, and Run anyway.* ### 5. Activate and connect Scalpel opens with a short splash (click or press any key to skip it), then the licence screen. Paste your key and click **Activate** ([guide 1.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/activate-licence)), then connect it to TWS or IB Gateway ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). **Tip.** Right-click the running Scalpel icon on the taskbar and choose **Pin to taskbar**. Updates replace the file under the same name, so the pin keeps working. ## Why Windows warns about Scalpel SmartScreen warns about any program that is not signed with a Microsoft-recognised code-signing certificate and that it has not seen many times before. Scalpel is not signed with one, so it gets the warning; "Unknown publisher" means exactly that and nothing more. What protects you instead: - **Download only from scalpeltrade.com.** The download page and your account page are the only sources. - **Updates are checked before they install.** Every update is signed with Scalpel's own release key, and the app refuses a download unless the signature, the size and the checksum all match. A compromised server could hold an update back, but not slip you a different file. - **Your trading stays between you and your broker.** Market data and orders go through your own TWS or IB Gateway. Beyond that, Scalpel talks to scalpeltrade.com for the licence check and updates, and reads public intel sources (SEC filings, FINRA short interest and short volume, the Nasdaq Reg SHO list) while Intel is on. ## Where Scalpel keeps your files The program file holds no settings. Everything you change is in your Windows user profile, so you can replace or move the exe freely: | What | Where | |---|---| | Settings: desks, presets, hotkeys, stops, risk caps | `%APPDATA%\scalpel\config\scalpel.toml` | | Licence key and the last licence check | `%APPDATA%\scalpel\data\licence.json` | | SIM account (balance, positions, history) | `%APPDATA%\scalpel\data\sim_state.json` | | Trade journals behind Analytics, SIM and LIVE kept apart | `%APPDATA%\scalpel\data\journal\` | | Log file (useful for support) | `%APPDATA%\scalpel\data\logs\scalpel.log` | To open the folder, press `Win`+`R`, type `%APPDATA%\scalpel` and press `Enter`. **Note.** Data recording is off by default, so Scalpel does not fill your disk with market data. If you switch it on (Settings > Connection), recordings go to `%APPDATA%\scalpel\data\recordings`. ## Move, update or remove it - **Move it:** close Scalpel and move the exe anywhere you can write to. Your settings stay put. - **Update it:** Scalpel downloads updates by itself and shows **Update ready** in the status bar; it never restarts while you hold a position. See [guide 12.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/updates). - **Use it on a second PC:** download it there and paste the same key. A licence covers two computers ([guide 12.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/move-licence-new-computer)). - **Remove it:** delete the exe, then the `%APPDATA%\scalpel` folder if you want your settings gone too. Free the computer on your account page so the licence slot is available again. ## What can go wrong - **No Run anyway button.** You are still on the first screen: click **More info** first. If your PC is managed by an employer, its policy may block unsigned programs altogether; use a personal PC. See [guide 13.10](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-smartscreen). - **The window opens but the charts are blank.** The WebView2 runtime is missing or broken; see [guide 13.12](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-charts-blank). - **An update fails to install.** The exe is in a folder Scalpel cannot write to, such as Program Files. Move it and try again ([guide 13.11](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-update-failed)). ## Questions **Is it safe to click Run anyway?** Yes, for the file you downloaded from scalpeltrade.com. SmartScreen warns because Scalpel is not signed with a paid Microsoft certificate, not because it found anything. Check the warning names Scalpel-windows-x64.exe before you run it. **Does Scalpel need an installer or administrator rights?** No. It is a single portable exe. Keep it in a folder you own, such as Documents or your Desktop, and it never needs an administrator. **Does Scalpel run on Windows 7, 8 or 32-bit Windows?** No. It needs 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 with a current graphics driver. **Will I see the SmartScreen warning after every update?** Windows remembers your answer for the file. Updates are installed by Scalpel itself, so you should not normally be asked again; if you are, check the file name and click Run anyway. **Where are my settings if I reinstall?** In %APPDATA%\scalpel. Deleting or replacing the exe keeps them; delete that folder only if you want a clean start. --- # Install Scalpel on a Mac > Download the Scalpel DMG, drag it to Applications and open it. Signed and notarized by Apple, for Macs with Apple silicon (M1 and later) only, not Intel. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/install-scalpel-mac Guide 1.2, Getting started. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Download **Scalpel-macos-arm64.dmg** from scalpeltrade.com/download, open it and drag **Scalpel** onto the **Applications** folder in the window that appears. Open Scalpel from Applications. It is signed and notarized by Apple, so macOS only asks once whether you want to open an app downloaded from the internet. Scalpel runs on Macs with Apple silicon (M1 and later), not on Intel Macs. Scalpel for macOS is a normal app bundle in a disk image: no installer, no background helpers, nothing outside Applications except its settings folder. Updates install themselves from inside the app. **Before you start:** - A Mac with Apple silicon. Check under **Apple menu > About This Mac**: the **Chip** line should say Apple M1 or later. Intel Macs cannot run Scalpel. - An Interactive Brokers account, with TWS or IB Gateway installed on the same Mac ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). - Your licence key, or buy one when Scalpel asks. The download is free; the app needs a key to open ([guide 1.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/activate-licence)). ## Install it ### 1. Download the disk image Go to [scalpeltrade.com/download](https://scalpeltrade.com/download) and click **Download for macOS**. You get **Scalpel-macos-arm64.dmg**. The same download is on your [account page](https://scalpeltrade.com/account) under **Download**. ### 2. Open it and drag Scalpel to Applications Double-click the DMG in Downloads. A window called **Scalpel** opens with the app on the left and a shortcut to your **Applications** folder on the right. Drag **Scalpel** onto **Applications**. *Screenshot: Simplified. The disk image window: drag Scalpel onto the Applications folder.* **Careful.** Do not run Scalpel straight from the disk image. The image is read-only, so updates cannot install there, and the app disappears when the image is ejected. ### 3. Eject the disk image In Finder's sidebar, click the eject button next to **Scalpel**, or drag the disk to the Bin. You can delete the DMG from Downloads. ### 4. Open Scalpel from Applications Open **Applications** and double-click **Scalpel** (or press `Cmd`+`Space` and type Scalpel). The first time, macOS says Scalpel is an app downloaded from the internet and asks if you are sure you want to open it. Click **Open**. Apple has checked the app (that is what notarized means), so this is the only question. ### 5. Activate and connect After a short splash (click or press any key to skip it), Scalpel shows the licence screen. Paste your key and click **Activate** ([guide 1.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/activate-licence)), then connect to TWS or IB Gateway ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). *Screenshot: The licence screen on first open. This computer's name, at the bottom, is how it appears on your account page.* **Tip.** While Scalpel is open, right-click its icon in the Dock and choose **Options > Keep in Dock**. Updates replace the app in place, so the Dock icon keeps working. ## If macOS blocks the first open If you see that Apple could not check Scalpel, or that it "cannot be opened", you most likely have an older or incomplete download. Delete it, download the DMG again from scalpeltrade.com and repeat the steps. If it still refuses: 1. Close the warning. 2. Open **System Settings > Privacy & Security** and scroll down to **Security**. 3. Next to the line about Scalpel being blocked, click **Open Anyway**, then confirm with your password or Touch ID. Only do this for a file you downloaded from scalpeltrade.com. ## Keys on a Mac Every guide writes keys the Windows way. On a Mac, **Ctrl is Cmd** throughout: **Cmd+X** sells half, **Cmd+Z** sells the full position, **Cmd+,** opens Settings, **Cmd+0** resets the zoom. Shift keys are the same on both: `Shift`+`1` buys preset 1. The one exception is **Cancel all orders**: `Cmd`+`Q` quits a Mac app, so on a Mac it is `Shift`+`Q`. See [guide 4.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/hotkeys) for the full list. ## Where Scalpel keeps your files Settings and data live in your user Library, so replacing or moving the app never loses them: | What | Where | |---|---| | Settings: desks, presets, hotkeys, stops, risk caps | `~/Library/Application Support/scalpel/scalpel.toml` | | Licence key and the last licence check | `~/Library/Application Support/scalpel/licence.json` | | SIM account (balance, positions, history) | `~/Library/Application Support/scalpel/sim_state.json` | | Trade journals behind Analytics | `~/Library/Application Support/scalpel/journal/` | | Log file (useful for support) | `~/Library/Application Support/scalpel/logs/scalpel.log` | To get there, in Finder press `Cmd`+`Shift`+`G` and paste `~/Library/Application Support/scalpel`. ## Update or remove it - **Update:** Scalpel downloads updates by itself and shows **Update ready** in the status bar. It never restarts while you hold a position, a working order or a live stop ([guide 12.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/updates)). - **Second computer:** install it there and paste the same key; a licence covers two computers ([guide 12.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/move-licence-new-computer)). - **Remove:** drag Scalpel from Applications to the Bin, then delete `~/Library/Application Support/scalpel` if you want your settings gone. Free the computer on your account page so the slot is available again. ## What can go wrong - **"You can't open the application" on an Intel Mac.** Scalpel is built for Apple silicon only. There is no Intel build. - **Updates fail.** Scalpel is not in Applications (for example it runs from the DMG or from Downloads). Move it to Applications ([guide 13.11](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-update-failed)). - **No Start TWS button in the connection banner.** Scalpel looks for TWS and IB Gateway in Applications (yours or the Mac's). Installed elsewhere, start them yourself ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). ## Questions **Does Scalpel run on Intel Macs?** No. Scalpel is built for Apple silicon (M1 and later) only. Check Apple menu, About This Mac: the Chip line must name an Apple M-series chip. **Is the Mac app signed and notarized?** Yes. It is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so macOS only asks the usual once-only question about an app downloaded from the internet. **Why does Cmd do what Ctrl does in the guides?** Scalpel uses the platform's command key: Ctrl on Windows, Cmd on a Mac. Every Ctrl shortcut in the guides is Cmd on a Mac, except Cancel all orders, which is Shift+Q on a Mac because Cmd+Q quits the app. **Can I run Scalpel from the disk image?** It opens, but do not. The disk image is read-only, so updates cannot install, and the app vanishes when the image is ejected. Drag it to Applications. **Can one licence cover my Mac and my Windows PC?** Yes. A licence covers any two computers, on either system. Paste the same key on both. --- # Activate your Scalpel licence > Find your licence key, paste it into Scalpel's licence screen and start trading. How the two-computer limit, 12-hour check and 72-hour offline grace work. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/activate-licence Guide 1.3, Getting started. Beginner, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Your licence key looks like **SCLP-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX**. It is on your account page at scalpeltrade.com and in your purchase email. The first time Scalpel opens it shows the licence screen: paste the key, click **Activate**, and the cockpit opens. One licence covers two computers; Scalpel checks it at every start and every 12 hours, and keeps working for up to 72 hours if it cannot reach scalpeltrade.com. Scalpel is a one-off purchase: one payment, a lifetime licence, two computers, every update. There is no trial mode, so the licence screen is the first thing a new install shows. It takes about a minute. **Before you start:** - Scalpel installed ([guide 1.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/install-scalpel-windows) for Windows, [guide 1.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/install-scalpel-mac) for a Mac). - An internet connection for the first activation. - A licence. No licence yet? The licence screen's **Buy a licence** button takes you to the pricing page. Every purchase has a 7-day refund ([guide 12.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/refunds-and-billing)). ## Activate Scalpel ### 1. Copy your key from your account page Sign in at [scalpeltrade.com/account](https://scalpeltrade.com/account) with the email you bought with (Scalpel sends you a sign-in link; there is no password). Your key is in the **Lifetime licence** panel. Click **Copy key**. The same key is in the email you got when you paid. *Screenshot: Simplified. The licence panel on your account page: the key, Copy key, and the machines using it. Machines 0 of 2 means it has not been activated anywhere yet.* ### 2. Paste it into the licence screen Open Scalpel. After the splash you see **Activate Scalpel**. Click the key box (1) and paste with `Ctrl`+`V` (`Cmd`+`V` on a Mac). You do not have to be exact: spaces are dropped, upper and lower case are the same, and the letters O, I and L are read as 0, 1 and 1, the characters keys use instead. *Screenshot: The licence screen: the key box (1), Activate (2), Find my key (3) (opens your account page), Buy a licence (4), and this computer's name (5).* ### 3. Click Activate Click **Activate** (2) or press `Enter`. The button reads **Checking...** while Scalpel asks scalpeltrade.com, then the cockpit opens. Scalpel saves the key, so you never type it again on this computer. ### 4. Check it in Settings Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) and the **About** tab. Under **Licence** you see **Licensed** with your key masked to its last four characters, such as `SCLP-****-****-****-W8RB`, and how many of your two computers are in use. **Manage licence and computers** opens your account page. Back on the account page, the computer now appears under **Machines 1 of 2** with the name from the licence screen (5), when it was last seen, and the Scalpel version it runs. ## Two computers per licence A licence is for one trader on two computers: a desktop and a laptop, or a Windows PC and a Mac. Each computer is recognised by a private fingerprint of its system ID; Scalpel never sends your files or your trading to the licence server, only the key, that fingerprint, the computer's name and the app version. To use Scalpel on a third computer, free one first: on your account page, click **Free this machine** next to the one you no longer use, then activate the new one. You can free up to three computers in any 30 days; ask in Discord if you need more. Step by step: [guide 12.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/move-licence-new-computer). **Note.** Reinstalling Scalpel, moving the app or updating it does not use a new slot. The slot belongs to the computer, so the same machine always activates into the slot it already has. ## The 12-hour check and the 72-hour offline grace Scalpel checks the licence when it starts (the launch screen stays on the Scalpel logo with "Checking your licence" until it answers, about 10 seconds at most if scalpeltrade.com cannot be reached) and every 12 hours while it runs. Each good check gives this computer a signed pass that is valid for 72 hours without the internet. So: - **Your internet drops, or scalpeltrade.com is down:** nothing happens. Scalpel runs on its last pass, and **Settings > About** says **checked offline** and how long is left. - **Scalpel cannot check in for more than 72 hours:** the next time it starts, it asks you to connect. It never locks you out in the middle of a session. *Screenshot: Settings, About during the offline grace: Scalpel has not reached scalpeltrade.com recently and says how long it can keep running without it.* ## A licence problem never traps you in a trade If a check fails while you trade (the licence was refunded, say, or the offline period ran out), Scalpel shows a banner under the header that says so and **keeps running until you quit**. Your positions, orders and app-monitored stops carry on as normal. If the licence screen ever appears at start-up while you still hold something (a position left over in your IBKR account, for example), it shows what is open and a red **Flatten all** button that closes everything at the market. Your stops are still being watched in the meantime. *Screenshot: The licence screen with a position still open: the stops are still watched, and Flatten all closes everything.* ## What the licence screen can say | Message | What it means | What to do | |---|---|---| | That licence key was not found. Check it on scalpeltrade.com/account. | A typo, or a key from somewhere else | Copy the key from your account page again | | That licence key is not in the right format. | Characters are missing | Paste the whole key, starting SCLP | | This licence is already active on 2 machines. Free one at scalpeltrade.com/account. | Both slots are taken | Free one on your account page, then click **Try again** ([guide 13.8](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-licence-machine-limit)) | | Scalpel can't reach scalpeltrade.com to check your licence. Check your connection and try again. | No internet on the very first activation | Get online and click **Try again** ([guide 13.9](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-licence-offline)) | | This licence is no longer active (refunded or disputed). | The purchase was refunded or charged back | Buy again, or contact support if this is a mistake | *Screenshot: Refused for the machine limit. Free a computer on your account page, then click Try again: the key you pasted is kept.* ## Questions **Where do I find my Scalpel licence key?** On your account page at scalpeltrade.com/account, in the Lifetime licence panel, with a Copy key button. It is also in your purchase email. The licence screen's Find my key button opens the account page. **Is there a free trial?** No. Scalpel needs a licence key to open. Every purchase has a 7-day refund instead, and the whole app, SIM included, is yours from the first minute. **How many computers can I use Scalpel on?** Two at a time, Windows or Mac in any mix. Free one on your account page to move the licence to another computer; you can free up to three in any 30 days. **Does Scalpel need the internet to run?** It needs to reach scalpeltrade.com to activate and then at least once every 72 hours. Between checks it runs offline on its last check. It always needs your TWS or IB Gateway connection for market data. **What happens if my licence check fails in the middle of a trade?** Nothing changes until you quit. Scalpel shows a banner and keeps running, your stops keep being watched, and it asks for the licence again at the next start. --- # Connect Scalpel to Interactive Brokers > Run TWS or IB Gateway, match the API port and watch Scalpel connect. Which program to use, the ports (7497, 7496, 4001) and what the link banner tells you. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers Guide 1.4, Getting started. Beginner, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel reaches your Interactive Brokers account through TWS or IB Gateway running and logged in on the same computer. Enable the API in that program, and make its socket port match Scalpel's (**Settings > Connection > Port**: 7497 by default; IB Gateway uses 4001). When they match, the **IBKR** pill in the bottom-left corner turns green and reads **Connected**. Until then, a banner under the header tells you what Scalpel found and offers a one-click fix. Scalpel has no data feed of its own and never asks for your IBKR password. Everything it shows (quotes, Level 2, the tape, charts, IBKR's scanner, the news on your account) and every LIVE order goes through the API socket of the IBKR program you already use. That is also why there is nothing else to pay for: no separate data feed, no charting subscription. **Before you start:** - Scalpel installed and activated ([guide 1.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/activate-licence)). - TWS or IB Gateway installed from Interactive Brokers' website, and your IBKR username and two-factor device to hand. - The API switched on in that program ([guide 1.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/enable-tws-api) has every setting). - A market data subscription for live US stock quotes and, for Level 2, depth ([guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). ## TWS or IB Gateway: which to run They are the same program underneath. IB Gateway is TWS without the trading screens: it uses far less memory and serves the same API. Interactive Brokers allows one trading-platform session per username, so logging in to TWS, IB Gateway or IBKR Desktop signs the others out (after asking). That gives three ways to run: | Setup | Run | Good for | |---|---|---| | Scalpel instead of TWS | IB Gateway only | The lightest setup; Scalpel is your only trading screen | | Scalpel alongside TWS | TWS with the API on | Keeping TWS's own windows; costs nothing extra | | Both fully open at once | TWS on one username, IB Gateway on a second | Two independent logins. Add the second user in Client Portal; market data is billed per username, so it needs its own subscriptions | Either program asks for two-factor approval on your phone at login and logs you out once a day unless you set auto-restart in its **Lock and Exit** settings. IB Gateway has no trading screen, but it is not unattended: it still needs those logins. ## The ports Each program listens on a socket port, and the number depends on the program and on whether you logged in to a live or a paper account: | Program | Live login | Paper login | |---|---|---| | TWS | 7496 | 7497 | | IB Gateway | 4001 | 4002 | Scalpel starts on **7497**. Log in with your real username: Scalpel's own SIM mode does the paper trading, against live data, so you do not need IBKR's paper account. That means a live TWS login usually listens on 7496 while Scalpel expects 7497. Change either side, or let the banner switch Scalpel over for you (below). ## Connect ### 1. Start TWS or IB Gateway and log in Start the program, log in and approve the login on your phone. Wait until it is fully up: TWS shows its main window, IB Gateway its status window. ### 2. Enable the API In TWS, open the global configuration and go to **API > Settings**. Tick **Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients**, untick **Read-Only API** if you will ever trade LIVE, and note the **Socket port**. IB Gateway has the same page under **Configure > Settings > API > Settings**, with the socket always on. Every option is in [guide 1.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/enable-tws-api). ### 3. Match the port in Scalpel In Scalpel, open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`), then **Connection**. Under **IBKR TWS (stocks: market data + orders)**, leave **Enabled** ticked and **Host** at **127.0.0.1**, and set **Port** to the program's socket port: 7497 or 7496 for TWS, 4001 or 4002 for IB Gateway. Click **Apply**. Scalpel reconnects straight away, no restart. *Screenshot: Settings, Connection: Host and Port, outlined. 127.0.0.1 is this computer; the port must be the one TWS or IB Gateway listens on.* **Tip.** Leave the host as **127.0.0.1**, not "localhost". TWS refuses some localhost connections, and 127.0.0.1 always works for a program on the same computer. ### 4. Watch the IBKR pill turn green The status bar along the bottom starts with the **IBKR** pill. It goes amber **Connecting**, then green **Connected**. Within a second or two the desks fill with quotes, Level 2 and the tape, and the voice says the link is up. *Screenshot: The status bar when Scalpel is connected: a green dot, IBKR, Connected. The build number is on the right.* ## What the IBKR pill says | Pill | Colour | Meaning | |---|---|---| | **Connected** | Green | Data and orders are flowing | | **Connecting** | Amber | Scalpel is trying; it retries by itself, every second at first and backing off to every 20 seconds | | **Disconnected:** and a reason | Red | The last attempt failed; the reason comes from the connection | | **Off** | Grey | You switched the link off. Scalpel stops retrying and hides the banner | Click the pill to switch the link off or back on. **Off** is handy when you close TWS on purpose for the evening; it is remembered across restarts, so switch it back on next session. If a working connection drops, you get an **IB connection lost** toast and a spoken warning. ## The connection banner While the link is down, Scalpel checks every 5 seconds which IBKR program is answering on this computer, on 7497 and 7496 for TWS and 4001 and 4002 for IB Gateway, and puts the answer in a banner under the header. There are four cases. **The right program, on its other port.** Typical for a live TWS login on 7496. Click **Use port 7496**: Scalpel saves the new port and connects. *Screenshot: TWS is up, but on 7496. Use port 7496 switches Scalpel to it in one click.* **The other program is running.** You set Scalpel up for TWS but started IB Gateway, or the other way round. Click **Use IB Gateway** (or **Use TWS**). *Screenshot: Scalpel expects TWS, but IB Gateway is the one running. One click switches over.* **The program is up but will not let Scalpel in.** The port answers but the API handshake fails: usually TWS is showing a window asking whether to accept the connection, or its API settings do not allow connections from this computer. Check the API settings ([guide 1.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/enable-tws-api), [guide 13.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-not-accepting-connection)). *Screenshot: TWS is listening on 7497 but refuses the connection: turn on the API in its settings.* **Nothing is running.** If TWS or IB Gateway is installed in its usual place, the banner offers **Start IB Gateway** and **Start TWS**. Scalpel starts it; you log in, and Scalpel connects by itself. *Screenshot: Neither program is running. The Start buttons appear for whichever is installed in its default location.* The **X** at the end of the banner hides it until the link next drops. **Note.** Scalpel finds TWS in `C:\Jts` and IB Gateway in `C:\Jts\ibgateway` on Windows (or a Jts folder in your user folder), and both in Applications on a Mac. Installed elsewhere, the Start buttons do not show; start the program yourself. ## What can go wrong - **Connected, but no quotes or Level 2.** The link is fine; the market data is not. See [guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading) and [guide 13.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-delayed-data). - **It connects, then drops every day.** TWS and IB Gateway restart or log out daily. Set auto-restart in their **Lock and Exit** settings; Scalpel reconnects by itself after a restart ([guide 13.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected)). - **Logging in somewhere else signs you out.** One session per username: logging in to TWS on another computer, or to IBKR Desktop, ends the session Scalpel uses ([guide 13.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-tws-signed-out)). **This can cost you money.** Scalpel's stops are watched by Scalpel itself, not left at the broker. While the link is down, a LIVE position's stop cannot fire. If the pill goes red while you hold a LIVE position, get TWS back or close the position in TWS. See [guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work). ## Questions **What port does Scalpel use to connect to TWS?** 7497 by default. Set it in Settings, Connection, Port to whatever TWS or IB Gateway lists as its socket port: usually 7496 for a live TWS login, 7497 for paper, 4001 for IB Gateway live and 4002 for paper. **Should I use TWS or IB Gateway with Scalpel?** Either. IB Gateway is lighter and enough if Scalpel is your only trading screen. Use TWS if you also want its own windows. Interactive Brokers allows one session per username, so not both on one login. **Does Scalpel need my Interactive Brokers password?** No. You log in to TWS or IB Gateway yourself; Scalpel only talks to their API socket on your own computer. **Can Scalpel connect to TWS on another computer?** It is built to run on the same computer as TWS or IB Gateway, at 127.0.0.1. The connection banner and the Start buttons only look at this computer. **Why does Scalpel keep saying Connecting?** Nothing is answering on the port it is set to. Read the banner under the header: it says which program is running and on which port, and usually offers a one-click fix. --- # Enable the API in TWS and IB Gateway > Turn on Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients in TWS or IB Gateway, set the socket port, allow 127.0.0.1 and switch off read-only API so Scalpel can trade. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/enable-tws-api Guide 1.5, Getting started. Beginner, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** In TWS, open the global configuration, go to **API > Settings**, tick **Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients**, untick **Read-Only API**, keep **Allow connections from localhost only** ticked and note the **Socket port**. In IB Gateway the same page is under **Configure > Settings > API > Settings**, with the socket always on. Then set the same port in Scalpel's **Settings > Connection > Port** (7497 by default for TWS, 4001 for IB Gateway) and click **Apply**. TWS and IB Gateway ship with the API closed or read-only, so a fresh install will not talk to Scalpel until you change three or four settings. You do this once; both programs remember it. **Before you start:** - TWS or IB Gateway installed and logged in ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers) helps you choose). - Scalpel installed and activated ([guide 1.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/activate-licence)). ## Turn the API on in TWS ### 1. Open the API settings In TWS, open **File > Global Configuration** (in the Classic layout, **Edit > Global Configuration**). In the tree on the left, expand **API** and click **Settings**. Scalpel's connection banner calls this page **Configure > API > Settings**. *Screenshot: Simplified. TWS, API settings: Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients (1), Read-Only API off (2), the socket port (3), localhost only (4) and Trusted IPs (5).* ### 2. Tick Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients This opens the socket Scalpel connects to (1). Without it, nothing answers on the port and Scalpel's banner says neither TWS nor IB Gateway is running. ### 3. Untick Read-Only API With **Read-Only API** ticked (2), Scalpel can read data and your account but every LIVE order is refused. SIM works either way, because SIM orders never reach IBKR. Untick it before you trade LIVE; leave it ticked while you only practise if you prefer the extra lock. ### 4. Check the socket port **Socket port** (3) is the number Scalpel must use. TWS suggests 7496 after a live login and 7497 after a paper one. Either set it to 7497 (Scalpel's default) or leave it and set Scalpel to match in the last step. ### 5. Keep localhost only Leave **Allow connections from localhost only** ticked (4). Scalpel runs on the same computer and connects from 127.0.0.1, which this always allows, and nothing else on your network can reach your account. If you ever untick it, add **127.0.0.1** to **Trusted IPs** (5) with **Create**, or TWS asks you to accept every connection. Leave **Master API client ID** empty. ### 6. Click Apply, then OK TWS applies the settings at once; no restart needed. ## Turn the API on in IB Gateway IB Gateway always has its socket open, so there is no Enable ActiveX checkbox. The rest is the same: 1. In IB Gateway's window, open **Configure > Settings**, then **API > Settings** in the tree. 2. Untick **Read-Only API** (it starts ticked) if you will trade LIVE. 3. Note the **Socket port**: **4001** after a live login, 4002 after a paper one. 4. Keep **Allow connections from localhost only** ticked. 5. Click **Apply**, then **OK**. *Screenshot: Simplified. IB Gateway, API settings: the same page without the Enable ActiveX checkbox. Live logins listen on 4001.* ## Set the same port in Scalpel Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) > **Connection**. Set **Port** to the socket port you noted: 7497 or 7496 for TWS, 4001 or 4002 for IB Gateway. Keep **Host** at **127.0.0.1**. Click **Apply**; Scalpel reconnects at once, and the **IBKR** pill in the status bar turns green. *Screenshot: Settings, Connection, set for a live TWS login on 7496. Host stays 127.0.0.1.* **Tip.** You do not have to get the port right first time. While the link is down, Scalpel looks for TWS on 7497 and 7496 and IB Gateway on 4001 and 4002, and the banner under the header offers **Use port 7496** or **Use IB Gateway** when it finds one ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). ## Settings worth changing while you are there These are optional, but traders who skip them meet the problems later: | Setting (TWS or IB Gateway) | Change it to | Why | |---|---|---| | **Lock and Exit**: auto restart | On, at a time you never trade | Both programs log out daily otherwise, and Scalpel loses its connection until you log back in | | **API > Precautions** | Review the order precautions | TWS can hold back API orders with its own size and price warnings. Scalpel has its own caps ([guide 7.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps)) | | Other API tools | Do not reuse Scalpel's client IDs | Scalpel opens several API connections with client IDs 1, 2, 10 and 70 to 72 (100 and up with data recording on). Another tool on the same ID knocks one of them off | ## What can go wrong - **"Not accepting the connection" in Scalpel's banner.** The port is open but the API handshake fails: TWS is showing a window asking whether to accept the connection, or **Allow connections from localhost only** is off and 127.0.0.1 is not in **Trusted IPs**. See [guide 13.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-not-accepting-connection). - **"Neither TWS nor IB Gateway is running" although TWS is open.** **Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients** is off, so TWS is not listening at all, or its socket port is not one of the standard four. See [guide 13.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected). - **LIVE orders are rejected, SIM works.** **Read-Only API** is still ticked. See [guide 13.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-rejected). - **It worked yesterday.** TWS logged out overnight. Log in again, and set auto restart under **Lock and Exit** ([guide 13.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected)). ## Questions **Where is Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients in TWS?** In the global configuration (File, Global Configuration, or Edit, Global Configuration in the Classic layout), under API, Settings. It is the first checkbox. IB Gateway has no such box: its socket is always on. **What is the difference between TWS ports 7496 and 7497?** TWS suggests 7496 after a live login and 7497 after a paper login. Either works with Scalpel, as long as Settings, Connection, Port in Scalpel is the same number. **What port does IB Gateway use?** 4001 after a live login and 4002 after a paper login, unless you change it in Configure, Settings, API, Settings. **Do I need to add 127.0.0.1 to Trusted IPs?** Not while Allow connections from localhost only is ticked: local connections are allowed already. Add 127.0.0.1 only if you untick that box. **Is it safe to turn off Read-Only API?** It lets programs on this computer place orders, which Scalpel needs for LIVE trading. Keep Allow connections from localhost only ticked so nothing on your network can. While you only use SIM, you can leave read-only on. --- # The IBKR market data you need for Level 2 > The IBKR market data that gives Scalpel live quotes, Level 2 and the tape, with no third-party feed to pay for, and how delayed or missing data shows. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading Guide 1.6, Getting started. Beginner, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel uses the market data on your own Interactive Brokers account and nothing else: no separate data feed, no charting subscription, no scanner service. You need IBKR's live US stock data for quotes, the tape and charts, and a depth-of-book subscription such as NASDAQ TotalView-OpenView for [Level 2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#level-2). Without live data a desk shows **DELAYED** or **NO DATA**; without depth you get a **Depth unavailable** warning and the desk keeps its quote, chart and tape. ## Why Scalpel uses your IBKR data and nothing else We built Scalpel so that a trader does not have to pay for third-party data or charting on top of a broker. There is no Massive.com (formerly Polygon.io) feed to buy, no TradingView subscription and no separate scanner service. Everything comes from two places: - **What you already get through Interactive Brokers:** quotes, Level 2 depth, the time and sales tape, the candle history behind the charts, IBKR's own market scanner, the borrow file and the news feeds on your account. - **Free public sources:** SEC EDGAR for filings and dilution, FINRA for short interest and short volume, and Nasdaq's Reg SHO list. The charts are drawn with TradingView's free, open-source Lightweight Charts library (credited in **Settings > About**), so there is nothing to subscribe to there either. The only optional paid extra is an OpenAI key for grading headlines, which costs a few cents a day ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)). What you do pay for is the market data itself, to Interactive Brokers, at their published prices. That data is what makes a scalping screen work, and it is the same data every IBKR platform uses. ## What each part of a desk needs | On the desk | Comes from | Needs | |---|---|---| | Last price, bid and ask, the day's open, high, low and VWAP | IBKR quote stream | Live US stock data (level 1) | | Time and sales tape | IBKR trade-by-trade stream | Live US stock data | | Charts, 10 seconds to daily | IBKR candle history, then live updates | Live US stock data | | Level 2 ladder (venues, sizes, price bands) | IBKR SMART depth, combined across venues | A depth subscription, as well as level 1 | | IBKR scanner panels | IBKR's market scanner | Live US stock data; each listed symbol uses a market data line | **Level 1** is the top of the book: the best bid, the best ask and the last trade. **Level 2** (depth) is every venue's bids and offers below and above that ([read the glossary](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#level-2)). Scalpel asks IBKR for SMART depth, which merges the venues you subscribe to into one ladder. Each venue you add fills in more of the book. ## Subscribe in Client Portal ### 1. Open the market data page Log in to Client Portal, the Interactive Brokers website. Open **Settings** and find **Market Data Subscriptions**, then click **Configure** next to your username. Subscriptions belong to a username, not to an account. ### 2. Confirm your subscriber status IBKR asks whether you are a **non-professional** or a **professional** subscriber. Most individuals trading their own money are non-professional, which is far cheaper. Answer honestly: the exchanges set the rules, not IBKR or Scalpel. ### 3. Add live US stock data Under North America, add the US securities bundle that gives streaming quotes for NYSE, NYSE American and Nasdaq stocks. On IBKR this is a snapshot bundle plus a streaming add-on; their page lists which bundle includes what. This is what lights up quotes, the tape and charts in Scalpel. ### 4. Add depth for Level 2 Add at least one depth-of-book feed, for example **NASDAQ TotalView-OpenView** (Nasdaq's full book, which also carries shares listed elsewhere that trade on Nasdaq) and **NYSE ArcaBook**. Nasdaq and Arca carry much of the extended-hours trading in small caps, which matters because Scalpel is built first for the pre-market. Each extra venue adds rows to the ladder. ### 5. Accept the agreements and restart the platform Accept the exchange agreements (and IBKR's market data API acknowledgement if it asks: API programs such as Scalpel need it). New subscriptions usually start within minutes; log out of TWS or IB Gateway and back in so it picks them up. IBKR shows the monthly price of every subscription on that page, and waives some of them in months when you pay enough commission. Prices change, so check there rather than trusting a number in a guide. ## How missing or delayed data shows in Scalpel Each desk header carries a session badge (**RTH**, **PRE**, **AFTER** or **CLOSED**) and, when the data is not live, a flag after it: | Flag | Colour | Meaning | Usual cause | |---|---|---|---| | **DELAYED** | Amber | IBKR is sending 15-minute delayed quotes | No live subscription for that stock's exchange | | **NO DATA** | Grey | Nothing has arrived since the symbol loaded | No subscription at all, or the symbol is not trading | | **STALE** | Grey | No update for 12 seconds | A quiet stock, or the data link has stalled | When IBKR refuses the Level 2 for a symbol, Scalpel shows a warning toast, **Depth unavailable for** the symbol, followed by IBKR's reason. The ladder stays empty, but the quote, the tape and the chart keep streaming, so the desk is still usable to watch. *Screenshot: Two desk headers: ABCD on live data, EFGH flagged DELAYED (1), and the toast when IBKR refuses depth for EFGH (2). Demo data.* More on every badge: [guide 2.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/desk-status-badges). Fixes: [guide 13.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-delayed-data). **Careful.** Never trade from a desk flagged **DELAYED**. The prices are 15 minutes old, the read lines and stops work from them, and in SIM your fills would be fiction. ## Limits worth knowing - **One live data session per username.** If you also stream quotes on the same username elsewhere (another TWS, IBKR Desktop, sometimes the phone app), IBKR may give the live data to that session and leave Scalpel delayed. Close the other one, or add a second username with its own subscriptions. - **Depth books at once.** IBKR caps how many Level 2 books an account can stream at the same time; the cap depends on your account's market data lines, and a basic account often gets only a few. With six desks open, the desks past the cap show **Depth unavailable** and keep everything else. - **Market data lines.** Every streaming symbol uses a line, including each name in the IBKR scanner list (30 by default, set by **List size** in **Settings > Connection**). If you run out, lower the list size or close desks you are not using. ## Questions **Which IBKR market data do I need for Level 2?** Live US stock data (level 1) for quotes, the tape and charts, plus at least one depth-of-book feed such as NASDAQ TotalView-OpenView or NYSE ArcaBook for the Level 2 ladder. More depth feeds add more venues to the ladder. **Does Scalpel need a paid data feed besides Interactive Brokers?** No. Scalpel uses only the market data on your IBKR account plus free public sources (SEC EDGAR, FINRA, Nasdaq). There is no third-party feed, no TradingView subscription and no separate scanner to pay for. **Why does my desk say DELAYED?** IBKR is sending 15-minute delayed quotes, almost always because the username has no live subscription for that stock's exchange, or another session on the same username has the live data. **Why do I get Depth unavailable on some desks?** Either the username has no depth subscription for that stock, or the account has reached IBKR's limit on Level 2 books streaming at once. The desk keeps its quote, chart and tape. **Does SIM need live data too?** Yes. SIM fills your orders against the live book, so it needs the same live data and depth as LIVE trading. Practising on delayed data teaches the wrong habits. --- # Your first 15 minutes in SIM > Load a symbol, buy with a hotkey, watch the stop arm, scale out and flatten, all in SIM with no money at risk. The whole Scalpel loop in fifteen minutes. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/first-session-in-sim Guide 1.7, Getting started. Beginner, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel opens in SIM, a paper account that fills your orders against the live Level 2 book, so you can learn it with no money at risk. Load a symbol on a desk, press `Shift`+`1` to buy 100 shares, watch the red stop and green target appear on the chart, press `Ctrl`+`X` to sell half and `Esc` to flatten the rest. That is the whole Scalpel loop; do it ten times before you change anything. Scalpel is opinionated. It does one job: long-only scalping of US stocks, built first for the pre-market (04:00 to 09:30 New York time) and fine in regular hours too. There is no shorting, no options, futures or crypto. It is also keyboard and audio first: every action has a key and every fill, exit and stop has a spoken callout, so your eyes can stay on the book. This first session teaches you exactly that rhythm. Why it is built this way: [guide 1.9](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scalpel-philosophy). **Before you start:** - Scalpel connected, with the **IBKR** pill green ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)) and live data ([guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). SIM fills against the real book, so it needs the same live data as LIVE. - A weekday between 04:00 and 20:00 New York time. Outside those hours the market is closed and the order buttons are greyed out. - Sound on. Half of what Scalpel tells you, it says out loud. ## Your first trade, step by step ### 1. Check that you are in SIM Look at the header. **MODE** (1) must read **SIM**, and **ACCOUNT**, on the right, says **SIM** too. A new install always starts in SIM with $25,000 of paper cash. Next to MODE, the clock shows New York time and the session (2): **Pre-market**, **Regular hours**, **After-hours** or **Closed**. *Screenshot: The header: MODE on SIM (1), and the New York clock with the session (2).* **Careful.** Switching MODE to **LIVE** takes one click, with no confirmation, and the next key you press sends a real order. Leave MODE alone until you have read [guide 6.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/go-live). ### 2. Load a symbol Click the symbol box in the header of desk **D1**, type a ticker and press `Enter`. A list of matches drops down as you type; `Up` and `Down` move through it. The desk fills with the quote, the Level 2 ladder, the tape and the chart in a second or two. For a first session, pick an active stock with plenty of prints on the tape and a spread of a cent or two. A thin, jumpy stock teaches you about slippage before you know the keys. *Screenshot: Typing ABCD into an empty desk: the matches drop down under the box, Enter loads the highlighted one. Demo data.* **Tip.** Typing never places an order: trading keys do nothing while the cursor is in a box. Once you pick a match, with `Enter` or a click, the cursor leaves the box by itself, so the hotkeys work straight away. If the match list is open, `Esc` closes the list first. ### 3. Read the order bar Under the chart is the order bar. The four green buttons are your buy presets: **100 sh**, **250 sh**, **500 sh** and **1000 sh** out of the box, fired by `Shift`+`1` to `Shift`+`4`. Above each is the dollar size that press would buy right now: 100 shares at a 5.71 ask is **$571**. The red sell row lights up once you hold shares. *Screenshot: The order bar out of the box: four share presets with their dollar size, the Offset steppers, and the sell row greyed while you are flat. Demo data.* ### 4. Buy with Shift+1 Press `Shift`+`1`. Scalpel sends a buy limit 10 cents above the ask (the buy **Offset**), which fills straight away at the best offers on the book, never above your limit. You hear the fill called out, and the desk changes: - A **LONG 100 @ 5.71** strip appears in Level 2 (1), green when you are up and red when you are down, with the dollars. - The chart draws your entry, a red **working stop** (2) and a green **take-profit** (3), each with the P&L and the [R-multiple](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#r-multiple) you would get there. *Screenshot: After Shift+1: long 100 at 5.71 (1), the working stop 12 cents under at 5.59 (2), and the take-profit at 2R, 5.95 (3). Demo data.* ### 5. Understand the stop you just got Scalpel arms the stop for you on every entry, sized to how much the stock has been moving (1.5 times the recent 1-minute range, the [ATR](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#atr)), with the take-profit at twice that distance (2R). A wider catastrophe net sits further down as a backstop; it is not drawn. These stops are **watched by Scalpel**, not left at the broker. Before the open, exchanges accept only limit orders, so an ordinary stop order cannot protect you, and a stop-limit can be jumped in a thin book. Scalpel watches every trade instead and, when price trades through your stop, sends a marketable sell. The catch: it only works while Scalpel is running and connected. All of it in [guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work). ### 6. Sell half with Ctrl+X Press `Ctrl`+`X` (`Cmd`+`X` on a Mac). Scalpel sells 50 shares at the bid and calls it out. The position strip now reads **LONG 50**, and the stop and target stay where they were for the rest. `Ctrl`+`C` sells a quarter, `Ctrl`+`Z` the lot. ### 7. Move the stop to breakeven, if you like Press `B`. The red stop jumps up to your entry, so the rest of the trade can no longer lose (before slippage and fees). A stop only ever moves up: if it is already above your entry, `B` leaves it there. `Shift`+`T` makes it trail behind new highs instead ([guide 5.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/breakeven-and-trailing-stops)). ### 8. Flatten with Esc Press `Esc`. Scalpel closes every open position on every desk, the same as the red **Flatten All** button in the header, and says so. It cancels any buy still working first, so nothing keeps filling after you are out. This is your panic key: learn where it is today. ### 9. Look at the result The **ORDERS & POSITIONS** panel under the chart has a **Positions** tab (now flat) and an **Orders** tab with your fills; **NET P&L** at the top includes commissions. The header's **DAILY P&L** shows the day so far. Switch **VIEW** to **Analytics** for your SIM statistics ([guide 6.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/analytics)). ## Use the rest of the 15 minutes | Minutes | Do this | Why | |---|---|---| | 0 to 3 | Steps 1 to 3 above | Know where SIM, the clock and the order bar are | | 3 to 6 | One full trade: `Shift`+`1`, `Ctrl`+`X`, `Esc` | The loop, start to finish | | 6 to 10 | Three more, eyes on the ladder, not the keyboard | Your fingers learn the keys; the voice confirms each one | | 10 to 12 | Let one trade run into its stop | Hear what a stop-out sounds like and see where it fills | | 12 to 15 | Press `?` and read the cheatsheet | Every key on one screen | *Screenshot: The cheatsheet (press ? to open, Esc to close): every key with what it does. The buy rows show your current preset sizes.* ## How SIM fills, honestly SIM is a cash account that books every fill against what the live book actually showed. A buy takes the offers on the ladder up to your limit; if they run out, the rest keeps working at your limit, like a real order, until it fills from new prints or you cancel it (`Ctrl`+`Q`, or `Shift`+`Q` on a Mac). A sell priced above the bid, such as half at the ask, rests at its price until trades reach it. A stop-out fills where the market is: at the price that crossed your stop or the bid, whichever is worse, less your **SIM slippage**. A gap through the stop costs you the gap, as it would live. Commissions are charged at IBKR's rates. What SIM cannot show is other traders reacting to your order, or hidden size taking your place in line, so live fills on thin stocks will be a little worse. More in [guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim). **This can cost you money.** Fast small-cap scalping is very difficult and carries a significant risk of loss; many people who try it lose money. Scalpel makes the mechanics quick, not the decisions easy. Stay in SIM until the keys are automatic and your SIM results hold up over weeks, then go live with a small fixed risk per trade and a daily loss limit ([guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)). Expect a long learning curve. ## What can go wrong - **Nothing happens when you press a key.** Another desk is focused, or you clicked back into a symbol box. Click inside the desk (it gets a blue outline) and try again. The hotkeys act on the focused desk only. - **The buttons are grey and a toast says "Market closed - orders disabled".** It is outside 04:00 to 20:00 New York time, a weekend or a market holiday ([guide 13.13](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-bar-greyed-out)). - **SIM refuses the order.** SIM is a cash account: a buy bigger than your free cash is refused with **Insufficient buying power**. The fat-finger and max position caps ($250,000 each by default) apply in SIM too ([guide 7.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps)). - **The desk will not change symbol.** It holds a position. Flatten it, or load the new symbol on another desk. ## Questions **Is SIM paper trading with real Level 2?** Yes. SIM fills your orders against the live Level 2 book and tape from your IBKR data, with IBKR-style commissions, and keeps its own balance, positions and history apart from LIVE. **How much money does SIM start with?** $25,000 of paper cash. Change the starting balance in Settings, Risk, SIM start, and reset the SIM account there whenever you like. **Can I short in SIM?** No. Scalpel is long only, in SIM and LIVE: every sell is capped to the shares you hold, so a sell can never open a short. **Why can I not trade at night?** SIM fills against the live book, and there is no book outside 04:00 to 20:00 New York time on weekdays. Scalpel greys out the order buttons when the market is closed. **What does Esc do in Scalpel?** It closes whatever is open first: the cheatsheet, Settings or the symbol match list. With nothing open, it flattens every position on every desk, like the Flatten All button. --- # A tour of the Scalpel cockpit > What every part of the Scalpel screen does: the header, VIEW and MODE, account stats, desks, Level 2, chart, order bar, orders panel and the status bar. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/cockpit-tour Guide 1.8, Getting started. Beginner, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel's screen has three bands. The **header** across the top holds VIEW, MODE (SIM or LIVE), the New York clock, your account figures and the red **Flatten All** button. The middle holds up to six **desks**, each a full trading station for one stock: a DAS-style Level 2 montage with the tape, a chart, an order bar and your orders and positions. The **status bar** along the bottom shows the IBKR connection and updates. Scalpel is opinionated: one screen built for long-only scalping of US stocks, pre-market first, driven from the keyboard and talking to you as you trade. Nothing on it is decoration. This tour names every part and links to the guide that goes deep on it. What Scalpel is for, and what it deliberately leaves out: [guide 1.9](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scalpel-philosophy). ## The whole screen *Screenshot: The cockpit in SIM: the header (1), a desk header (2), Level 2 and the tape (3), the chart (4), the order bar (5), orders and positions (6), the + rail for more desks (7), and the status bar (8). Demo data.* A short splash plays when Scalpel starts; click or press any key to skip it. If the licence screen shows instead, see [guide 1.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/activate-licence). ## The header The left half sets what you look at and how orders are handled. *Screenshot: The brand (1), VIEW (2), MODE (3), and the New York clock with the session (4).* - **VIEW** switches the middle of the screen between **Trade** (the desks) and **Analytics** (your statistics for the current mode, [guide 6.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/analytics)). - **MODE** is **SIM** (a paper account filled against the live book) or **LIVE** (real orders to your IBKR account). It switches at once, no restart, and each mode keeps its own positions, orders and history ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim), [guide 6.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/go-live)). - **The clock** is New York time, with the session under it: **Pre-market** (04:00 to 09:30), **Regular hours**, **After-hours** (to 20:00) or **Closed**, plus **Half day**, **Weekend** or **Holiday** when they apply. The dot is green in regular hours, amber in extended hours and grey when closed. The right half is your account and your exits. *Screenshot: In LIVE: the account figures (1), margin in use (2), the LIVE ORDERS badge (3), Flatten All (4), and Settings with the System menu (5).* | Item | What it shows | |---|---| | **ACCOUNT** | **SIM** or **IBKR**: whose figures you are looking at | | **NET LIQ** | The account's total value | | **MARGIN USED** | Dollars tied up in open positions, and that as a percent of net liq: amber from 50%, red from 80% | | **DAILY P&L**, **UNREAL P&L** | Today's realised and open profit or loss, green or red | | **LIVE ORDERS** | A red badge, only in LIVE: every key now sends real orders | | **Flatten All** (`Esc`) | Cancels any working buy, then sells every open position on every desk | | **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) | Ten tabs, from Connection to About ([section 11](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-connection)) | | **Help** | The guides, getting started, the hotkey cheatsheet, troubleshooting, what is new, help on Discord and email support | | **System** | **Restart** or **Shut down** Scalpel | In LIVE, the P&L figures come from IBKR by default, which includes trades you made elsewhere; **Settings > Trading > Header P&L (LIVE)** can switch them to Scalpel's own trades only. ## Desks Below the header sit the desks, four by default and up to six: the narrow **+** rail on the right adds one. Each desk is a complete station for one stock. One desk is always **focused**, outlined in blue: it is the one your hotkeys trade. Click a desk to focus it, or move with `Left`, `Right` and `Tab`. *Screenshot: One desk, top to bottom: the desk header (1), the intel strip (2), the quote (3), the Level 2 ladder with the tape on its right (4), the chart (5), the order bar (6), and orders and positions (7). Demo data.* **The desk header** (1) has the desk number (D1 to D6), the **TRADER** / **SCAN** switch (a scan desk holds scanner panels instead, [guide 8.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scanner-panels)), a colour swatch to tell desks apart, the symbol box, the session badge with a data flag when something is off (**DELAYED**, **NO DATA**, **STALE**, [guide 2.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/desk-status-badges)), and buttons to clear the desk, copy its layout to every desk and hide it. Loading symbols and arranging desks: [guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks), [guide 2.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/arrange-desks). **The intel strip** (2) appears when there is something to know about the stock: a fresh catalyst, a shelf that lets the company sell shares, how hard it is to borrow. Each chip has a one-line summary ([guide 9.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/intel-chips)). **LEVEL 2** (3) (4) is a DAS-style montage, the layout momentum traders know from DAS Trader: bids on the left, asks on the right, one row per venue, each price level in its own colour band. Scalpel is not affiliated with DAS. Above the ladder are the quote, the day's open, high, low, [VWAP](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#vwap) and volume, the bid and ask totals and spread, an imbalance and buy-sell delta strip, and a one-line read. With a position, a green or red **LONG** strip shows your size, average and P&L. The **time and sales** tape runs down the right edge: green prints hit the ask, red ones the bid. How to read it, and what it can and cannot tell you: [guide 3.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-level-2), [guide 3.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-time-and-sales). **CHART** (5) shows 10-second to daily candles with VWAP and two moving averages, a one-line chart read above it, and with a position your entry, stop and take-profit lines, which you can drag ([guide 3.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/chart-basics), [guide 5.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/drag-stops-and-targets)). **The order bar** (6) is the mouse version of the hotkeys: the four buy presets with their dollar size, the sizing method, offsets, and once you hold shares **Full**, **1/2**, **1/4**, **1/2 Ask**, **1/2 Mid**, **B/E**, **Trail** and **Cancel** ([guide 4.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/order-bar)). **ORDERS & POSITIONS** (7) has a **Positions** tab and an **Orders** tab, **NET P&L** after fees, and a **FEE** column with each fill's commission. Every panel title bar can be dragged to reorder or resize panels, and the cog on LEVEL 2 and CHART opens that panel's settings ([guide 2.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/panel-settings)). ## The status bar *Screenshot: The IBKR connection pill (1) and an update waiting to install (2), with the version on the right.* - **The IBKR pill** reads **Connected** (green), **Connecting** (amber), **Disconnected** with a reason (red) or **Off** (grey). Click it to switch the link off or on ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). - **Update ready** appears when a new version has downloaded. Click it for what is new, then restart now or let it install when you quit; Scalpel never restarts while you hold a position, a working order or a live stop ([guide 12.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/updates)). - On the right, the version you are running. Quote it when you ask for help. ## Things that appear when needed - **Banners under the header:** the connection banner while IBKR is down, a red **RISK LOCK** banner when the daily loss limit trips ([guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)), and licence or update notices. - **Toasts** at the bottom centre: fills, warnings, scanner alerts. Most come with a sound or a voice line too ([guide 10.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/alerts-and-toasts)). - **The cheatsheet** (`?`): every key on one screen. `Esc` closes it. ## Keyboard and sound first You can run a whole session without touching the mouse: buy with `Shift`+`1` to `Shift`+`4`, scale out with `Ctrl`+`X` and `Ctrl`+`C`, breakeven with `B`, trail with `Shift`+`T`, flatten with `Esc` ([guide 4.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/hotkeys)). Scalpel answers out loud: fills, partial exits, stop-outs, take-profits, new scanner names and connection problems all have a voice callout or a sound ([guide 10.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/voice-callouts)). The optional tape sound, inspired by Aggr.trade, turns the prints into tones so you can hear buyers and sellers without looking ([guide 3.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/tape-sound)). **Zoom** the whole cockpit with `Ctrl`+`-`, `Ctrl`+`=` and `Ctrl`+`0`, from 70% to 125%, or with **UI scale** in **Settings > Appearance**. On a Mac, Ctrl is Cmd throughout. ## Questions **How many stocks can I watch at once in Scalpel?** Up to six desks, each with its own symbol, Level 2, tape, chart and order bar. Four show by default; the + rail on the right adds the fifth and sixth. IBKR limits how many Level 2 books stream at once, so desks past your account's limit keep their chart, tape and quote without depth. **Which desk do the hotkeys trade?** The focused desk, outlined in blue. Click a desk, or use Left, Right and Tab, to move the focus. **What is the difference between SIM and LIVE in the header?** SIM is Scalpel's paper account, filled against the live book with no money at risk. LIVE sends real orders to your IBKR account and shows a red LIVE ORDERS badge. Each keeps its own positions and history. **Is the Level 2 like DAS Trader?** The montage follows the DAS-style layout momentum traders know: bids left, asks right, one row per venue, colour bands per price level. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with DAS. **Can I use Scalpel with the mouse?** Yes. Every hotkey has a button on the order bar, and stops and targets can be dragged on the chart. The keys are simply faster. --- # What Scalpel is for, and what it is not > Scalpel is opinionated: long-only scalping of US stocks, pre-market first, by keyboard and sound. What it does, what it never will, and who it is for. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scalpel-philosophy Guide 1.9, Getting started. Beginner, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel is opinionated software. It does one job: long-only scalping of US stocks, built first for the pre-market (04:00 to 09:30 New York time), driven by keyboard and sound, on the data you already get from Interactive Brokers. It does not short, and it does not trade futures, options or crypto or place trades for you, and it almost certainly never will. If you want those, TWS or another platform will serve you better. Most trading platforms try to do everything. Scalpel does not, on purpose. Every screen, key and default is shaped around one style of trading: fast small-cap momentum, in for seconds or minutes, out with a stop already set. This page explains what that style is, what Scalpel leaves out and why, where the ideas come from, and whether it is the right tool for you. ## What Scalpel is for | | What it means in practice | |---|---| | **US stocks, long only** | Buy, scale out, get out. Every sell is capped to the shares you hold, so a mistyped key can never put you short ([guide 7.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/long-only)) | | **Momentum scalping** | Small caps that are moving now, on news and heavy volume. Not investing, not swing trading | | **The pre-market first** | Built for 04:00 to 09:30 ET, when gappers make many of their biggest moves and ordinary tools struggle. It works in regular hours and after hours too | | **Keyboard and sound** | Every action has a key, every fill and exit is spoken, and the tape can be heard, so your eyes stay on the book | *Screenshot: One desk at 07:41 ET: the desk header reads PRE (1) for the pre-market, the chart carries the open position with its stop and target (2), and every button on the order bar has a key (3). Demo data.* The pre-market focus runs through the whole app. The scanner includes pre-market movers from 04:00 ([guide 8.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-scanning)). The chart's VWAP starts at 04:00 ET, not at the open ([guide 3.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/chart-basics)). Orders are open from 04:00 to 20:00 ET. And the stops live in the app, because before the open a stop order at your broker cannot protect you ([guide 5.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-stops)). ## What it will not do, and why Scalpel does not support shorting, futures, options, crypto or automated trading, and we do not plan to add them. Each one would pull the app away from the job it does well. - **No shorting.** Long-only is a design choice, not a missing feature. Every sell is checked against the shares you hold and capped to them, in SIM and LIVE, so a double-tapped exit or a stop firing during a manual sell can never flip you short. Shorting small caps also brings borrow fees, locates and squeezes, a different trade altogether. - **No futures, options or crypto.** They need different data, margin rules, sizing and order types. A cockpit tuned for small-cap stocks would be a worse tool for all of them. - **No automation.** There is no auto trader. Every order is a key you pressed or a stop you set. The only orders Scalpel sends on its own are the exits for the levels you armed, and Flatten All if you turn on auto-flatten at your daily loss limit. *Screenshot: Long only in practice: with no position the sell buttons are grey, and a sell key is refused with No long position to sell. Demo data.* If you need any of these, keep TWS or another platform for them. Scalpel can run alongside TWS on the same account. ## Where the style comes from Scalpel stands on ideas many traders already know. Scalpel is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ross Cameron, Warrior Trading, DAS or Aggr.trade. - **Small-cap momentum, as Ross Cameron teaches it at Warrior Trading.** Pre-market gappers with fresh news, low float and heavy relative volume; patterns like gap and go and the micro pullback; hotkeys, Level 2 and the tape; a small fixed risk per trade and a hard daily loss limit. [Guide 14.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/momentum-method) maps the method to Scalpel's scanner, intel, keys and stops. - **A DAS-style Level 2 montage.** Bids left, asks right, one row per venue, each price level in its own colour band, the layout many momentum traders learned on DAS Trader. [Guide 3.7](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-the-players) shows how to read who is doing what in it. - **Tape sound, inspired by Aggr.trade.** Every print becomes a sound: buys in your right ear, sells in your left, a block trade with its own shape, so you hear the flow speed up before you see it ([guide 3.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/tape-sound)). ## No extra subscriptions A momentum setup usually means a data feed, a charting subscription and a scanner service on top of your broker. We did not want that for our traders. Scalpel runs on what you already have through Interactive Brokers, plus free public sources: | You need | Where Scalpel gets it | Extra cost | |---|---|---| | Quotes, Level 2 and the tape | Your IBKR market data | None beyond what you pay IBKR, including its depth add-on for Level 2 ([guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). No separate feed such as Massive.com (formerly Polygon.io) | | Charts | IBKR's own price history, drawn with TradingView's free, open-source Lightweight Charts library | None. No TradingView subscription | | A scanner | IBKR's own market scanner over your TWS connection ([guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)) | None. No scanner service to rent | | News | The news providers on your IBKR account | None beyond your IBKR account | | Filings, dilution, short interest | SEC EDGAR, FINRA and Nasdaq, all free and public ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)) | None | | Sharper headline grading (optional) | Your own OpenAI key | A few cents a day, only if you add one | ## The risk, said plainly **This can cost you money: This style of trading is hard, and risky.** Fast small-cap momentum trading, especially in the pre-market, carries a significant risk of loss and is very difficult. Many people who try it lose money. Moves are violent in both directions, books are thin, halts happen, and an exit can fill far worse than your stop. Scalpel makes the mechanics quicker and safer; it does not make the trading easy or profitable, and it never tells you what to buy. Learn it in SIM, keep your risk per trade small, set a daily loss limit before your first LIVE order, and expect a long learning curve. ## Who it suits, and who it does not Scalpel suits you if: - you trade, or want to learn to trade, US small caps on the long side, in and out within minutes; - you are up before the open, because that is when your stocks move; - you have an Interactive Brokers account with live US market data, or will get one; - you want keys for everything and are willing to practise in SIM until they are automatic; - you want a stop on every trade without placing one by hand. It is not for you if: - you short, or trade futures, options, forex or crypto; - you want a bot or signals that trade for you; - you invest or swing trade over days and weeks: TWS does that well, for free; - you want to trade with no risk of loss. No tool offers that. ## Where to go next - [Guide 5.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-stops): why the stops live in the app, and what that means for your trades. - [Guide 3.7](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-the-players): reading the players on the DAS-style montage. - [Guide 14.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/momentum-method): the momentum method Scalpel is built around. - [Guide 1.7](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/first-session-in-sim): your first 15 minutes, in SIM. ## Questions **Can I short stocks with Scalpel?** No. Scalpel is long only by design: every sell is capped to the shares you hold, so it can never put you short. We do not plan to add shorting. **Does Scalpel trade futures, options or crypto?** No, only US stocks, and that is unlikely to change. Use TWS or another platform for other markets; Scalpel can run alongside TWS on the same account. **Does Scalpel trade automatically?** No. There is no auto trader. Every order is a key you press. The only orders it sends on its own are the exits for stops and targets you armed, and an optional flatten at your daily loss limit. **Do I need extra data or charting subscriptions?** No. Scalpel uses your Interactive Brokers market data, Level 2, tape, scanner and news, plus free SEC, FINRA and Nasdaq data. You still pay IBKR for the market data you use. An OpenAI key for headline grading is optional. **Is Scalpel affiliated with Ross Cameron or Warrior Trading?** No. Scalpel is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ross Cameron, Warrior Trading, DAS or Aggr.trade. It is inspired by the publicly known momentum style and tools many traders use. **Does Scalpel work in regular hours?** Yes. It is built pre-market first, but it works from 04:00 to 20:00 ET: the pre-market, regular hours and after hours. --- # Load symbols onto desks > Type a ticker, pick it from the list and the desk streams Level 2, tape and chart. How desk focus works and why a desk locks while you hold a position. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks Guide 2.1, Desks and layout. Beginner, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Click a desk's **Symbol** box, type the ticker, and pick it from the list with `Up`, `Down` and `Enter` (or a click). The desk streams that stock's Level 2, tape, quote and chart, and remembers it for next time. Hotkeys always act on the focused desk, the one with the blue outline: click a desk or press `Left`, `Right` or `Tab` to move focus. A desk that holds a position refuses a new symbol until you close it. A desk is one stock's trading station: the Level 2 book with the tape beside it, the chart with the order bar, and your orders and positions. Scalpel opens with four desks loaded with large, liquid stocks so you can see data moving straight away. You will replace them with the stocks you actually trade, usually the names your scanner turns up before the open. **Before you start:** - Scalpel connected to TWS or IB Gateway: the symbol list comes from Interactive Brokers ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). - Real-time US stock data on your IBKR account, or the desk shows **DELAYED** ([guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). ## Load a symbol ### 1. Click the desk's Symbol box Every trading desk has a **Symbol** box in its header, between the colour swatch and the status. On an empty desk you can click anywhere in the body (it says **No symbol** and **Click to load a symbol**), which focuses the desk and puts the cursor in its box. ### 2. Type the ticker Type the first letters. Scalpel asks Interactive Brokers for matching stocks as you type and shows up to ten under the box (2): the symbol, its primary exchange and its currency. Only stocks are listed, never options, futures or crypto: Scalpel is built for long-only scalping of US stocks and nothing else. *Screenshot: Typing ABC into D1's symbol box (1). The list (2) shows each match with its exchange and currency; the first is highlighted, so Enter loads it. Demo data.* ### 3. Pick it from the list The first match is highlighted. Press `Enter` to load it, or move the highlight with `Up` and `Down` first, or click a row. Press `Esc` to close the list without loading anything. ### 4. Check the desk is live Within a second or two the desk fills in. Scalpel subscribes to the stock's depth, quote, tape and bars, and loads chart history in the background: about 5 days of 1-minute bars, 4 hours of 10-second bars, 2 weeks of 5-minute, 3 months of hourly and a year of daily. The header shows the session (**PRE**, **RTH**, **AFTER** or **CLOSED**) and no amber or grey badge. If you see **DELAYED**, **NO DATA** or **STALE**, read [guide 2.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/desk-status-badges). The symbol is saved with the desk, so it loads again the next time you start Scalpel. ### 5. Trade straight away While the cursor is in a symbol box, your keys type into the box and the trading hotkeys do nothing. That is deliberate: typing a ticker can never place an order. When you pick a match, the cursor leaves the box by itself, so the hotkeys work at once: `Shift`+`1` buys instead of typing a "!". If you click back into a box, click the desk's book or chart to hand the keys back. **This can cost you money.** Never press `Esc` to "leave" a symbol box. `Esc` closes the suggestion list if it is open; with no list open, `Esc` is **Flatten All** and sells every position on every desk, even while the cursor is in a box. Click the desk instead. ## Desk focus: which desk your keys trade One desk is always focused. It has the blue outline, and only it shows two extra header buttons: **Apply to all** and **even widths** ([guide 2.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/arrange-desks)). Every trading hotkey, every buy, sell, breakeven and trail, goes to the focused desk. *Screenshot: D1 (1) is focused: blue outline, and the extra header buttons. D2 (2) is not, so a hotkey press goes to D1. Demo data.* Move focus in any of these ways: | How | What it does | |---|---| | Click a desk | Anywhere: the book, the chart, the orders panel or the header. Clicking also takes the cursor out of any symbol box. | | `Left` and `Right` | Focus the previous or next open desk, wrapping round at the ends. | | `Tab` | Focus the next open desk, like `Right`. | | Click a button on a desk | The order bar buttons, the timeframe buttons and the chart all focus their own desk before they act. | The arrow keys and `Tab` only move focus when no text box has the cursor; inside a box they move the text cursor as usual. Hidden desks are skipped. **Tip.** Get into the habit of glancing at the outline before you press a buy key. On a four-desk screen, a common mistake is buying the stock you were looking at, not the one you last clicked. ## Why a desk locks while you hold a position A desk that holds an open position will not change symbol. Picking a new ticker, the **X** (clear) button, **Hide** and switching the desk to **SCAN** are all refused with a red toast and a sound: *Screenshot: D1 holds 400 shares, so typing a new symbol is refused. Demo data.* This is so a live position never disappears from every screen. The position, its stop and target, and its exits all live on that desk; if it could vanish you could lose sight of a trade that is still at risk. To free the desk, either: - close the position (sell it, or let the stop or target take you out), or - load the same stock on another desk first. While a second desk shows the stock, the first is free to change, because the position is still on screen. ## Other ways to load a stock - **From a scan desk.** Every row in a scanner panel has a small square in each trading desk's colour: click one to load that stock on that desk ([guide 8.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scanner-panels)). - **From a toast.** Click a scanner alert or other toast that names a stock. If a desk already shows it, that desk is focused. Otherwise it loads on an empty desk, or failing that on a desk with no position. If every trading desk holds a position, a toast says **No free desk: every trader desk holds a position**. If every open desk is a scan desk, it says **No trader desk open: click SCAN on a desk to switch it to TRADER**. - **Clear a desk.** The **X** in the header empties the desk and frees its market data line, which matters because IBKR limits how many Level 2 books you can stream at once ([guide 2.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/arrange-desks#the-depth-limit)). ## What can go wrong - **No list appears when you type.** The list comes from Interactive Brokers, so Scalpel must be connected. Check the **IBKR** pill in the status bar ([guide 13.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected)). - **The desk loads but shows DELAYED or no Level 2.** That is your market data subscription, not the desk ([guide 13.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-delayed-data)). - **Your hotkey typed into the box instead of trading.** You clicked back into the symbol box after loading. Click the desk's chart or book first. ## Questions **Can I load options, futures or crypto?** No. Scalpel lists and trades stocks only, long only. It is built for scalping US small caps, mostly in the pre-market, and does not support shorting, options, futures or crypto. **Does Scalpel remember my symbols?** Yes. Each desk saves its symbol, colour and layout, and reloads the symbol when you start Scalpel again. **Why does pressing Shift+1 type a ! instead of buying?** The cursor is in a symbol box, where keys type text so a ticker can never place an order. Picking a symbol from the list takes the cursor out by itself; if you clicked back into the box, click the desk's book or chart and the hotkey trades. **Why can't I change the symbol on a desk?** It holds an open position. Close the position, or load the same stock on another desk first, and the desk is free to change. **Can two desks show the same stock?** Yes. That is also how you free a locked desk: load the stock you hold on a second desk, then change the first. --- # Add, remove and resize desks > Run up to six desks, resize them with the grips, even them out, colour them, copy one layout to all, and switch a desk between TRADER and SCAN. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/arrange-desks Guide 2.2, Desks and layout. Beginner, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel runs up to six desks side by side: four show by default, and the **+** rail on the right adds the fifth and sixth. Drag the grip in the gap between two desks to resize them, double-click a grip to even them all out, and click **Hide** to close one. Inside a desk, drag a panel's title bar to reorder it and the gaps to resize it, then press **Apply to all** to copy that layout to every desk. Everything is saved. The right layout depends on your screen and how many stocks you watch at once. Most momentum scalpers trade one stock at a time but keep two or three more on screen: the next gapper, the one that halted, the sympathy play. This guide covers every control for shaping the desks; [guide 2.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/multi-monitor-setup) suggests layouts for one, two or three screens. **Before you start:** - A symbol loaded on at least one desk ([guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)). ## The desk header Each trading desk's header carries its controls. The focused desk shows two more than the rest: *Screenshot: The focused desk's header, left to right. Demo data.* | # | Control | What it does | |---|---|---| | (1) | **D1** to **D6** | The desk number. Bright on the focused desk, dim on the others. | | (2) | **TRADER** / **SCAN** | Switches the desk between a trading desk and a scan desk. | | (3) | Colour swatch | Opens the colour picker. | | (4) | **Symbol** box | Type a ticker to load it ([guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)). | | (5) | Session and status | **PRE**, **RTH**, **AFTER** or **CLOSED**, plus a badge when data is not live ([guide 2.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/desk-status-badges)). | | (6) | **X** | Clears the desk: drops the stock and frees its data line. | | (7) | **Apply to all** (sliders icon) | Focused desk only: copies this desk's panel layout to every desk. | | (8) | **Even widths** (columns icon) | Focused desk only, with two or more desks open: gives every desk the same width. | | (9) | **Hide** | Closes the desk. Shown while more than one desk is open. | ## Add, hide and resize desks ### 1. Add a desk with the + rail While fewer than six desks are open, a slim **+** column sits on the right edge of the cockpit (3). Click it to open the next closed desk. It opens empty, as a trading desk, focused, with the cursor in its **Symbol** box, and it takes an even share of the width (the average of the desks already open). At six desks the rail disappears. *Screenshot: Three desks open: D1 dragged wider and focused (1), the grip lit under the cursor (2), and the **+** rail for the closed desks (3). Demo data.* ### 2. Drag a grip to resize Between each pair of desks is a short pill, the grip (2). It lights up blue when the cursor can grab it. Drag left or right: one desk widens, its neighbour narrows. A desk will not go narrower than 240 pixels, the width its header controls need. Widths are saved with your layout. ### 3. Even them out Double-click any grip, or click the **even widths** button on the focused desk's header, and every open desk takes the same width again. ### 4. Hide a desk you do not need Click **Hide** on its header. The desk closes, its stock is dropped and its slot goes back behind the **+** rail; the other desks share the space. You cannot hide the last open desk, or a desk that holds a position (a red toast says so: close the position first). ## Arrange the panels inside a desk A trading desk stacks three panels top to bottom: **LEVEL 2** (with the time and sales tape as a column on its right), **CHART** (with the order bar under it) and **ORDERS & POSITIONS**. By default the book takes about 46% of the height, the chart about a third and the orders panel the rest. - **Resize:** drag the gap between two panels up or down. - **Reorder:** drag a panel by its title bar and drop it on another panel. The two swap places. A trader who reads the chart first might put **CHART** on top. *Screenshot: Dragging the CHART panel by its title bar (1) onto LEVEL 2, outlined as the drop target, swaps them. Demo data.* Each desk keeps its own panel layout, saved as you change it. ### Copy one layout to every desk Set up one desk the way you like it, make sure it is focused, then click **Apply to all** (the sliders icon) in its header. Every desk takes the same panel order and heights, and a toast says **Layout applied to all desks**. Symbols, colours and desk widths are not touched. ## Give each desk a colour Click the swatch next to **TRADER** to open the picker and choose one of eight colours: **Blue**, **Teal**, **Green**, **Amber**, **Orange**, **Red**, **Pink** or **Purple**. The defaults are blue, amber, green and purple for desks 1 to 4, then teal and pink for 5 and 6. *Screenshot: The swatch (1) opens the eight desk colours (2). Demo data.* The colour is the desk's identity: it is the badge behind the symbol at the top of the Level 2 panel, and it is the colour of the little squares on every scanner row that load a stock onto that desk. Distinct colours make it hard to load a stock onto the wrong desk. ## Switch a desk between TRADER and SCAN Click **TRADER** in a desk's header and it becomes a **SCAN** desk: a stack of scanner panels instead of a book and chart. Its header changes to **Click a desk color to load**, **Add panel**, and the width buttons. *Screenshot: A desk switched to SCAN. Click SCAN to turn it back into a trading desk. Demo data.* Switching to SCAN frees the desk's market data line; its stock is remembered and reloads when you switch back to **TRADER**. A common layout is one scan desk on the left and three trading desks: scan panels are covered in [guide 8.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scanner-panels). **Note.** A desk that holds a position stays a trading desk. Scalpel's stops are watched from the desks' live prices, so a position must always be on a desk. Clicking **TRADER** on it is refused with a red toast: **D1 holds a position: close it before switching it to SCAN**. Close the position first, or load the same stock on another desk, then switch. ## The depth limit Interactive Brokers limits how many Level 2 books one account can stream at the same time. The number depends on your account and any quote booster packs. When a desk asks for one more book than you are allowed, a toast says **Depth unavailable for** the symbol, followed by IBKR's reason. The desk keeps working without the book: the quote, the tape and the chart still stream, so you can watch it, but you are trading it without depth. To get the book back, clear or hide a desk you are not using (its line is freed), or switch it to **SCAN**, then load the stock again. See [guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading) for how IBKR counts lines and [guide 13.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-delayed-data) for the fix. **Tip.** More desks are not better. Every extra book is another thing to glance at while a trade is on. Three trading desks is a good place to start: the stock you are in, the next one up, and one spare. ## Questions **How many desks can Scalpel show?** Up to six. Four are open by default; the + rail on the right opens the fifth and sixth. **How do I make all desks the same width again?** Double-click any grip between two desks, or click the even widths (columns) button on the focused desk's header. **Can I put the chart above the Level 2?** Yes. Drag the CHART panel by its title bar and drop it on LEVEL 2; they swap. Then press Apply to all to do the same on every desk. **Why does a desk say Depth unavailable?** Your IBKR account has hit its limit of Level 2 books streaming at once. Clear or hide a desk you are not using and load the stock again. The quote, tape and chart keep working meanwhile. **Is my layout saved?** Yes. Desk widths, which desks are open, each desk's panel layout, colour, mode and symbol are all saved and restored on the next start. --- # Panel settings: Level 2, tape and chart > Every option behind the Level 2 and chart cogs: rows, colouring, dollar values, the tape column, trade bubbles, gridlines and the warning switches. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/panel-settings Guide 2.3, Desks and layout. Intermediate, 8 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The Level 2, tape and chart options are not in Settings: they are behind the cog in each panel's title bar. The **LEVEL 2** cog holds the book's options and the **Time and sales** tape options, including tape sound; the **CHART** cog holds the timeframe and every chart layer. Changes apply the moment you click and are saved at once, and they apply to every desk alike. Settings (`Ctrl`+`,`) is for the account, orders, risk and keys. How the panels look is set on the panels themselves, so you can see the effect as you click. This page lists every option, its default, and when you might change it. ## Open a panel's settings Click the cog at the right of a panel's title bar: - **LEVEL 2**: the cog after the **-** **Tick** **+** grouping stepper. Opens **Level 2 settings**, which has two sections, **Level 2** and **Time and sales**, because the tape is a column of the Level 2 panel. - **CHART**: the cog opens **Chart settings**. - **ORDERS & POSITIONS** has no settings. There is no **Apply** button. Each change takes effect and is saved as you make it, on every desk at once: the panel settings are shared, so all your books look the same. Close the window with its **X**, by clicking outside it, or with `Esc` (with a settings window open, `Esc` only closes it; it does not flatten). ## Level 2 settings *Screenshot: The Level 2 cog at its defaults. The top section is the book, the bottom the tape column.* ### Level 2 | Option | Default | What it does | |---|---|---| | **Rows per side** | 14 | How many rows of the book each side shows, from 5 to 20. The imbalance gauge weighs the same rows. Fewer rows suit a short panel or a laptop. | | **Coloring** | **By price tier** | How rows are coloured: see [the three colouring modes](#the-three-colouring-modes) below. | | **Depth size bars** | On | With **Coloring** on **Off**, each row gets a faint grey bar as long as its size against the biggest row shown, growing from the outer edge. Switch off for a plain faint row. No effect in the coloured modes. | | **Dollar value instead of size** | Off | Shows each row's dollar value (price x size, in whole thousands: **$7K**) instead of shares. The column header reads **VALUE** and the summary bar shows **BID VALUE** and **ASK VALUE**. Useful when you flip between a $2 stock and a $20 one. | | **Highlight the touch** | On | With **Coloring** on **Off**, the best bid and best ask prices are drawn in gold. In the coloured modes the inside is already its own band. | | **Flash size changes** | On | A row flashes green when size is added at a price and red when it shrinks, fading in under half a second. Switch off if the flicker distracts you. | | **Summary bar** | On | The bar above the book: **BID VOL**, **BEST BID**, **SPREAD**, **BEST ASK**, **ASK VOL**. | | **Header quote** | On | The quote above the summary: last price, change, open, high, low, VWAP and volume. Off leaves only the symbol badge and the company name. | | **Inferred read** | On | The strip with the **IMBALANCE** gauge, **DELTA** over 10s, 1m and 5m, and the read line ([guide 3.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-line-and-read-bar)). | | **Show tape column** | On | The time and sales column on the right of the book. Off gives the book the full width; tape sound still plays. | | **Exit alert (long weakening)** | On | When you hold a long and the 1-minute chart prints a bull trap, a toast and a voice warn you ([guide 3.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-line-and-read-bar)). | | **Thin bid exit warning** | On | When selling your whole long into the bids shown would cost 0.6% or more below the best bid, a red strip, a toast and a voice warn you ([guide 3.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-level-2#the-thin-bid-exit-warning)). | ### Time and sales | Option | Default | What it does | |---|---|---| | **Display min size** | 0 | Hides prints smaller than this many shares. 0 shows every print. Try 100 to drop odd lots on a busy stock. | | **Color by aggressor** | On | Buys (at the ask) green, sells (at the bid) red. Off shows every print in grey. | | **Size bars** | On | Each coloured print is a bar as long as its size against the biggest print around it. Off paints the whole row in its colour. | | **Dollar value instead of size** | Off | Shows each print's dollar value instead of shares, with the header reading **VALUE**. | | **Tape sound** | Off | Plays the focused desk's prints as sound. The four rows under it set it up: see [guide 3.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/tape-sound). | | **Sound volume** | 60 | Tape sound's own volume, 0 to 100. | | **Sound min value ($)** | 1000 | Prints worth less than this many dollars are silent. | | **Big print value ($)** | 20000 | From this dollar value a print plays a figure instead of a blip. | | **Stereo: sells left, buys right** | On | Pans sells to the left ear and buys to the right. Off centres both. | The tape and its settings are covered in [guide 3.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-time-and-sales). ### The three colouring modes *Screenshot: The same bid side three ways. By price tier: one colour band per price. By venue: one colour per exchange. Off: plain rows, a grey depth bar, the inside price in gold and the big 3,000 order in amber. Demo data.* - **By price tier** (the default) paints every row at the same price in the same solid band, in this order from the inside out: green, salmon, yellow, cyan, orange, lavender, then round again. Both sides start with green at the inside. You can count how many venues sit at each price, and how many prices deep the book is, at a glance. It is the DAS-style scheme many momentum traders learned on. - **By venue** gives each exchange (**NSDQ**, **ARCA**, **EDGX** and so on) its own fixed colour, so you can follow one venue as it moves through the book. - **Off** draws plain dark rows with light text. This is the only mode where three extra highlights show: the faint grey **depth size bars**, the best bid and ask prices in **gold** (**Highlight the touch**), and **big orders** in amber: a row whose size is at least three times the average size shown, and at least 1,000 shares. In every mode, a suspected iceberg gets the layers icon ([guide 3.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/iceberg-orders)). ### The grouping stepper The **-** **Tick** **+** control in the LEVEL 2 title bar merges price levels into wider steps. At **Tick** there is one row per price. Click **+** to step through **x0.02**, **x0.05**, **x0.1**, **x0.25**, **x0.5**, **x1** and up; the sizes in each step are added together, bids rounded down and asks rounded up. On a $2 stock you will rarely need it. On a higher-priced stock with a thin, spread-out book, **x0.05** or **x0.1** shows where the real size sits. The stepper is per desk and resets when you restart Scalpel; the summary bar always uses the real book. ## Chart settings *Screenshot: The chart cog at its defaults.* | Option | Default | What it does | |---|---|---| | **Default timeframe** | **1m** | The timeframe a desk's chart opens on. Changing it here also switches the focused desk's chart. Each desk's timeframe buttons still change that desk on its own. | | **EMA overlays (9 / 20)** | On | The 9 and 20 period exponential moving averages, blue and orange. | | **MACD sub-pane** | On | MACD 12, 26, 9 under the price. | | **Delta sub-pane (10s, 1m, 5m)** | On | The buy-minus-sell volume lines from the tape, under the MACD. | | **VWAP line** | On | The session VWAP, thick yellow, from 04:00 ET. | | **Volume histogram** | On | Volume bars along the bottom of the price pane. | | **Round-dollar levels** | On | Faint lines at whole and half dollars: half dollars while the visible range is under $25, whole dollars up to $200. | | **Warrant and offering lines** | On | Orange dashed lines at warrant, offering and conversion prices from the stock's filings ([guide 9.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/warrant-and-offering-lines)). | | **Price gridlines** | On | Horizontal gridlines. | | **Last-price tag** | On | The last price highlighted on the price axis. | | **Crosshair** | On | The crosshair that follows the mouse, with its price and time. | | **Quick-order buttons** | On | The order bar under the chart ([guide 4.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/order-bar)). Off hides it; your hotkeys still work. | | **Verdict bar** | On | The read bar beside the timeframe buttons ([guide 3.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-line-and-read-bar)). | | **Trade bubbles** | On | Circles on the chart for the biggest buys (green) and sells (red) since the stock loaded. | | **Bubbles top %** | 20 | Which prints get a bubble: the top 20% by size of those on screen. Lower shows only the biggest; the range is 1 to 50. | The EMA lengths (9 and 20) are not in the cog; they can only be changed in Scalpel's settings file. Everything on the chart is explained in [guide 3.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/chart-basics). **Tip.** On a small screen, turning off the **MACD sub-pane** and **Delta sub-pane** gives the candles most of the chart's height back. Turning off **Show tape column** gives the book its full width. ## Questions **Where are the Level 2 settings in Scalpel?** Behind the cog at the right of the LEVEL 2 panel's title bar, not in Settings. The same window holds the time and sales tape settings. **Can each desk have different panel settings?** No. The Level 2, tape and chart settings are shared by every desk, so all books and charts look the same. Each desk keeps its own symbol, colour, timeframe and panel layout. **Why does Highlight the touch do nothing?** It only shows with Coloring set to Off. In the coloured modes the inside price is already its own band of colour, so the touch, depth bars and big-order highlights are not drawn. **How do I show dollar values instead of shares?** Switch on Dollar value instead of size: once under Level 2 for the book and once under Time and sales for the tape. Values read in whole thousands, such as $7K. **Is there an Apply button?** No. Panel settings take effect and are saved as you click. Close the window with its X, Esc or a click outside. --- # Set up Scalpel for one, two or three screens > Layouts that work on a laptop, one wide monitor or a multi-screen desk: how many desks to run, UI scale and zoom shortcuts, and where TWS fits. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/multi-monitor-setup Guide 2.4, Desks and layout. Beginner, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel is one window that opens maximized, with up to six desks across it. On a laptop run two or three desks, on one wide monitor four to six, and on several screens either stretch the window across two of them or keep Scalpel on one and TWS on another. Fit the desks to the screen with **UI scale** in Settings, Appearance (70% to 125%), or with `Ctrl`+`-`, `Ctrl`+`=` and `Ctrl`+`0`. A scalper's screen has one job: the book, the tape and the chart of the stock you are in, readable at a glance, with your hand on the keys. More desks only help if each one is still readable. This guide gives starting layouts for common screens and the controls to tune them. **Before you start:** - Desks you can add, hide and resize ([guide 2.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/arrange-desks)). ## How Scalpel uses the screen - **One window.** Scalpel opens maximized on the screen it starts on. Panels do not detach into separate windows. The smallest the window can be is 1120 x 720 pixels. - **Up to six desks** across the window, side by side. Each needs at least 240 pixels of width; about 400 or more reads comfortably, with the full book, the tape column and readable prices. - **UI scale** zooms everything, text and panels together, on top of your operating system's display scaling. At 90%, the same screen fits about 11% more. ## Starting layouts *Screenshot: Simplified: two desks on a laptop, four on one wide monitor, and Scalpel stretched over two screens with TWS on a third.* Widths below are the space Scalpel works with after your display scaling: a 1920 x 1080 laptop set to 150% in Windows behaves like a 1280 x 720 screen. | Screen | Desks | Width per desk | Notes | |---|---|---|---| | Laptop, 1280 wide after scaling | 2 | about 600 | Three fit at about 400 each; try UI scale 90% for three. | | 1920 x 1080 monitor at 100% | 3 or 4 | about 460 at four | The classic four-desk cockpit. | | 2560 x 1440 monitor at 100% | 4 or 5 | about 490 at five | Room for a scan desk plus four trading desks. | | 3440 x 1440 ultrawide | 6 | about 560 | All six desks, the + rail gone. | | Two 1920 screens, window stretched | 6 | about 630 | One desk sits across the bezel; see below. | These are starting points. If prices or venue names are cut off, run one desk fewer or step UI scale down 5%. ## Fit the cockpit to your screen ### 1. Set the number of desks Use the **+** rail to add desks and **Hide** to remove them until the count matches the table above ([guide 2.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/arrange-desks)). ### 2. Set UI scale Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`), then **Appearance**, and drag **UI scale**. It runs from 70% to 125% in 5% steps; 100% is the default. Click **Apply**. *Screenshot: Settings, Appearance: UI scale and its note, outlined.* Or use the keys from anywhere in the cockpit: `Ctrl`+`-` zooms out 5%, `Ctrl`+`=` zooms in 5%, and `Ctrl`+`0` goes back to 100%. A toast confirms the new value, for example **UI scale 90%**, and it is saved. On a Mac, use `Cmd` instead of `Ctrl`. ### 3. Balance the widths Double-click a grip between two desks to even them out, then widen the desk you trade from by dragging its grips. The stock you are in deserves the most room. ### 4. Trim the panels if the desks are short On a short screen, open the **CHART** cog and switch off the **MACD sub-pane** and **Delta sub-pane**, or lower **Rows per side** in the **LEVEL 2** cog ([guide 2.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/panel-settings)). Drag the panel gaps so the book and chart get the height. ## Two or three screens Because Scalpel is a single window, there are two ways to use more than one screen: 1. **Scalpel on one screen, everything else on the others.** Keep Scalpel maximized on your main screen, the one straight in front of you. Put TWS, your news, a browser or notes on the side screens. This is the simplest and the most common. 2. **Stretch Scalpel over two screens.** Restore the window (un-maximize it), then drag its left and right edges so it covers both screens, and run five or six desks. Drag the grips so a gap between desks lines up with the bezel, rather than a desk being cut in half by it. Either way, put the desk you trade from straight in front of you and the scan desk to one side. ## Where TWS or IB Gateway fits Scalpel needs TWS or IB Gateway running and logged in the whole time you trade: market data and orders go through it, and Scalpel's stops are watched by Scalpel itself, so they only work while Scalpel is running and connected ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). You do not need to look at it, though. - **IB Gateway** is lighter and has no trading screens, so it can sit minimized ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). - **TWS** is fine on a side screen or minimized. Keep an eye out for its own pop-ups (log-in prompts, the daily restart), which can stop data until you answer them. **Tip.** On a laptop, set Windows display scaling to the value you can read comfortably first, then fine-tune Scalpel with UI scale. Two well-sized desks beat four you have to squint at. ## Questions **Can I put each desk on a different monitor?** Not as separate windows: Scalpel is one window. You can restore the window and stretch it across two screens, then spread the desks over both. **How do I zoom the Scalpel interface?** Ctrl and minus zooms out 5%, Ctrl and equals zooms in 5%, Ctrl and 0 resets to 100%, from 70% to 125%. On a Mac use Cmd. The same setting is UI scale in Settings, Appearance. **How many desks should I run?** As many as stay readable, usually two on a laptop, three or four on a 1920 wide monitor and up to six on an ultrawide. Each desk needs at least 240 pixels and reads best at 400 or more. **Does Scalpel work on a 1366 x 768 laptop?** The window's minimum is 1120 x 720, so it opens, but run two desks and try UI scale at 85% or 90% so the book and chart are readable. **Do I need TWS on screen?** No. TWS or IB Gateway must be running and logged in, but it can be minimized or on another screen. IB Gateway is the lighter choice if you do not use TWS itself. --- # Desk badges: DELAYED, NO DATA, STALE and HALTED > What the session dot and the DELAYED, NO DATA and STALE badges mean on a Scalpel desk, what the HALTED banner shows, and what to do about each one. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/desk-status-badges Guide 2.5, Desks and layout. Beginner, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Each loaded desk shows the market session (**PRE**, **RTH**, **AFTER** or **CLOSED**) and, only when its data is not live, a badge: **DELAYED** (amber) means IBKR is sending 15-minute delayed quotes, **NO DATA** means nothing has arrived since the stock loaded, and **STALE** means no update for 12 seconds. A red **HALTED** strip under the header means the exchange has stopped trading the stock, with the reason and a timer. Do not trade from a desk showing any of them until you know why. Scalpel's reads, sizes and stops all work from the live feed. A badge is Scalpel telling you that feed is late, missing or paused, so whatever the desk shows may not be the market right now. **Before you start:** - A symbol loaded on a desk ([guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)). ## Where to look The status sits in the desk header, right of the **Symbol** box. A healthy desk shows just a coloured dot and the session. A badge appears beside it when something is off; only one shows at a time, in the order **DELAYED**, **NO DATA**, **STALE**. *Screenshot: Four desks: live in regular hours (1), delayed data in the pre-market (2), nothing received yet (3), and a feed gone quiet after hours (4). Demo data.* ## The session tag The session is the US market's, in New York time, so every desk shows the same one: | Tag | Dot | Hours (ET) | |---|---|---| | **PRE** | Amber | Pre-market, 04:00 to 09:30 | | **RTH** | Green | Regular trading hours, 09:30 to 16:00 (13:00 on a half day) | | **AFTER** | Amber | After-hours, 16:00 to 20:00 (17:00 on a half day) | | **CLOSED** | Grey | Overnight, weekends and market holidays | Scalpel is built first for the pre-market, when the momentum gappers move. Outside regular hours the books are thinner, spreads are wider and prices jump further between trades, so read **PRE** and **AFTER** as "size down". With the market **CLOSED** the order bar is greyed out and entries are blocked ([guide 13.13](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-bar-greyed-out)). ## The data badges | Badge | Colour | What it means | What to do | |---|---|---|---| | **DELAYED** | Amber | IBKR is sending delayed quotes for this stock, usually 15 minutes old, because the account has no real-time subscription for its exchange. | Do not trade it, not even in SIM: the book, tape and fills would be 15 minutes behind. Add the real-time US stock subscriptions in IBKR's Client Portal, and if you use a paper account, share the live account's data with it ([guide 13.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-delayed-data)). | | **NO DATA** | Grey | Nothing at all (no quote, trade or book update) has arrived since the stock loaded. | Wait a couple of seconds after loading. If it stays, check the **IBKR** pill in the status bar says **Connected** ([guide 13.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected)), and that the ticker is a US stock your account can get data for. | | **STALE** | Grey | No quote, trade or book update for 12 seconds. | On a thin stock in the pre-market or after-hours this can simply mean nobody is trading it. If **every** desk goes stale at once, the link to TWS or IB Gateway has stalled: check the status bar and TWS. | **Careful: A quiet feed means a quiet stop.** Scalpel's stops are watched by Scalpel from the live trades, not left at the broker ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). While a desk is **STALE**, no trades are arriving, so a stop cannot fire until one prints. If price has moved in the meantime, the first print can be well through your stop. ## HALTED When the exchange halts a stock, a red strip opens under the desk's header with the word **HALTED**, the reason, and a timer counting since Scalpel saw the halt. A red toast says the same, for example **PQRS halted: Volatility pause (LULD)**, with a sound. *Screenshot: A volatility pause: the red HALTED strip with the reason and the 2:14 timer, and the toast. Demo data.* The reason is one of two: - **Volatility pause (LULD)**: the price moved outside its limit up or limit down band. These pauses normally last 5 minutes, and small caps that spike on news get them often, sometimes several in a row. - **Trading halted by the exchange**: a regulatory or news-pending halt. These can last much longer, and the stock can reopen far from where it stopped. While the stock is halted, Scalpel blocks buys on it: the buy buttons on the order bar grey out, and a buy key is refused with a red toast, **PQRS is halted: buys are blocked until it resumes**. A halted stock reopens with an auction, often far from the last price, so no entry can sit queued for that moment. Sells are not blocked. When trading resumes, the strip goes away, buys work again and a green toast says **PQRS resumed trading**. While a stock is halted, no trades print, so your stop on it cannot fire. When it reopens, the first trade can be far above or below the last one, and an exit then fills at the reopening price, not at your stop. If you hold a halted stock, decide before the reopen what you will do if it opens against you. ## Depth unavailable Not a badge but a toast: **Depth unavailable for** the symbol, followed by IBKR's reason. The desk has no Level 2 book, usually because your account has reached its limit of books streaming at once. The quote, tape and chart still work. Clear or hide a desk you do not need, then reload the stock ([guide 2.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/arrange-desks#the-depth-limit)). ## Questions **What does DELAYED mean on a Scalpel desk?** Interactive Brokers is sending delayed quotes for that stock, usually 15 minutes old, because your account has no real-time subscription for its exchange. Add the subscription, and share it with your paper account if you use one. **Why does a desk say STALE?** Nothing has updated for 12 seconds. On a thin stock outside regular hours that can be normal. If every desk is stale at once, the connection to TWS or IB Gateway has stalled. **What is a LULD halt?** A limit up limit down volatility pause: the stock moved outside its allowed price band, and trading stops for normally 5 minutes. Scalpel shows it as HALTED with Volatility pause (LULD) and a timer. **Does my stop work during a halt?** It stays armed, but it cannot fire while no trades print. When the stock reopens, the exit fills at whatever price trading resumes at, which can be well through your stop. **Can I buy a halted stock in Scalpel?** No. Buys are blocked from the moment Scalpel sees the halt until trading resumes: the buy buttons grey out and a buy key is refused with a toast. You can still sell. **Can I trade in SIM with delayed data?** Don't. SIM fills against the book Scalpel shows, so with delayed data your practice fills would be 15 minutes behind the real market and teach you the wrong habits. --- # How to read Level 2 in Scalpel > Read Scalpel's DAS-style Level 2: bids left, asks right, a colour band per price, venues, spread, imbalance and delta, and reading players by behaviour. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-level-2 Guide 3.1, Reading the market. Beginner, 10 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel's Level 2 is a DAS-style montage: bids on the left, asks on the right, one row per venue, best price at the top, and every price level in its own colour band, so the inside bid and ask sit side by side in the middle. Above the book are the quote, a summary of the spread and both sides' size, the imbalance and the buy-minus-sell delta; on the right is the tape. Use it to see who is willing to buy and sell at each price and who is actually trading, not as a forecast. Level 2 (also called market depth or the order book) shows the limit orders waiting to be filled at each price, not just the best bid and ask. For a scalper that answers the questions that matter on every trade: how much is it going to cost me to get in and out, how much stock is between me and the next level, and is anyone actually buying? **Before you start:** - A real-time Level 2 subscription on your IBKR account, or the book stays empty ([guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). - A symbol loaded on a desk ([guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)). ## The Level 2 panel at a glance *Screenshot: The LEVEL 2 panel for ABCD with a 400-share long: the quote (1), the summary bar (2), the read strip (3), your position (4), the bids (5), the asks (6), the tape (7) and the grouping stepper and cog (8). Demo data.* | # | Part | What it tells you | |---|---|---| | (1) | Quote header | The symbol in the desk's colour, the company name, the change from yesterday's close in dollars and percent, and the last price, green when up on the day and red when down. Under it: **O** (open), **H** (high), **L** (low), **VWAP** and **VOL** (volume). | | (2) | Summary bar | **BID VOL** and **ASK VOL** (all the shares on each side of the book), **BEST BID**, **SPREAD** in dollars and as a percent, and **BEST ASK**. | | (3) | Read strip | The **IMBALANCE** gauge, **DELTA** over 10 seconds, 1 minute and 5 minutes, and the read line in plain words. | | (4) | Position strip | Only while you hold the stock: **LONG**, the shares, your average price in large type and your open P&L, on green in profit and red in a loss. | | (5) (6) | The book | Bids left, asks right, mirrored around the middle. | | (7) | Tape | Every trade as it prints, newest on top ([guide 3.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-time-and-sales)). | | (8) | Stepper and cog | **-** **Tick** **+** merges price levels; the cog opens the panel's settings ([guide 2.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/panel-settings)). | ## A DAS-style montage The layout follows the montage style momentum traders know from DAS Trader: two columns facing each other, one row per venue, coloured by price level. (Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with DAS.) - **Bids on the left, asks on the right.** Each side reads **MMID**, size, price from the outside in, so the best bid and the best ask are next to each other in the centre, where your eye lands. - **Best price at the top.** The bids fall in price as you read down; the asks rise. - **One row per venue.** Three venues bidding 5.69 are three rows. - **One colour band per price.** By default every row at the same price shares a solid colour: green at the inside, then salmon, yellow, cyan, orange and lavender as the price steps away, then round again. Both sides start with green at the inside. So you can read the book in shapes, not numbers. Three green rows at the bid and one at the ask: buyers are stacked at the inside and only one venue is offering. A long salmon band on the ask is a lot of sellers one cent up. *Screenshot: The same bid side by price tier (the default), by venue, and with colouring off. Off is the only mode that shows the gold touch, grey depth bars and amber big orders. Demo data.* Change the colouring in the LEVEL 2 cog: **By price tier**, **By venue** or **Off** ([guide 2.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/panel-settings#the-three-colouring-modes)). ### What the venue codes are The **MMID** column is the venue the order rests on, for example **NSDQ** (Nasdaq), **ARCA** (NYSE Arca), **EDGX** and **BATS** (Cboe exchanges), **IEX**, **MEMX** and **NYSE**. Interactive Brokers' depth gathers every lit exchange's book into one view and labels each row with its venue. It does **not** tell you which firm or trader placed an order. A row that says **ARCA** might be a market maker, a fund's algorithm or another day trader. See the glossary for [MMID](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#mmid). ## The numbers above the book **SPREAD** is the gap between the best ask and the best bid, in dollars and as a percent of the middle price. In the shot, 5.71 - 5.69 = 0.02, or 0.35%. Buying at the ask and selling at the bid costs you the whole spread on every round trip, so a 0.35% spread on a scalp you hope makes 2% takes a sixth of it before anything else. **BID VOL** and **ASK VOL** add up every share on each side of the book Interactive Brokers sends. Turn on **Dollar value instead of size** and they become **BID VALUE** and **ASK VALUE**. **IMBALANCE** compares the size on the bid with the size on the ask, weighting the levels near the inside more: the first row counts in full, the second half, the third a third, and so on, over the rows you show. It runs from +100% (all bids) to -100% (all asks). The gauge fills left in green for a bid-heavy book and right in red for an ask-heavy one; within 12% either way it reads as balanced. **DELTA** is the shares bought at the ask minus the shares sold at the bid over the last 10 seconds, 1 minute and 5 minutes of today's tape. Trades between the bid and ask are left out. **+4.2K** over 1 minute means buyers lifted 4,200 more shares than sellers hit. It is the same number the chart's Delta sub-pane draws over time ([glossary: delta](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#delta)). The read line under them puts the book and the tape into words, such as **Bid-heavy book, buyers lifting**. It describes; it does not predict ([guide 3.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-line-and-read-bar)). ## How to use it on a long Scalpel is long only, so read the book for three questions: can I get in at a fair price, is there room to go up, and can I get out? 1. **Check the spread.** Wide spread, smaller size or no trade. A 5c spread on a $3 stock costs you 1.7% on every round trip. 2. **Look at the ask above you.** How many shares sit in the first two or three bands? A thin ask means buyers can push through quickly. A thick band, or one venue with a much bigger order than the rest, is where the move can stall. 3. **Watch the tape against the ask.** Prints at the ask (green on the tape, positive delta) eating through the offers is buying pressure you can see. Size on the ask that keeps refreshing while it trades is a seller absorbing that buying ([guide 3.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/iceberg-orders)). 4. **Look at the bid under you before you buy.** Your exit is a sell into the bids. If the bid side is a few hundred shares spread over many cents, a fast exit will slip. Size so you could get out ([the thin bid exit warning](#the-thin-bid-exit-warning) does the maths for you while you hold). 5. **While you hold, watch the bid.** Bids stepping up behind the price are buyers following it. Bids pulling away, and the read line turning **Ask-heavy book**, are the time to tighten up, not to hope. Your buy is a marketable limit at the ask plus your offset ([guide 4.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/entries-and-fills)), so the ask is the price you will pay: read it before you press. ## Reading players from behaviour Since the book shows venues, not firms, "players" are read from what an order does, not its name: - **A venue refilling the same price** while far more trades there than it ever shows: a hidden (iceberg) order. Scalpel marks it with a layers icon ([guide 3.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/iceberg-orders)). - **Unusual size on one venue**: with colouring **Off**, a row at least three times the average size shown (and 1,000 shares or more) has its size in amber. - **Size that appears and vanishes** as price comes near: watch the flashes, green as size is added and red as it is pulled. Size that leaves before it trades was never willing to trade there. - **Bids stepping up** cent by cent behind the price: buyers chasing it. - **An ask-heavy book capping price**: the one read that held up in replay, coloured gold on the read line. - **Who is taking**: the tape and the delta show whether buyers are lifting the ask or sellers are hitting the bid. [Guide 3.7](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-the-players) goes through each of these with examples. **Note: The honest limits.** When the book and tape reads were replayed over recorded sessions, most "this means up" calls did no better than a coin flip, and a level with a hidden buyer broke within a minute more often than an ordinary one. The book can change in milliseconds, size can be pulled before you reach it, and part of every stock's volume trades off-exchange where no book shows it. Use Level 2 to judge cost, room and liquidity, not to predict. The blog post [Reading the Level 2 montage](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/reading-the-level-2-montage) has the replay results. ## The thin bid exit warning While you hold a long, Scalpel works out what selling the whole position into the bids shown would cost: it walks down the bid side, filling your shares level by level, and compares your average fill with the best bid. At 0.6% or worse, three things happen: - a red strip under your position: **Exit carefully: poor bid-side liquidity (~2.8% slippage)**, - a red toast, for example **MNOP: thin bid side, exit carefully**, - a voice warning. *Screenshot: 4,000 shares long over a thin bid. Selling them all into this book would average about 2.32 against a 2.39 best bid, so the strip and the toast warn. Demo data.* In the example, the first eight bid rows hold exactly 4,000 shares from 2.39 down to 2.28. Selling into them averages about 2.324, which is 2.8% under the 2.39 bid. If the visible bids cannot take the whole position at all, Scalpel reports at least 2%. The toast and voice fire once when the warning starts, and again only after it has cleared (at most every 12 seconds). The strip stays while it applies. Switch them off with **Thin bid exit warning** in the LEVEL 2 cog. What to do about it: scale out in pieces rather than dumping the whole position ([guide 4.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scale-out-and-flatten)), and next time size smaller on a stock with a thin bid. ## What can go wrong - **The book is empty but the chart works.** No Level 2 subscription, or a **Depth unavailable** toast because you are at your account's limit of books ([guide 13.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-delayed-data)). - **The book is 15 minutes old.** The header says **DELAYED** ([guide 2.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/desk-status-badges)). - **You bought and the price dropped through a "wall" of bids.** Bids are not promises: they can be cancelled before your sell reaches them. Trading small-cap momentum this way is fast, difficult and risky, and many people who try it lose money. Practise reading the book in SIM against the live market first ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). ## Questions **How do I read Level 2?** Bids are on the left and asks on the right, best price at the top, so the inside bid and ask meet in the middle. Each row is one venue's order at one price; each price has its own colour band. Compare the size on each side near the inside, watch which side the tape is trading into, and check the bid under you before you buy. **Can I see which market maker or firm is on the book?** No. Interactive Brokers' depth shows the venue each order rests on, such as ARCA, NSDQ or EDGX, not the firm behind it. Players are read from behaviour: refills, unusual size, size that is pulled, and who is trading on the tape. **What do the colours on Scalpel's Level 2 mean?** By default each price level is a band of colour: green at the inside, then salmon, yellow, cyan, orange and lavender as the price steps away. The cog can colour by venue instead, or turn colouring off. **What is the imbalance percentage?** Bid size against ask size near the inside, with closer levels weighted more, from +100% (all bids) to -100% (all asks). Within 12% either way it reads as balanced. **Is a big bid on Level 2 support?** Not reliably. It can be cancelled at any moment, and in replay even hidden buyers refilling a bid did not hold the level more often than chance. Treat it as information about who is there now. **Does Scalpel's Level 2 need a paid data subscription?** It needs Interactive Brokers' real-time Level 2 for the exchanges you trade, which you add in IBKR's Client Portal. Scalpel itself needs no other data feed. --- # Spot iceberg orders on Level 2 > How Scalpel flags an iceberg: one venue refilling a small size while far more trades there, the exact rule behind the icon, and why it is not a floor. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/iceberg-orders Guide 3.2, Reading the market. Intermediate, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** An iceberg is a big order that shows only a small piece of itself on the book and refills as it trades. Scalpel marks one with a layers icon on the venue's row when, within 20 seconds, that venue's quote at one price is hit at least 3 separate times, $15,000 or more trades into it, at least 3 times the most it ever showed, and the price still holds. The read line then says **Hidden seller refilling at the offer** or **Hidden buyer refilling at the bid**. It tells you a large order is working there now; it does not tell you the level will hold. Big traders rarely show their full size. A fund selling 50,000 shares will display 100 or 200 at a time on one venue and let the exchange refill it each time it trades, so the book never shows the wall. Watching the tape against the book is how you catch it: far more stock trades at a price than was ever displayed there. Scalpel does that watching for you, on every desk. **Before you start:** - Know your way around the Level 2 panel ([guide 3.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-level-2)). ## What it looks like *Screenshot: IEX keeps showing 145 shares at 5.71 (1) while buyers lift far more there (3). The layers icon marks the row and the read line says **Hidden seller refilling at the offer** (2). Demo data.* - **The icon** sits in the slot beside the price: left of the price on the bid side, right of it on the ask. On the coloured rows (**By price tier** or **By venue**) it is drawn dark, like the row's text. - **With colouring Off**, the icon is cyan and the price turns cyan too, so it stands out on the plain rows: *Screenshot: The same iceberg with Coloring set to Off: the price and the icon in cyan. Demo data.* - **The read line** under the summary bar takes its own cyan layers icon and names the side: **Hidden seller refilling at the offer** for an iceberg on the ask, **Hidden buyer refilling at the bid** for one on the bid. If there is one on each side, it names the seller. - **With grouping on** (the **-** **Tick** **+** stepper), the icon marks the grouped row that contains the iceberg's price. ## The exact rule Scalpel watches each venue's quote at each price separately. A row gets the icon when all of these are true within a rolling 20-second window: | Test | Threshold | |---|---| | Separate hits on that venue's quote | 3 or more. Prints less than 1 second apart count as one hit, so one sweep is not three tests. | | Dollars traded into it | $15,000 or more (shares x price). | | Traded against shown | At least 3 times the most that venue displayed at that price in the window. | | Still showing | The venue is still quoting size at that price after the hits: it refilled. | | Price holding | The inside has not moved past it: for a hidden seller the best ask is still at that price or lower, for a hidden buyer the best bid is still there or higher. | Only lit prints count, the trades that happen on an exchange's displayed book. Off-exchange prints never touched the book, so they cannot refill it. **When it clears.** The icon stays for up to 30 seconds after the rule last fired, as long as the level holds. It goes sooner if a lit trade prints through the price (above a hidden seller, below a hidden buyer) or the inside moves away from it. It can fire again for the same venue and price after 20 seconds. ### A worked example In the shot, IEX displays 145 shares at 5.71 and never more. Over 15 seconds, buyers lift IEX's offer in three separate bursts of 900, 1,200 and 800 shares: - 3 hits, more than a second apart: passes. - 2,900 shares x $5.71 = $16,559 traded: over $15,000, passes. - 2,900 shares against at most 145 shown is 20 times: over 3 times, passes. - IEX is still showing 145 at 5.71, and the best ask is still 5.71: passes. The icon goes on IEX's row. Someone with a lot more than 145 shares is selling at 5.71. Why so strict: a busy price on a momentum stock refills all the time because many different traders join it, spread across venues. One venue's quote pinned at a small size while it trades many times that size is the pattern of one reserve order, and the $15,000 floor keeps small odd-lot activity from setting it off. ## How to trade around it Scalpel is long only, so the two cases mean different things for you: - **A hidden seller at the offer, above you or where you want to buy.** Every share you buy there comes from a seller with more stock than the book admits. A breakout into a hidden seller can stall until the seller is done. Many traders wait for the icon to clear because a lit trade printed **above** the price: that is the seller finished or gone, and the offer is open. Buying into the iceberg itself is buying where supply is deepest. - **A hidden buyer at the bid, under your long.** It is tempting to treat it as a floor and put your stop just under it. Don't rely on it (see below). Put your stop where your trade is wrong, whatever the book shows ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). Icebergs are one of several behaviours that give away a big trader; the others (unusual size, size pulled as price comes near, bids stepping up, who is hitting and lifting) are in [guide 3.7](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-the-players). **This can cost you money: A hidden buyer is not a floor.** When the iceberg reads were replayed over recorded sessions, levels with a hidden buyer broke within a minute **more** often than ordinary levels, not less: the hidden order gets filled, and once it is done there is nothing left at that price. An iceberg tells you who is there now, not what happens next. ## What it cannot see - **Off-exchange buying and selling.** Dark pools and internalised retail orders never show on any book. - **Icebergs that move.** A reserve order that re-prices with the market, or splits across venues, does not keep one venue's quote pinned and will not trip the rule. - **Small ones.** Under $15,000 traded in 20 seconds, nothing is flagged, by design. - **Spoofing.** Size shown and pulled to mislead is the opposite pattern: watch for size that vanishes as price approaches ([guide 3.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-level-2#reading-players-from-behaviour)). The full story of the replay is in the blog post [Reading the Level 2 montage](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/reading-the-level-2-montage). ## Questions **What is an iceberg order?** A large limit order that displays only a small part of its size on the book and automatically refills as that part trades, so the full size stays hidden. **How does Scalpel detect iceberg orders?** Within 20 seconds, one venue's quote at one price must be hit at least 3 separate times, with $15,000 or more and at least 3 times its largest displayed size trading into it, while it keeps showing size there and the price holds. Only lit exchange prints count. **Why is the iceberg icon dark on some rows and cyan on others?** On the coloured rows (by price tier or by venue) it is drawn dark like the row's text. With colouring off it is cyan, and the price turns cyan too. **Does a hidden buyer mean the price will hold?** No. In replay, levels with a hidden buyer broke within a minute more often than ordinary levels, because the hidden order gets filled. Place your stop where your trade is wrong, not just under an iceberg. **How long does the iceberg icon stay?** Up to 30 seconds after the rule last fired, while the level holds. A lit trade through the price, or the inside moving away, clears it sooner. --- # Read the time and sales tape > Read the time and sales tape in Scalpel: prints coloured by who took liquidity, size bars, dollar values, the size filter, and the tape against Level 2. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-time-and-sales Guide 3.3, Reading the market. Beginner, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The time and sales tape is the narrow column on the right of Scalpel's Level 2 panel: every trade in the stock, newest on top, with its price and size. Green bars are buyers taking the ask, red bars are sellers hitting the bid, grey rows traded in between, and each bar's length is the trade's size against the biggest one around it, so block trades stand out. The book shows what people are willing to do; the tape shows what they actually did. Level 2 can be faked: orders are placed and pulled all day. Trades cannot. Reading the tape (also called time and sales, or prints) tells you whether buyers are actually paying up, how big they are, and how fast it is happening. On a momentum stock that is often the earliest sign a move is starting or running out. **Before you start:** - Know the Level 2 panel ([guide 3.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-level-2)). ## Reading the column *Screenshot: The tape beside the book. A 3,600-share buy at the ask, the biggest print here, fills its row (1); a 1,500-share sell at the bid (2); a print between the bid and ask in grey (3); a small buy is a short bar (4). Demo data.* Each row is one trade (a **print**): - **PRICE** on the left, **SIZE** in shares on the right. Prices show two decimals from $1 up, and up to four under $1. - **Newest on top.** The list starts from the first trade after you loaded the stock today and keeps every print of the day; scroll down to go back through it. - **Green bar:** the trade was at the ask. A buyer was in a hurry and took the offer: buying pressure. - **Red bar:** the trade was at the bid. A seller hit the bid: selling pressure. - **Grey, no bar:** the trade printed between the bid and ask, so neither side clearly took it. It is not counted as a buy or a sell anywhere in Scalpel. - **Bar length** is the trade's size against the biggest print in the rows around your view, so a block trade is a full bar and a 100-share print is a sliver. The size reads in bright green or red; once the bar is long enough to run under the number, it reads white (black in the Light theme). The side a trade is counted on is its [aggressor](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#aggressor), the one who crossed the spread. Buyers lifting the offer is the side that pushes price up. ## What to look for - **Speed.** A tape that is suddenly scrolling faster than you can read means a crowd has arrived. Whether it is buyers or sellers is the colour. - **Green prints at a rising price.** Buys at 5.71, then 5.72, then 5.73: buyers are paying up level after level. That is what you want to see under a long. - **Big green prints that do not move the price.** Lots of buying at one price while the ask stays put means a seller is absorbing it, often an iceberg ([guide 3.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/iceberg-orders)). Price cannot get through that level until the seller is done or pulls out. - **Red prints taking out the bid.** Sells at 5.69, 5.68, 5.67: buyers are stepping away and sellers are dumping into whatever bids are left. Time to look at your exit, not to average down. - **The delta.** The **DELTA** numbers above the book (10s, 1m, 5m) add the tape up for you: buy shares minus sell shares. **+4.2K** over a minute is 4,200 more shares bought at the ask than sold at the bid ([guide 3.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-level-2#the-numbers-above-the-book)). Read the tape against the book. The ask says there are 245 shares at 5.71; if 2,900 shares trade there and 5.71 is still offered, there was far more than the book showed. ## Set the tape up The tape's options are in the **LEVEL 2** cog, under **Time and sales** ([guide 2.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/panel-settings)). They apply to every desk. *Screenshot: The same prints with size bars (the default), as solid blocks with size bars off, and as dollar values. Demo data.* | Option | Default | Use it when | |---|---|---| | **Display min size** | 0 | A busy stock prints hundreds of odd lots a second. Set 100 to hide anything under 100 shares, or 500 to see only the bigger players. The delta, read line and tape sound still count every print. | | **Color by aggressor** | On | Leave on. Off draws every print grey. | | **Size bars** | On | Off paints whole rows in green or red instead of bars: easier to read the colour at a glance, harder to spot the big prints. | | **Dollar value instead of size** | Off | Shows price x size in whole thousands: the 2,500 shares at 5.71 read **$14K**, and anything under $500 reads **$0K**. The header changes to **VALUE**. Handy when you trade both $2 and $20 stocks, since 1,000 shares means very different money on each. | **Show tape column** in the **Level 2** section of the same cog hides the tape completely, giving the book its full width. Tape sound keeps playing ([guide 3.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/tape-sound)). ## Good to know - **Today only.** The tape starts when you first load the stock today. It is not backfilled from before that, and it clears at the New York day change. Load the stocks you care about before they start to move. - **The same tape feeds the chart.** The chart's Delta sub-pane and its trade bubbles come from these prints ([guide 3.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/chart-basics)). - **Not every trade has a side.** A trade between the bid and ask is neither a buy nor a sell to Scalpel, so it is grey and left out of the delta. **Tip.** Turn on tape sound and you will hear the tape change pace and side before your eyes catch it, which leaves your eyes free for the book ([guide 3.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/tape-sound)). ## Questions **How do you read time and sales?** Each row is a trade: price and size, newest on top. Green means a buyer took the ask, red means a seller hit the bid, grey traded in between. Watch how fast prints arrive, which colour dominates, how big they are, and whether price moves when big prints hit. **Why are some prints grey on the Scalpel tape?** They traded between the bid and the ask, so neither side clearly crossed the spread. They are not counted as buys or sells in the delta or the read line. **How do I hide small trades on the tape?** Set Display min size in the LEVEL 2 cog, under Time and sales, to the smallest share size you want to see, for example 100. **Can I see the time and exchange of each print?** Not in Scalpel's tape column, which shows price and size only to stay narrow. The prints are newest first, and the chart's bubbles place the biggest ones in time. **Why is the tape empty after I load a stock?** It starts with the first trade after the stock loads. On a quiet stock before the open it can take a while; 'No prints' shows until then. --- # Hear the tape: tape sound > Hear the tape, inspired by Aggr.trade: buys in the right ear, sells in the left, block trades by their shape. Set the big print value, gate and volume. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/tape-sound Guide 3.4, Reading the market. Intermediate, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Tape sound turns the focused desk's trades into sound, so you can hear the flow while your eyes stay on the book: buys play bright notes in your right ear, sells hollow, lower notes in your left, and bigger trades play longer figures, up to a ringing four-note arpeggio for a block. Switch it on with **Tape sound** in the **LEVEL 2** cog, with **Enable audio** and **Sound effects** on in Settings, Audio. Trades are weighed in dollars, with a $1,000 silence threshold and a $20,000 big print by default. A scalper's eyes are busy: the book, the chart, the order bar. Your ears are free. Tape sound lets you hear the tape speed up, hear which side is taking, and hear a block trade hit without looking at the column. The idea and the sound design are inspired by [Aggr.trade](https://aggr.trade), the open-source trade-flow tool by Tucsky, whose tape sound many traders know. **Before you start:** - Speakers or headphones, on Windows or macOS. - A stock loaded on a desk ([guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)), and the tape making sense to you ([guide 3.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-time-and-sales)). ## What you hear Every trade is weighed by its dollar value, price x size, so the same settings work on a $2 stock and a $20 one. Then: | Trade | Sound | |---|---| | Under **Sound min value** ($1,000) | Silence. | | Under **Big print value** ($20,000) | One short blip, a little louder and longer the bigger it is. | | From the big print value | A two-note figure: up for a buy, down for a sell. | | From 5 times it ($100,000) | A four-note arpeggio. | | From 25 times it ($500,000) | The arpeggio with a long, ringing top note. | - **Buys** are bright notes climbing from a high E, placed in your **right** ear. - **Sells** are hollow, lower notes falling from B, placed in your **left** ear. - **Trades between the bid and ask** are silent, because neither side clearly took them. - **A sweep is one note.** Buys that arrive together across several venues are added up first and play as one, the way one buyer's order would. - **One clock.** Notes take turns: a calm tape is a steady tick, a busy one speeds up into a roll. If the tape gets more than a second ahead of the sound, small trades are skipped so it never lags the market; big ones always play. Only the **focused** desk plays, so you always hear the stock your hotkeys trade. ### What the defaults mean on a real stock | Stock price | Silent below | Blip | Two notes from | Arpeggio from | |---|---|---|---|---| | $2 | 500 shares | 500 to 9,999 shares | 10,000 shares | 50,000 shares | | $5 | 200 shares | 200 to 3,999 shares | 4,000 shares | 20,000 shares | | $10 | 100 shares | 100 to 1,999 shares | 2,000 shares | 10,000 shares | ## Turn it on ### 1. Check Settings, Audio Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`), then **Audio**. **Enable audio** and **Sound effects** must both be on, and **Volume** above 0%: at 0% everything is muted. Click **Apply**. *Screenshot: Settings, Audio: Enable audio and Sound effects, outlined, must be on for tape sound to play.* Tape sound has its own volume (next steps), so the **Volume** here mainly sets your voice callouts and sound effects. ### 2. Switch on Tape sound in the LEVEL 2 cog Click the cog in the **LEVEL 2** panel's title bar. Under **Time and sales**, tick **Tape sound**. It applies at once, no **Apply** needed. *Screenshot: The Time and sales section of the LEVEL 2 cog with Tape sound on and its settings outlined.* ### 3. Set the silence threshold **Sound min value ($)** is the smallest trade, in dollars, that makes a sound. The default $1,000 lets you hear almost everything on a small cap. If a busy stock becomes a constant buzz, raise it to $2,500 or $5,000. This is separate from the tape's **Display min size**, so you can hear flow you have filtered off the screen. ### 4. Set the big print value **Big print value ($)** is where a trade stops being a blip and becomes a figure. Set it to what counts as a meaningful order on the stocks you trade: $20,000 suits most $2 to $10 momentum names; on a higher-priced, heavier stock try $50,000 so only real size stands out. ### 5. Set the volume and stereo **Sound volume** runs from 0 to 100 (default 60). Keep it under your voice callouts, so a fill or stop announcement is never buried. **Stereo: sells left, buys right** is on by default; switch it off if you listen on one earbud, and both sides play in the centre. Stereo is never hard left and right, so one earbud still hears both sides either way. ### 6. Focus the desk you want to hear Click the desk, or move focus with `Left`, `Right` or `Tab`. The sound follows focus. The first batch of trades after a stock loads is skipped, so loading never blasts a backlog at you. ## How to listen - **Rhythm first.** A slow, even tick is a quiet stock. A tick that turns into a roll is a crowd arriving. - **Side second.** A roll in your right ear with rising notes is buyers lifting; in your left with falling notes, sellers hitting. - **Shape last.** A two-note or four-note figure is a big trade. A run of right-ear figures while price is not moving is a seller absorbing buyers: look at the book for an iceberg ([guide 3.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/iceberg-orders)). Tape sound describes the flow, it does not predict it. Use it to know when to look, then decide from the book and chart. ## What can go wrong - **No sound at all.** Check **Enable audio** and **Sound effects** in Settings, Audio, the master **Volume** above 0%, **Tape sound** ticked in the cog, and that the desk you expect is focused ([guide 13.14](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-no-sound)). - **Too much noise.** Raise **Sound min value** first, then **Big print value**. - **It goes quiet in a fast move.** It is skipping small trades to keep up with the market; the big ones still play. ## Questions **What is tape sound in Scalpel?** An audio version of the time and sales tape for the focused desk: buys in the right ear with bright rising notes, sells in the left with lower falling notes, and bigger trades as longer figures. It is inspired by Aggr.trade. **Why is there no tape sound?** Tape sound needs Enable audio and Sound effects on in Settings, Audio, the master Volume above 0%, and Tape sound ticked in the LEVEL 2 cog. It plays only the focused desk. **Can I hear more than one desk at once?** No. Only the focused desk plays, so the sound always matches the stock your hotkeys trade. **Does the display min size filter the sound?** No. Sound min value is its own dollar threshold, separate from the tape's display filter, so you can hear trades you have hidden from the column. **Why dollars and not shares?** So the same settings work on any stock. 1,000 shares is $2,000 on a $2 stock and $20,000 on a $20 one; weighing in dollars makes a big order sound big whatever the price. --- # The chart: timeframes, VWAP, EMAs, MACD and delta > Scalpel's chart on IBKR data, no TradingView subscription: 10s to daily bars, scroll-back history, VWAP from 04:00 ET, EMA 9 and 20, MACD and delta. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/chart-basics Guide 3.5, Reading the market. Beginner, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Each desk's chart shows candles from 10 seconds to daily, built from Interactive Brokers' own history and live bars, with volume, a session VWAP anchored at the 04:00 ET pre-market open, the 9 and 20 EMAs, a MACD pane and a buy-minus-sell delta pane. Switch timeframes with the **10s**, **1m**, **5m**, **1h** and **1d** buttons, zoom with the mouse wheel, drag to pan, and pan to the oldest bar to load more history. No TradingView subscription or other data feed is needed. The chart is where you see the shape of the move: where price sits against VWAP, whether the pullback is holding the 9 EMA, where the last high was. It also shows your trade: the entry, stop and target lines with what each would make or lose. **Before you start:** - A symbol loaded on a desk ([guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)). ## What is on the chart *Screenshot: The CHART panel: timeframe buttons (1), the read bar (2), VWAP, the EMAs and candles with volume (3), your position's lines (4), the MACD pane (5), the Delta pane (6) and the order bar (7). Demo data.* | Layer | What it shows | |---|---| | **Candles** | Green when a bar closes up, red when it closes down. The symbol is watermarked faintly in the corner. | | **Volume** | Bars along the bottom of the price pane, coloured like their candle. | | **VWAP** | The thick yellow line: the average price paid today, weighted by volume ([glossary](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#vwap)). | | **EMA 9 and EMA 20** | Exponential moving averages: 9 in blue, 20 in orange. The 9 hugs price in a strong move; the 20 is slower. | | **Round-dollar levels** | Faint lines at whole and half dollars, where traders often put orders. | | **MACD** | The first sub-pane: MACD 12, 26, 9, with the MACD line in blue, the signal line in orange and the histogram ([glossary](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#macd)). | | **Delta** | The second sub-pane: shares bought at the ask minus shares sold at the bid, over a rolling 10 seconds (grey), 1 minute (blue) and 5 minutes (amber), each tagged on the axis. Above zero, buyers are taking more than sellers. | | **Trade bubbles** | Circles at the time and price of the biggest trades since the stock loaded: green for buys at the ask, red for sells at the bid, sized by the trade. By default the top 20% by size of those on screen. | | **Warrant and offering lines** | Orange dashed lines at prices where the company's filings let new shares be sold, when there are any ([guide 9.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/warrant-and-offering-lines)). | | **Your position** | The entry line with your live P&L and R, the red working stop and the green take-profit, each with what it would make or lose ([guide 5.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/drag-stops-and-targets)). | Every layer can be switched off in the chart's cog ([guide 2.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/panel-settings)). The 9, 20, VWAP and MACD set is the standard toolkit of small-cap momentum trading, the style taught by Ross Cameron of Warrior Trading that Scalpel was built around. (Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by him or Warrior Trading.) ## Timeframes and history Click a timeframe button above the chart. Each desk keeps its own; new desks open on the **Default timeframe** from the cog (**1m** unless you change it). | Button | Bar | History loaded with the stock | |---|---|---| | **10s** | 10 seconds | About 4 hours | | **1m** | 1 minute | About 5 days | | **5m** | 5 minutes | About 2 weeks | | **1h** | 1 hour | About 3 months | | **1d** | 1 day | About 1 year | The history and the live bars both come from Interactive Brokers, so there is no seam where one meets the other. A daily candle covers the whole extended session, pre-market through after-hours. **Need more?** Drag the chart to the right until you reach the oldest bar. Scalpel loads the stretch before it, one page at a time, and keeps your place. Interactive Brokers keeps 10-second bars for only about six months; 1-minute and longer go back years. **Tip.** Many scalpers time entries on the **10s** chart and check the **1m** and **5m** for the bigger picture. The read bar follows whichever timeframe you are looking at. ## VWAP from the pre-market Scalpel's VWAP starts at **04:00 ET**, the pre-market open, and runs all day, so the pre-market volume that built the gap counts. Before 04:00 it starts from the overnight session at 20:00 ET the evening before. It is worked out from the 1-minute bars, so it is the same line on every timeframe, including **10s**. Many charting tools start VWAP at the 09:30 open, so if you compare, expect Scalpel's to differ in the morning. For a stock that gapped and traded heavily before the open, the pre-market anchored line is the one the pre-market buyers are measured against. The chart's **Lost VWAP** warning uses the same line ([guide 3.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-line-and-read-bar)). ## Move around the chart | Do this | To | |---|---| | Mouse wheel over the chart | Zoom in and out in time | | Drag the chart | Pan through time | | Drag the price axis up or down | Stretch or squash the price scale | | Double-click the price axis | Go back to auto-fit | | Pan to the oldest bar | Load older history | While you hold a position, auto-fit keeps your stop and target in view when they are close to the candles (within about two candle ranges), so even a tight 10-second chart shows them. A level further away is pinned at the edge of the pane. ## How it is drawn, and what it costs The chart runs on Interactive Brokers' own history and live data: the same feed as your book and tape, included in the market data you already pay IBKR for. There is no TradingView subscription and no separate chart data service. On Windows the chart is drawn with TradingView's free, open-source **Lightweight Charts** library (credited in Settings, About). On a Mac, and on Windows if that library cannot start, Scalpel draws the chart itself with a built-in chart that works the same way and shows the same layers except the Delta sub-pane ([guide 13.12](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-charts-blank)). ## The chart cog *Screenshot: The chart cog at its defaults. Every layer can be switched off, and Bubbles top % sets how many trades get a bubble.* All options and defaults are listed in [guide 2.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/panel-settings#chart-settings). Two worth knowing: switching off **Quick-order buttons** hides the order bar but leaves every hotkey working, and **Verdict bar** is the read bar. ## Questions **Do I need a TradingView subscription for Scalpel's charts?** No. The chart's data comes from Interactive Brokers, and it is drawn with TradingView's free, open-source Lightweight Charts library, which needs no account or subscription. **When does Scalpel's VWAP start?** At 04:00 ET, the pre-market open, and it runs through the day, so pre-market volume counts. Before 04:00 it starts from the overnight session at 20:00 ET the evening before. **Can I change the EMA lengths?** The chart uses the 9 and 20 period EMAs. The lengths are not in the chart cog; they can only be changed in Scalpel's settings file. **How do I load older candles?** Drag the chart right until you reach the oldest bar. Scalpel asks Interactive Brokers for the stretch before it, one page at a time. 10-second bars only go back about six months. **How do I reset the price scale?** Double-click the price axis on the right of the chart and it goes back to auto-fit. **What are the circles on the chart?** Trade bubbles: the biggest trades since the stock loaded, green for buys at the ask and red for sells at the bid, sized by the trade. Bubbles top % in the chart cog sets how many show. --- # The read line and the chart read bar > What Scalpel's read line and chart read bar say, the three reads that held up in replay (ask-heavy book, bull trap, lost VWAP) and the calls removed. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-line-and-read-bar Guide 3.6, Reading the market. Intermediate, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The read line under the Level 2 summary says in plain words what the book and the tape are doing, such as **Bid-heavy book, buyers lifting**; the read bar above the chart states the facts of the recent candles, such as **Above VWAP, EMAs up**. Both describe, they do not predict. Only three reads held up when replayed over recorded sessions, so only those are coloured: an ask-heavy book (gold), a **Bull trap** (red) and **Lost VWAP** (salmon). With a long open, a bull trap on the 1-minute chart also gives you a toast and a voice warning. When you are in a trade there is no time to add up the book, count candles and check VWAP. The two read strips do that bookkeeping and put it in a few words. They were also tested: every call was replayed over recorded sessions to see what price did next, and the calls that turned out to be coin flips were removed or turned into plain facts. **Before you start:** - Know the Level 2 panel and the chart ([guide 3.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-level-2), [guide 3.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/chart-basics)). ## The read line (Level 2) The read line is the bottom line of the strip under the Level 2 summary bar, under the **IMBALANCE** gauge and the **DELTA** numbers. It combines two things: which side of the book is heavier near the inside, and which side is taking on the tape. *Screenshot: Four read lines. The first three are descriptions in plain text; the ask-heavy book is the one caution, in gold. Demo data.* Every line it can show (plain means the panel's normal text colour): | Read line | When | Colour | |---|---|---| | **Hidden seller refilling at the offer** | An iceberg on the ask ([guide 3.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/iceberg-orders)). Comes first, with a cyan layers icon. | Plain | | **Hidden buyer refilling at the bid** | An iceberg on the bid. | Plain | | **Bid-heavy book, buyers lifting** | Imbalance above +12% and buyers taking more than sellers. | Plain | | **Bid-heavy book, sellers hitting** | Bids heavier, but sellers are the ones trading. | Plain | | **Bid-heavy book** | Bids heavier, flow balanced. | Plain | | **Ask-heavy book, buyers lifting** | Imbalance below -12%, buyers taking. | Gold | | **Ask-heavy book, sellers hitting** | Asks heavier and sellers taking. | Gold | | **Ask-heavy book: offers tend to cap price** | Asks heavier, flow balanced. | Gold | | **Buyers lifting** | Book balanced, buyers taking more. | Plain | | **Sellers hitting** | Book balanced, sellers taking more. | Plain | | **Balanced book and flow** | Neither leans more than 12%. | Plain | The imbalance and flow are smoothed over a few seconds so the line settles instead of flickering with every tick. Switch the whole strip off with **Inferred read** in the **LEVEL 2** cog. **Why only the ask-heavy book is coloured.** When the reads were replayed, a book stacked with offers was the one pattern followed by anything: price tended to stay capped. Everything else, including the old "leaning up" and "leaning down" calls, did no better than a coin flip, so those calls were removed and the rest are shown as descriptions. ## The chart read bar The read bar sits beside the timeframe buttons above the chart and reads the candles of the timeframe you are looking at. Normally it states facts in plain text: a headline about VWAP and the EMAs, and a short detail about the last bars. It raises only two warnings. *Screenshot: Two fact reads in plain text, then the two warnings: Bull trap in red and Lost VWAP in salmon. Demo data.* ### The facts - **Headline:** **Above VWAP** or **Below VWAP** (last close against the session VWAP), then **EMAs up** (the 9 EMA at or above the 20) or **EMAs down**. Early in the day it may say **No VWAP or EMAs yet**. - **Detail**, the first that applies: **Broke the range high** (the last bar is green and reached the highest high of the 10 bars before the last two), **Shooting star**, **Doji**, a run such as **3 green bars** or **2 red bars**, or just **Green bar** or **Red bar**. - With fewer than 6 candles on the timeframe it says **Warming up**. ### The two warnings **Bull trap** (red), with the detail **False break, closed back under: tends to dip in the next minute**. One of the last two bars poked above the highest high of the 10 bars before them, and the latest bar closed back under that high on a red bar. In replay, price tended to dip over the next 30 to 60 seconds; by 5 minutes the effect was gone. **Lost VWAP** (salmon), with the detail **Closed back under VWAP: tends to keep falling**. The latest bar closed below VWAP right after a close at or above it. In replay, price tended to keep falling. Switch the read bar off with **Verdict bar** in the chart's cog. ## The bull trap exit warning When you hold a long, Scalpel also watches for a bull trap on its own, on **closed 1-minute bars**, whatever timeframe your chart shows. When one appears it shows a toast and speaks a warning: *Screenshot: A held long on PQRS: the chart's read bar says Bull trap, and the toast warns. Demo data.* The toast reads, for example, **PQRS: bull trap, tends to dip in the next minute**. It fires once when the pattern appears, not again until it has cleared, and never more often than every 12 seconds. Switch it off with **Exit alert (long weakening)** in the **LEVEL 2** cog. It is a warning, not an order: Scalpel does nothing to your position. What you do with it is your plan: many scalpers take some off, move the stop up to breakeven, or tighten it ([guide 5.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/breakeven-and-trailing-stops)). ## What was removed, and why Earlier versions of Scalpel made calls: **Continuation / breakout likely**, **Breakdown**, **Reversal warning**, traffic-light dots, and read lines that said the book was "leaning up" or "leaning down". When every one was replayed over recorded sessions, the bullish calls were wrong more often than right, and the rest did no better than a coin flip. A call that sounds confident but is a coin flip is worse than no call, because it gets you into trades. So they went. What is left is either a plain fact or one of the three reads that showed follow-through. The numbers are in the blog post [Reading the Level 2 montage](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/reading-the-level-2-montage). **Note: How to use the reads.** Use them as a second pair of eyes, not a signal. A plain read tells you what is happening so you do not have to work it out. The three coloured reads are reasons to be more careful with a long: tighten, take some off, or skip the entry. None of them is a reason to buy. Day trading small caps this way is hard, and most people who try it lose money; no read line changes that. ## Questions **What does the read line on Scalpel's Level 2 mean?** It describes the book and the tape in plain words: which side of the book is heavier near the inside, and whether buyers or sellers are doing the trading, or that a hidden order is refilling. It does not predict where price goes. **What is a bull trap in Scalpel?** One of the last two bars poked above the highest high of the 10 bars before them and the latest bar closed back under it on a red bar. In replay, price tended to dip over the next 30 to 60 seconds. The read bar shows it in red. **Which timeframe does the bull trap exit warning use?** Closed 1-minute bars, whatever timeframe your chart is showing. The read bar above the chart uses the timeframe you are looking at. **Why is the ask-heavy read gold?** It is the one book read that showed follow-through in replay: after offers stacked over bids, price tended to stay capped. The other reads were coin flips, so they are shown in plain text as descriptions. **Can I turn the reads off?** Yes. Inferred read in the LEVEL 2 cog removes the read strip, Verdict bar in the chart cog removes the read bar, and Exit alert (long weakening) stops the bull trap toast and voice. --- # Read the players on Level 2: venues, refills and size > Read who is doing what on Scalpel's DAS-style montage: venues refilling a price, big size that holds or vanishes, bids stepping up, and the honest limits. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-the-players Guide 3.7, Reading the market. Advanced, 12 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel's Level 2 is a DAS-style montage built from Interactive Brokers' SMART depth, and every row shows the **venue** an order sits on (NSDQ, ARCA, EDGX, IEX), never the firm behind it. So you read the players from what their orders do: a venue refilling the same price while far more trades there (the layers icon), a big order that holds when price arrives or vanishes before it does, bids stepping up behind the price, an ask-heavy book capping it, and who is hitting or lifting on the tape. These reads describe the book; they do not predict it. "Players" is trader shorthand for the big participants who move a small-cap stock: a fund working a large order, a market maker, a seller unloading shares, a buyer quietly accumulating. On Level 2 you never see their names. You see their footprints. This guide shows each footprint as it looks in Scalpel, what it can mean for a long trade, and where the honest limits are. **Before you start:** - The Level 2 panel basics: the mirrored book, the colour bands, the summary bar ([guide 3.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-level-2)). - Level 2 market data on your IBKR account, or the book stays empty ([guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). - Practise these reads in SIM first. They take hundreds of hours of screen time, and none of them is a signal on its own ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). ## How Scalpel builds the montage The layout follows the DAS Trader montage many momentum traders learned on: bids on the left, asks on the right, the best prices meeting in the middle, one row per venue at each price, and every price level in its own colour band. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with DAS. Under it is your own IBKR data: 1. **SMART depth from IBKR.** When you load a symbol, Scalpel subscribes to Interactive Brokers' SMART depth for it, up to 15 levels a side. Each level IBKR sends is one venue's displayed quote at one price, labelled with the venue code: the **MMID** column ([glossary: MMID](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#mmid)). 2. **Kept live row by row.** IBKR streams changes as inserts, updates and deletes at a row position. Scalpel applies each one to its copy of the book, so the montage is the book as IBKR sees it, not a snapshot every few seconds. If TWS drops its book, Scalpel clears the rows and the next updates rebuild them. 3. **Drawn as a montage.** The panel shows **Rows per side** from the LEVEL 2 cog, 14 by default (5 to 20; IBKR sends at most 15). Same price, same colour: green at the inside, then salmon, yellow, cyan, orange and lavender as price steps away. Four things are drawn on top of the rows, and they are the tools for reading players: | On the montage | What it shows | Exact rule | |---|---|---| | Layers icon | A venue refilling the same price: a hidden (iceberg) order | In 20 seconds: 3 or more separate hits on one venue's quote, $15,000 or more traded into it, at least 3 times the most it ever showed, the venue still showing, and the price still the inside. Lit prints only | | Amber size | An unusually big order | A row at least 3 times the average size of every row on screen (both sides), and 1,000 shares or more. Only shown with **Coloring** set to **Off** | | Green flash | A venue's quote appeared, or its size grew | Fades out over 0.45 seconds. **Flash size changes** in the cog, on by default | | Red flash | A venue's quote shrank: traded into, or partly pulled | Same. A quote that is cancelled outright simply disappears and the rows below move up | **Tip.** The default **By price tier** colours are best for counting levels. For reading players, two other settings help. **By venue** gives every venue a fixed colour of its own, so you can follow one venue's quote as it moves. **Off** shows the gold inside, amber big orders, cyan icebergs and size bars, and the flashes read most clearly on its plain rows. Change it in the LEVEL 2 cog ([guide 2.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/panel-settings)). Keep the **- Tick +** grouping at **Tick**: merging prices also merges venues, which hides who is where. ## The reads under the book Between the summary bar and the book, the read strip does the adding up the flickering rows ask your eye to do: - **IMBALANCE** weighs the shares on each side, with the levels nearest the inside counting most (the first row in full, the second half, the third a third, and so on, over the rows you show). +100% is all bids, -100% all asks. Within 12% either way it counts as balanced. - **DELTA** is shares bought at the ask minus shares sold at the bid over the last **10s**, **1m** and **5m** of today's tape ([glossary: delta](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#delta)). Prints between the bid and ask are left out. Each number is green or red by how one-sided that window was. - **The read line** puts both into words. A hidden order comes first, with a cyan layers icon: **Hidden seller refilling at the offer** or **Hidden buyer refilling at the bid**. Otherwise it combines the book and the flow: **Bid-heavy book, buyers lifting**, **Sellers hitting**, **Balanced book and flow**, and so on. The book and flow numbers behind it are smoothed, so the line settles instead of flickering every tick. Only one read is coloured as a warning: **Ask-heavy book: offers tend to cap price**, in gold. It is the one book read that held up when Scalpel's reads were replayed over recorded sessions; the "this means up" kind did no better than a coin flip and were removed ([guide 3.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-line-and-read-bar)). ## Reading players from behaviour Six situations you will see every morning, each on the demo stock ABCD. Scalpel is long only, so each one is read for a long trade: can I get in, is there room above, can I get out? ### A seller refilling at the ask *Screenshot: IEX keeps showing 200 shares at 5.71 while about 10,000 shares print there: the layers icon on its row (1), a column of green prints at 5.71 down the tape, and the read line naming it (2). Demo data.* Buyers have lifted 5.71 again and again: the tape is a column of green 5.71 prints, about 10,000 shares or $57,000 in the last 20 seconds. Yet IEX never shows more than 200 at 5.71. Someone is selling far more than they display and topping the quote back up after each fill. That passes every part of the rule (3+ hits, over $15,000, more than 3 x 200 traded, IEX still there, 5.71 still the offer), so the row gets the layers icon and the read line says **Hidden seller refilling at the offer**. The 1m delta of **+9.6K** says the buying is real; the price not moving says the seller is matching it. What it can mean for a long: **while the seller is there, buyers do not get through 5.71**. Buying into it just adds to what the seller fills. The useful moment is when it ends. If buyers exhaust the seller, a print above 5.71 clears the icon (a lit print through the price ends a detection) and the offer can thin out fast. If buyers give up first, price slips back. Watching for which one happens, rather than guessing, is the read. See [guide 3.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/iceberg-orders) for the detector in full. ### A big bid that holds *Screenshot: Colouring Off. Top: NSDQ bids 9,000 at 5.62, the size in amber. Bottom, 27 seconds later: price has come down to 5.62, about 2,400 shares sold there, the NSDQ and IEX rows flash red as they shrink, and NSDQ still shows 6,800. Demo data.* At 09:41:05 NSDQ is bidding 9,000 shares at 5.62. Every other row on screen is a few hundred shares, so 9,000 is far over three times the average and its size shows in amber. That is a footprint worth watching: someone is showing they will buy a lot at 5.62. At 09:41:32 sellers have pushed price down to it. The tape shows them hitting 5.62 (red prints, **sellers hitting** on the read line, 10s delta **-1.6K**), and NSDQ's row flashes red as it shrinks, 9,000 to 6,800. About 2,400 shares traded at 5.62 and the buyer is still there. That is displayed size that means it: it traded and stayed. What it can mean for a long: a level you can lean on with a small, clear risk. An entry near 5.63 with a stop a few cents under 5.62 risks little, and if the bid is eaten or pulled you know quickly. It is not a floor. A buyer with a fixed amount to buy is done when it fills, and the support goes with it. ### A big bid that vanishes *Screenshot: The same book. Bottom, 4 seconds later: price is still 5.64 to 5.65 and NSDQ's 9,000 at 5.62 is gone. No print happened at 5.62; the order was cancelled. The bid under the price is now a few hundred shares a level. Demo data.* Same start, another morning. At 09:41:09, four seconds later, the 9,000 is simply gone: no red shrink on its row, no prints at 5.62 on the tape, and the rows below moved up. The order was cancelled while price was still 2 or 3 cents above it. What it can mean: **size that leaves before it trades was never willing to trade there.** Large orders that appear and vanish as price approaches are common, and some exist only to look like support. Do not size or place a stop on the assumption that displayed size will be there. Wait until it trades and stays, as in the previous example. And look at what is left: a bid of 300, 300, 400 shares a level under your long is the thin bid the exit warning below is about. ### Bids stepping up *Screenshot: Colouring By venue, so each venue keeps its colour. Top, 09:35:10: the best bid is 5.66. Bottom, 15 seconds later: NSDQ, ARCA, EDGX and IEX have new bids at 5.67 to 5.69, NSDQ's blue now at two prices, the offers above have thinned, and buys print from 5.67 up to 5.70. Demo data.* In 15 seconds the best bid moved from 5.66 to 5.69, and it moved because new bids kept arriving above the old ones at 5.67, 5.68 and 5.69, each flashing green as it appeared. With venue colouring you can see NSDQ's colour at two prices, 5.66 and 5.69: a buyer at that venue raising their bid rather than waiting. On the ask side MEMX's offer at 5.70 has shrunk from 900 to 300 as buyers took its shares, and the tape is green prints climbing a cent at a time. The read line: **Bid-heavy book, buyers lifting**. What it can mean for a long: buyers chasing the price is support that moves with it. It is the picture you want under a position, and a reason to trail rather than sell early ([guide 5.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/breakeven-and-trailing-stops)). The opposite, bids pulling back and the gap under the price widening, is the time to tighten up, not to hope. ### An ask-heavy book capping price *Screenshot: EFGH: thousands of shares on every ask level against far thinner bids. Imbalance -41%, sellers hitting on all but the 5-minute delta, and the read line in gold: Ask-heavy book: offers tend to cap price. Demo data.* Here the offers dwarf the bids: 4,200, 6,100, 5,300 shares on the first ask levels, and the **IMBALANCE** gauge at **-41%**. The delta says sellers are the ones taking (10s **-2.1K**, 1m **-9.8K**), even though the stock is up 23% on the day and the 5-minute delta is still positive from the earlier run. This is the one read that held up in replay: after an ask-heavy book, price tended to stay capped. For a long: do not chase a breakout into it. If you already hold, it is a sensible place to take some off into strength ([guide 4.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scale-out-and-flatten)). It is a tendency, not a rule; a buyer who takes out the stacked offers can still move the stock. ### Who is taking: the tape and the delta The book is what people offer; the tape is what they do. A print at the ask is a buyer who would not wait (green), a print at the bid a seller who would not wait (red) ([guide 3.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-time-and-sales)). Put the two side by side: | Book | Tape and delta | What it can mean | |---|---|---| | Bids stacked, offers thin | Buyers lifting | Demand meeting little supply: room to move | | Bids stacked | Sellers hitting | Buyers absorbing selling: watch whether the bids hold or get eaten | | Offers stacked | Buyers lifting | A seller absorbing buying: the offer has to clear before price can rise | | Offers stacked | Sellers hitting | Pressure both ways down: the capped book above | Tape sound helps here: with it on, buys ring in your right ear and sells in your left, so you hear the flow change while your eyes stay on the book ([guide 3.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/tape-sound)). ### When the players leave your bid: the thin bid exit warning *Screenshot: Long 2,000 at 5.66 after the bid it leaned on was pulled. Selling it all into the bids shown would average about 5.59 against a 5.63 best bid, so the strip and the toast warn. Demo data.* While you hold a long, Scalpel works out what selling the whole position into the visible bids would cost: it walks down the bid side level by level and compares the average fill with the best bid. In the example, 2,000 shares take every bid from 5.63 down to 5.52 and average about 5.587, which is 0.8% under 5.63. At 0.6% or worse you get the red strip **Exit carefully: poor bid-side liquidity (~0.8% slippage)**, the toast **ABCD: thin bid side, exit carefully** and the spoken "Thin bids. Exit carefully." (at most once every 12 seconds). Turn it off with **Thin bid exit warning** in the cog, though there are few good reasons to. What to do: scale out in pieces rather than dumping it all ([guide 4.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scale-out-and-flatten)), and next time size for the bid you can see, not the one you hope for. ## The honest limits - **Venues, not firms.** IBKR's SMART depth labels each row with the venue it rests on. **NSDQ** might be a market maker, a fund's algorithm or another day trader routing to Nasdaq, and two NSDQ rows are not necessarily the same trader. - **Hidden size is invisible until it refills.** The layers icon needs a venue to refill while 3 times its displayed size trades. Hidden orders that never refill, and orders resting off-exchange, do not show at all. The detector counts only lit prints, so off-exchange volume never triggers it. - **An iceberg is not a floor, and not a wall.** A hidden buyer is filling its order; when it is full, it is gone. When Scalpel's reads were replayed over recorded sessions, levels with a hidden order broke within a minute more often than ordinary ones. - **Most reads are coin flips.** In the same replays, calls like "leaning up" did no better than chance; only the ask-heavy book held up as a tendency. The blog post [Reading the Level 2 montage](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/reading-the-level-2-montage) has the details. - **Size can be pulled in an instant.** Displayed size is an offer, not a promise. Your exit is only as good as the bids that are still there when it arrives. **Careful.** Reading players is a skill traders build over months, and it fails often even for experienced ones. Use it to judge cost, room and liquidity, never as a reason to size up. Small-cap momentum trading carries a significant risk of loss. ## What can go wrong - **No venues, or an empty book.** Your IBKR account needs Level 2 subscriptions for the exchanges you want to see ([guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)), and IBKR limits how many books you can stream at once ([guide 13.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-delayed-data)). - **No amber sizes.** Big orders are only marked with **Coloring** set to **Off**. - **No flashes.** **Flash size changes** is off in the LEVEL 2 cog, or the change happened below the rows you show. - **You leaned on a big bid and it vanished.** That is the lesson of the third example: wait for size to trade before you trust it. ## Questions **Can Scalpel show which market maker is on the bid?** No. Interactive Brokers' SMART depth labels each row with the venue the order rests on, such as NSDQ, ARCA, EDGX or IEX, not the firm that placed it. Players are read from what their orders do. **What does the layers icon on a Level 2 row mean?** One venue keeps refilling the same price while far more trades there than it shows: at least 3 hits, $15,000 or more traded and 3 times its displayed size within 20 seconds, with the price holding. It marks a hidden (iceberg) order. **Why are big orders not highlighted on my montage?** The amber big-order size only shows with Coloring set to Off in the LEVEL 2 cog. On the colour-band modes the text stays black on the band. **Is a big bid on Level 2 support?** Only once it trades and stays. Large bids are often cancelled as price approaches. A bid that takes thousands of shares and is still there is a real buyer, until its order is full. **What do the green and red flashes mean?** Green: a venue's quote appeared at that price or got bigger. Red: it got smaller, because it traded or was partly cancelled. A quote that is cancelled outright just disappears. **Does the read line predict where price goes?** No. It describes the book and the tape. Replayed over recorded sessions, most reads did no better than a coin flip; only the ask-heavy book tended to cap price, which is why only that read is coloured as a caution. --- # Sizing presets: shares, dollars or risk > Set Scalpel's four buy presets to a share count, a dollar clip or a dollar risk from an ATR, swing low or cents stop, and see the size each press will buy. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/sizing-presets Guide 4.1, Placing trades. Beginner, 8 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel has four buy presets, one per key (`Shift`+`1` to `Shift`+`4`), and each one sizes the order one of five ways: a fixed share count (**Shares**), a dollar amount (**Notional**), or a dollar risk worked out from a stop (**Risk (ATR)**, **Risk (Low)** or **Risk (Cents)**). Pick the kind in the order bar's method dropdown or in **Settings > Sizing**. The line above each buy button shows the dollar size that press would buy at the current ask, so you never fire blind. How many shares you buy decides how much a bad trade costs you. A fixed share count risks very different money on different stocks; a risk preset keeps the loss at your stop the same on every trade. This guide covers all five kinds, the default ladder, and how to set them up. Fast small-cap scalping carries a significant risk of loss, and most people who try it lose money. Sizing is your first line of defence: start small, in SIM, and keep the loss per trade to an amount you could take ten times in a row. **Before you start:** - Scalpel connected and a symbol loaded on a desk ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers), [guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)). - SIM mode while you try the kinds out ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). ## The five kinds | Kind | You set | Shares bought | The stop it arms | |---|---|---|---| | **Shares** | A share count | Exactly that many | ATR stop (below) | | **Notional** | A dollar clip | Clip / ask, rounded down | ATR stop | | **Risk (ATR)** | Dollars of risk | Risk / ATR stop distance, rounded down | 1.5 x ATR under the fill | | **Risk (Low)** | Dollars of risk | Risk / (ask - recent low), rounded down | The same distance under the fill | | **Risk (Cents)** | Dollars of risk | Risk / Stop (c), rounded down | Exactly Stop (c) under the fill | Every kind arms a working stop, a wider catastrophe net and a take-profit when it fills ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). The difference is whether the stop decides the size (the three risk kinds) or the size is fixed and the stop simply follows (Shares and Notional). The share count is worked out the instant you press, from the live ask, and always rounded down to whole shares. So a $100 risk preset never puts more than $100 at risk to the stop, before slippage and fees. If the sum comes to zero shares (for example a $1 risk against a $1.50 stop), the order is refused with **Order size resolves to zero shares**. ## The default ladder A fresh install has all four presets on **Shares**: 100, 250, 500 and 1,000 shares. Each preset also carries a ready value for the other kinds, so switching the method dropdown gives you a sensible ladder straight away: | Key | Shares | Notional | Any risk kind | |---|---|---|---| | `Shift`+`1` | 100 sh | $2,500 | $25 | | `Shift`+`2` | 250 sh | $5,000 | $50 | | `Shift`+`3` | 500 sh | $10,000 | $100 | | `Shift`+`4` | 1,000 sh | $25,000 | $200 | The buttons read the way the cheatsheet does: **100 sh**, **$2500**, **Risk $25**. ## Set your presets ### 1. Pick a kind for all four buttons on the order bar The quickest way is the method dropdown (1) on the order bar under the chart. Choosing a kind switches all four presets to it at once and fills in the ladder value above for any preset that has none. Your choice is saved straight away. *Screenshot: The method dropdown open (1). The kind it shows is the kind of your first preset. Demo data.* ### 2. Or set each preset on its own in Settings Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`), then **Sizing**. Each row is one key: the kind on the left, the value in the middle, and the unit after it: **shares**, **$ / clip** or **$ risk**. Values are whole numbers. Click **Apply** to save, or **Cancel** to throw the changes away. *Screenshot: Settings, Sizing: the kind list open on the Shift+1 preset, with the five kinds. Demo data.* ### 3. Mix kinds if it suits you Nothing forces the four keys to match. A common mix is two fixed share counts for quick starter clips and two risk buttons for planned entries. The order bar's dropdown then shows the first preset's kind, and each button keeps its own label. *Screenshot: Two Shares presets and two Risk (Cents) presets in Settings, Sizing.* *Screenshot: The same presets on the order bar: 100 sh and 250 sh, then Risk $100 and Risk $200, each with the dollar size it would buy at a 5.71 ask. Demo data.* **Note.** The **Stop** stepper for Risk (Cents) only shows on the order bar when the first preset is Risk (Cents). With a mix like the one above, change the cents stop in **Settings > Stops > Risk (Cents) sizing** instead. ### 4. Read the size line before you press The small line above each buy button is the dollar size that press would put on at the current ask, using exactly the sizing the order will use: **$571** over **100 sh** at 5.71, **$1.9k** over **Risk $100** with a 30c stop. A dash means there is no ask yet, or the preset sizes to zero. Check it whenever you switch to a stock at a very different price. ## Shares and Notional **Shares** is the simplest: press `Shift`+`3` and you buy 500 shares, whatever the price. Your risk is whatever the stop distance happens to be on that stock. **Notional** buys a dollar amount: shares = clip / ask, rounded down. $2,500 at a 5.71 ask is 437 shares ($2,495). It keeps the money tied up the same from stock to stock, which helps with buying power, but your risk still changes with the stop. *Screenshot: Notional: the $2500 to $25000 ladder, each size line a little under its clip because of rounding down. Demo data.* ## Risk (ATR): the stop sized to how much the stock moves ATR (average true range, see the [glossary](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#atr)) is how far a stock typically moves in one bar. Risk (ATR) puts the stop at **1.5 x the 14-bar ATR on the 1-minute chart** and sizes so that stop costs your risk. A jumpy stock gets a wider stop and fewer shares; a quiet one gets a tighter stop and more. Two limits keep the stop sane: - **A floor.** The stop is never tighter than **Stop floor (c)**, 20c by default, or 1% of the price if that is smaller (and never under 1c). On a $5.71 stock the floor is about 6c; on a $50 stock it is the full 20c. The floor also stands in when there is not enough candle history for an ATR yet. - **A ceiling.** The stop is never wider than 40% of the price. Worked example: ABCD at 5.71 with a 1-minute ATR of 8c. 1.5 x 8c = 12c, above the 6c floor, so the stop is 12c. A **Risk $100** press buys 100 / 0.12 = 833 shares, about $4,756. The ATR settings live in **Settings > Stops** ([guide 11.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-stops)). They also size the stops for Shares and Notional entries. *Screenshot: Settings, Stops: the ATR multiples, timeframe and period, and the cent floors that shape the Risk (ATR) stop.* ## Risk (Low): the stop under the recent swing low Risk (Low) puts the stop just under the lowest low of the **last 20 one-minute candles**, by 0.05% of the price or 1c, whichever is more. The distance from the ask to that level sizes the trade. Worked example: the 20-bar low is 5.45, so the stop level is 5.44. With the ask at 5.71 the distance is 27c, and **Risk $100** buys 100 / 0.27 = 370 shares. The stop is then armed that same distance under your actual fill. If you fill at the ask it sits right at 5.44; if the order walks up the book, it sits a little higher. If there is no usable low (no candles yet, or the low is not under the ask), Risk (Low) falls back to the ATR stop. **Tip.** Risk (Low) suits a pullback entry, where the low of the pullback is the level that proves you wrong. After a long run with no pullback, the 20-bar low can be far away: watch the size line shrink and decide whether that wide stop is really the trade. ## Risk (Cents): a fixed stop in cents Risk (Cents) puts the stop a fixed number of cents under the fill, 30c by default, and sizes to it: $100 at 30c is 333 shares. It is the most predictable kind and has its own guide: [guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk). ## What can go wrong - **The order is refused by a cap.** Your fat-finger and max-position caps block the whole order rather than shrink it, and tight stops ask for big share counts. In SIM, a buy bigger than your free SIM cash is refused too. See [guide 7.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps). - **The size line jumps when you change symbol.** That is the point of risk sizing: the same $100 buys 833 shares of a quiet $5 stock and 125 shares of a jumpy $12 one. Read the line before you press. - **Values for the other kinds reset.** Settings saves only the value for the kind each preset is on. If you later switch kinds on the order bar, an empty value is filled from the default ladder, so check the buttons after a switch. For why sizing from the stop matters, read the blog post [Sizing by risk](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/sizing-by-risk). ## Questions **What is the best sizing method for day trading?** Sizing by risk: decide the dollars you will lose if the stop is hit and let the stop distance set the shares. In Scalpel that is Risk (Cents), Risk (ATR) or Risk (Low). Fixed share counts quietly change your risk from stock to stock. **Why did Scalpel buy fewer shares than I expected?** Every kind rounds down to whole shares, and risk kinds size from the live ask at the moment you press. A wider stop than you assumed (an ATR floor, a far swing low) also means fewer shares. **Can each buy key use a different sizing method?** Yes. Set each row's kind in Settings > Sizing. The order bar dropdown shows the first preset's kind; choosing from it switches all four. **Can I use cents in a preset value?** No. Preset values are whole numbers: shares, whole dollars of clip or whole dollars of risk. **Does the preset change the stop on a Shares entry?** No. A Shares or Notional entry arms the ATR stop, the same as Risk (ATR). Only the risk kinds use their stop to size the order. --- # Trade a fixed dollar risk with Risk (Cents) > Risk the same dollars on every scalp: Scalpel works out the shares from your stop as you press. Set Risk (Cents), size your buttons and nudge the stop. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk Guide 4.2, Placing trades. Intermediate, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Pick **Risk (Cents)** in the order bar's method dropdown and set each buy button to the dollars you are willing to lose. When you press, Scalpel puts your stop that many cents under the fill and buys as many whole shares as that risk allows: a $100 button with a 30c stop buys 333 shares, so a stop-out costs about $100 on any stock. Sizing by shares means a 500-share clip risks $50 on a stock with a 10c stop and $250 on one with a 50c stop. Risk (Cents) turns that around: you choose the dollars, Scalpel works out the shares. Every trade then risks the same amount, which is what makes your results comparable and your losing days survivable. **Before you start:** - Scalpel connected and a symbol loaded on a desk ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers), [guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)). - Start in SIM until the numbers feel natural ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). ## How Risk (Cents) works out your size Three numbers decide every entry: | You set | Example | Where | |---|---|---| | The dollar risk on the button | $100 | Settings > Sizing, or the button itself | | The stop distance in cents | 30c | The **Stop** stepper on the order bar | | The price | 5.71 ask | Live, at the moment you press | Shares = risk / stop distance, rounded down to whole shares. $100 / $0.30 = 333.3, so Scalpel buys 333 shares. If the stop is hit, you lose 333 x $0.30 = $99.90, never more than the $100 you set (before slippage and fees). The price only decides how many dollars the position ties up: 333 shares at 5.71 is about $1,900. **Note.** Rounding down means a press never risks more than the button says. On a very tight stop with a small risk the rounding can matter: $25 at 30c is 83 shares, or $24.90 of risk. ## Set it up ### 1. Choose Risk (Cents) on the order bar The order bar sits under each desk's chart. Open the method dropdown (1) next to **Buy** and pick **Risk (Cents)**. The buy buttons (2) now read **Risk $25**, **Risk $50** and so on, and a **Stop** stepper (3) appears beside the buy **Offset**. *Screenshot: The order bar on Risk (Cents): the method dropdown (1), the four buy buttons with the dollar size each press would buy above them (2), and the Stop stepper (3). Demo data.* The method on the order bar is the kind of your first preset. Changing it here changes all four presets to the same kind, which is what you want for fixed-risk trading. ### 2. Set your four risk amounts Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`), then **Sizing**. Each row is one buy key, `Shift`+`1` to `Shift`+`4`. With the kind on **Risk (Cents)**, the number is dollars of risk. The defaults are $25, $50, $100 and $200; a common ladder for a funded account is a quarter, half, one and two times your normal risk. Click **Apply**. *Screenshot: Settings, Sizing: all four presets on Risk (Cents), the value in dollars of risk. Demo data.* ### 3. Set your usual stop distance The stop the buttons size against is **Settings > Stops > Risk (Cents) sizing > Stop (c)**, 30c by default. Set it to the stop you use most often. *Screenshot: Settings, Stops: the Risk (Cents) stop, outlined. 30 cents by default.* ### 4. Read the size line before you press Above each buy button is the dollar size that press would put on at the current ask, for example **$1.9k** over **Risk $100**. It updates with every tick. If it is bigger than you expected, your stop is too tight for that risk; if it is tiny, the stop is wide. ### 5. Nudge the stop for this stock Click **-** or **+** on the **Stop** stepper to move it 5c at a time (1c is the least). Tighter on a $2 stock, wider on a $12 one. The size lines change as you click. **Careful.** The Stop stepper changes the saved Risk (Cents) stop, for every desk, until you change it again. It is not a one-trade override. After a wide-stop trade on one stock, set it back before you trade a cheap one. ### 6. Press a buy key and check the stop Press `Shift`+`2`. Scalpel sends a marketable limit for the shares the line showed. When it fills, the chart draws your entry, the red **working stop** exactly 30c under the fill, and the green **take-profit** at 2R, each with the P&L and R it would realise. *Screenshot: After Shift+2 on Risk $50 at a 30c stop: 166 shares at 5.62, the stop at 5.32 and the target at 6.22 (2R). Demo data.* ## Worked examples All at a 30c stop: | Button | Shares | At a $2.40 stock | At a $9.80 stock | Loss at the stop | |---|---|---|---|---| | Risk $25 | 83 | $199 | $813 | $24.90 | | Risk $100 | 333 | $799 | $3,263 | $99.90 | | Risk $500 | 1,666 | $3,998 | $16,327 | $499.80 | | Risk $1,000 | 3,333 | $7,999 | $32,663 | $999.90 | The loss at the stop is the same on both stocks; only the money tied up changes. That is the point. ## What can go wrong - **The order is blocked by a cap.** Your fat-finger cap and max-position cap still apply (both $250,000 by default, so set them to what your account can carry), and they block the whole order rather than shrink it. A tight stop on a pricier stock can ask for more than you meant: $1,000 at 30c on a $9.80 stock is $32,663. Set the caps so a press like that is refused, or widen the stop. See [guide 7.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps). - **The stop-out costs more than the button.** The stop is watched by Scalpel and fires a marketable exit when price trades through. In a fast drop or a gap the exit fills below the stop, in SIM as in LIVE, and fees come on top. Size so that two or three times your risk would still be survivable. See [guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work). - **SIM refuses for buying power.** SIM is a cash account: the whole position must fit in your SIM cash. Raise the SIM starting balance in Settings > Risk if your size needs it. ## Questions **Why did it buy fewer shares than I worked out?** Scalpel rounds down to whole shares, so the risk never goes over the button. $100 at 30c is 333.3 shares, which becomes 333. **Is the stop placed from my fill or from the price when I pressed?** From the fill. The share count is worked out when you press, and the working stop is armed the Risk (Cents) distance under the price you actually got. **Can each button have a different stop?** No. All four Risk (Cents) buttons size against the one Stop setting. Use the Stop stepper to change it before a trade. **Does the take-profit use the same stop?** Yes. The take-profit sits at N times R above entry (2R by default), and R is the stop distance you entered with, 30c in the example, so the target is 60c above the fill. **What happens on a gap below my stop?** The stop fires when price trades through it, and the exit fills at the bids that are there. A gap means a bigger loss than the button. That is true of any stop, which is why caps and a daily loss limit matter. --- # Hotkeys: the defaults and how to change them > Every Scalpel hotkey and its default: buys, scale-outs, breakeven, trailing and cancel, each with a spoken confirmation. Esc's rules and how to rebind. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/hotkeys Guide 4.3, Placing trades. Beginner, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel is built to be traded from the keyboard: `Shift`+`1` to `Shift`+`4` buy, `Ctrl`+`Z` sells everything at the bid, `Ctrl`+`X` sells half, `B` moves your stop to breakeven, and a voice confirms each one so your eyes never leave the book. Press `?` for the cheatsheet, and rebind any trading key in **Settings > Hotkeys** by clicking it and pressing the new key. `Esc` is fixed: with nothing open, it flattens every position. In a fast small-cap move, the second you spend finding a button with the mouse is a second of price you do not get. Every trading action in Scalpel has a key, every key fires on the desk you have focused, and each one answers with a short spoken confirmation ("Filled, level two.", "Out, half.", "Breakeven.") so you can keep watching Level 2 and the tape instead of checking a panel. **Before you start:** - A symbol loaded on a desk ([guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)). - Your buy presets set up ([guide 4.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/sizing-presets)). - SIM mode while you build the muscle memory ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). ## Every default key These are the rebindable trading keys, in the order **Settings > Hotkeys** lists them. Each acts on the **focused desk** (the one with the blue outline). | Action (as Settings names it) | Default key | What it does | You hear | |---|---|---|---| | **Buy preset 1** to **4** | `Shift`+`1` to `Shift`+`4` | Buys with that preset's size, as a marketable limit at the ask plus your buy offset ([guide 4.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/entries-and-fills)) | "Filled, level one." to "level four." | | **Sell full (bid)** | `Ctrl`+`Z` | Sells the whole position at the bid minus your sell offset | "Out, full." | | **Sell half (bid)** | `Ctrl`+`X` | Sells half, rounded down to whole shares | "Out, half." | | **Sell quarter (bid)** | `Ctrl`+`C` | Sells a quarter, rounded down | "Out, quarter." | | **Sell half (ask)** | `Ctrl`+`A` | Offers half at the ask | "Out, half." | | **Sell half (mid)** | `Ctrl`+`S` | Offers half at the midpoint | "Out, half." | | **Stop to breakeven** | `B` | Moves the working stop up to your entry price; a stop already above it stays put | "Breakeven." | | **Toggle trailing stop** | `Shift`+`T` | Turns trailing on or off | "Trailing." or "Trail off." | | **Cancel all orders** | `Ctrl`+`Q` (`Shift`+`Q` on a Mac) | Cancels the working orders on the focused desk's symbol | "Cancelled." | | **Toggle cheatsheet** | `?` (`Shift`+`/`) | Shows or hides every key on screen | | More voices follow on their own: "Out, in profit." or "Out, at a loss." when a trade closes, "Stopped out.", "Take profit.", "Rejected." when an order is refused, and "Flattened." after `Esc`. You can mute the voice or the sounds separately in **Settings > Audio** ([guide 10.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/voice-callouts)). The scale-outs, breakeven and trailing are covered in [guide 4.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scale-out-and-flatten) and [guide 5.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/breakeven-and-trailing-stops). ## The fixed keys These are not in the rebind list and always do the same thing. | Key | What it does | |---|---| | `Esc` | Closes whatever is open first: the cheatsheet, Settings, a panel's or a scan's settings, or a symbol suggestion list. **With nothing open, it flattens every position on every desk**, the same as the header's **Flatten All**. | | `Enter` | Applies Settings when it is open; otherwise loads the highlighted symbol from the suggestion list. | | `Up` / `Down` | Move through the symbol suggestion list. | | `Left`, `Right`, `Tab` | Move focus to the previous or next desk (when you are not typing in a box). | | `Ctrl`+`,` | Opens or closes Settings. | | `Ctrl`+`-`, `Ctrl`+`=`, `Ctrl`+`0` | Zoom the whole cockpit out, in, and back to 100% (70% to 125%). | **This can cost you money.** `Esc` flattens everything whenever nothing is open, even while your cursor sits in a symbol box. If a suggestion list is showing, the first `Esc` only closes the list; a second press flattens. Treat `Esc` as your panic key, never as "cancel what I was typing". ## Typing a symbol never places an order The trading keys only fire when no text box has the key. While you type in a desk's symbol box, `Shift`+`1` is just a "!" in the box. As soon as you pick a symbol (`Enter` or a click on a suggestion), the cursor leaves the box, so the keys trade straight away. If you clicked into a box and changed your mind, click the desk (or its chart) to give the keys back to trading. ## The cheatsheet Press `?` to see every key as it is bound right now. The buy rows show each preset's size ("Buy 250 sh", "Buy Risk $100"), so the cheatsheet is also a quick check of what your four keys will buy. Press `?` again, click outside it, or press `Esc` to close it. *Screenshot: The cheatsheet with the default keys and the default share ladder. It always shows your current bindings. Demo data.* ## Rebind a key ### 1. Open Settings, then Hotkeys Press `Ctrl`+`,` (or click **Settings** in the header) and choose **Hotkeys**. Every action is listed with its key. *Screenshot: Settings, Hotkeys: the thirteen rebindable actions. Esc and Enter are fixed and not listed.* ### 2. Click the key you want to change The key turns blue and reads **Press a key**. Click it again to back out without changing anything. *Screenshot: Waiting for a new key for Stop to breakeven.* ### 3. Press the new key or chord Press a letter, number or punctuation key, alone or with `Ctrl`, `Shift` or both. If another action already had that chord, it loses it and shows **Unbound**: there are never two actions on one key. ### 4. Click Apply Changes only take effect when you click **Apply**. **Cancel** (or `Esc`) closes Settings and keeps your old keys. What you cannot bind: `Esc`, `Enter`, the arrow keys, `Tab`, `Space` and the function keys, and the fixed `Ctrl`+`,` and zoom chords. `Alt` is not part of a chord. ## On a Mac Wherever this guide says `Ctrl`, press `Cmd`: `Cmd`+`Z` sells the position, `Cmd`+`,` opens Settings. The cheatsheet and the Hotkeys tab still write "Ctrl". The one exception is **Cancel all orders**: on a Mac it defaults to `Shift`+`Q`, because `Cmd`+`Q` quits apps on macOS, and quitting Scalpel switches off its stops ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). An older binding on `Cmd`+`Q` moves to `Shift`+`Q` by itself. ## Tips for a keyboard-only setup - **Keep sizes in the same order everywhere.** Smallest on `Shift`+`1`, biggest on `Shift`+`4`, so a slip of the finger buys less, not more. - **Learn the exits first.** In SIM, practise `Ctrl`+`X` then `Ctrl`+`Z` until you do not look down. - **Use `Tab` to change desks**, so your left hand never leaves the keyboard. - **Let the voice confirm.** If you did not hear "Filled", look before you press again: the order may have been rejected or only partly filled. More in [guide 14.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/keyboard-only-workflow) and the full Hotkeys tab reference in [guide 11.8](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-hotkeys). ## Questions **What are the default hotkeys in Scalpel?** Shift+1 to Shift+4 buy your four presets; Ctrl+Z sells all at the bid; Ctrl+X half and Ctrl+C a quarter at the bid; Ctrl+A half at the ask; Ctrl+S half at the mid; B moves the stop to breakeven; Shift+T toggles trailing; Ctrl+Q (Shift+Q on a Mac) cancels working orders; ? shows the cheatsheet; Esc flattens everything when nothing is open. **Why did my hotkey not do anything?** Usually a text box had the key. Click the desk to hand the keys back. Buys and sells are also blocked when the market is closed (04:00 to 20:00 ET is open), with a Market closed - orders disabled toast; breakeven, trailing and cancel still work. Buys are refused while the stock is halted. **Which desk does a hotkey trade?** The focused desk, the one with the blue outline. Click a desk, or move focus with Left, Right or Tab. Esc is the exception: it flattens every desk. **Can I change what Esc does?** No. Esc and Enter are fixed. Esc closes an open overlay or suggestion list first, and flattens every position only when nothing is open. **Do hotkeys work on a Mac?** Yes, with Cmd in place of Ctrl. The exception is Cancel all orders, which is Shift+Q on a Mac, because Cmd+Q quits apps there. --- # Entries: marketable limits, offsets and partial fills > How a Scalpel buy is priced and filled: the marketable limit, the buy offset, partial fills, and why a buy is refused when the market is closed or halted. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/entries-and-fills Guide 4.4, Placing trades. Intermediate, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Every Scalpel buy is a marketable limit: a limit order priced at the ask plus your **Buy offset** (10 cents by default), so it fills straight away against what is offered but never pays more than that cap. Anything the book cannot fill up to the limit keeps working at the limit as a partial fill, until it fills, you cancel it with `Ctrl`+`Q`, or you sell out. Buys and sells are blocked while the US market is closed (before 04:00 or after 20:00 ET, weekends and holidays), and buys while the stock is halted. A [marketable limit](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#marketable-limit) is how momentum traders get in fast without handing the market a blank cheque. A plain market order on a thin small-cap can fill dollars above where you pressed; a limit right at the ask can miss the move entirely. The ask plus a few cents is the middle ground, and outside regular hours it is the only kind of order the exchanges accept anyway. **Before you start:** - Scalpel connected with Level 2 data on the symbol ([guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). - A buy preset set up ([guide 4.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/sizing-presets)). ## How a buy is priced When you press a buy key or button, Scalpel does this in one go: 1. Takes the **best ask** on the focused desk's book. 2. Works out the share count from your preset at that ask ([guide 4.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/sizing-presets)), rounded down. 3. Checks the order against your caps and, in SIM, your cash ([guide 7.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps)), and against a daily-loss lock ([guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)). 4. Sends a limit order at **ask + Buy offset**, rounded to the cent. Worked example: ABCD offers 245 shares at 5.71, 1,000 at 5.72 and 2,000 at 5.73. You press **Risk $200** with a 30c stop: 666 shares, limit 5.71 + 0.10 = **5.81**. The order takes the 245 at 5.71 and 421 at 5.72, an average of about 5.716. It never touches a price above 5.81. The offset is your slippage budget, not a price you pay: you fill at the prices on the book, up to the limit. ## Set the offsets The buy and sell offsets are on the order bar (**Offset** steppers, 10c a click, never below 0) and in **Settings > Trading** as **Buy offset (c)** and **Sell offset (c)**. Both places change the same saved value, for every desk. *Screenshot: Settings, Trading: Buy offset (c) and Sell offset (c), 10 by default, and Extended-hours fills, on by default.* | Offset | Good for | The catch | |---|---|---| | 0c | Paying no more than the ask you saw | Misses the fill when the ask lifts as you press, leaving a partial or nothing | | 5c to 10c (default 10c) | Most $2 to $20 momentum stocks | You can pay up to that much over the ask on a thin book | | 15c to 30c | Fast breakouts on pricier stocks | A large order can walk deep into the book | **Tip.** The offset is in cents, not percent, so the same 10c is 5% of a $2 stock and 0.5% of a $20 one. Drop it to 3c to 5c if you mostly trade under $3. ## Partial fills If the book runs out before your limit, you get what was there and the rest keeps working at the limit, like a real resting order. - **In SIM**, the fill is worked out against the displayed Level 2 book. The unfilled rest then fills from new trades printing on the tape at or under your limit, at those prices ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). - **In LIVE**, Interactive Brokers works the rest of the real order at your limit. The Orders tab shows a working buy as **Partial**, with the average fill so far. Your stop and take-profit arm on the first fill. When more shares fill, the levels stay exactly where they are (including a stop you dragged); only your average moves, so breakeven ([guide 5.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/breakeven-and-trailing-stops)) then means the new average. Adding shares with a second buy works the same way. *Screenshot: The Orders tab: a 1,000 share buy reading Partial at a 5.72 average so far. Times are New York time. Demo data.* The rest stops working when: - you press `Ctrl`+`Q` or the **Cancel** button (shown on the order bar while you hold a position); - you sell out: **Sell full** (`Ctrl`+`Z`), **Flatten All** (`Esc`) or an auto-flatten cancels the working buy first, in SIM and LIVE alike; - in SIM, you sell any of that symbol (a scale-out too), or the stop fires. In LIVE, a scale-out (1/2, 1/4) leaves a working buy alone, so cancel it yourself with `Ctrl`+`Q` if you do not want it. **Careful.** A working partial can keep buying after you have mentally moved on, adding shares on a pullback. If you do not want the rest, cancel it as soon as you see **Partial**. ## When the market is closed Scalpel trades the pre-market (from 04:00 ET), regular hours and after-hours (to 20:00 ET; 17:00 on early-close days). Outside those hours, at weekends and on market holidays, there is no real liquidity, so entries and exits are blocked: - the order bar's buttons are greyed out, buys, sells, **B/E** and **Trail** alike; - a buy or sell hotkey shows **Market closed - orders disabled**; - the breakeven, trailing and cancel hotkeys (`B`, `Shift`+`T`, `Ctrl`+`Q`) still work; - **Flatten All** (`Esc`) is never blocked, so you can always ask to get out. Its toast says what happens next: in LIVE, IBKR may hold the sells until the pre-market opens at 4:00 ET; in SIM they fill at the last prices Scalpel saw ([guide 4.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scale-out-and-flatten)). *Screenshot: The market closed: every order bar button greyed out, and the toast a buy key raises. Demo data.* **Extended-hours fills** in **Settings > Trading** (on by default) decides whether your LIVE **buys** may fill outside regular hours. Turn it off and Interactive Brokers only fills your LIVE entries between 09:30 and 16:00 ET. Exits are not affected: stops, targets, sells and Flatten All always go out allowed to fill outside regular hours. SIM ignores the switch. See [guide 13.13](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-bar-greyed-out) if the bar is grey when you think it should not be. ## Halted stocks While a stock is halted, its desk shows a **HALTED** banner, the buy buttons are grey, and a buy key is refused with **ABCD is halted: buys are blocked until it resumes** and the voice "Rejected.". A halted stock usually reopens with a gap, so no entry may queue up for the reopen. Sells and Flatten All are not blocked, but nothing trades until the halt lifts. ## Why an entry can be refused Each refusal shows as a red toast and the voice says "Rejected.": | Message | Why | Fix | |---|---|---| | **No market data yet** | The desk has no book yet | Wait for Level 2 to fill in | | **No ask to price against** | The book has no offers | Wait for offers to show | | **ABCD is halted: buys are blocked until it resumes** | Trading in the stock is halted | Wait for the halt to lift | | **Order size resolves to zero shares** | The preset sizes to under one share | Raise the risk or tighten the stop | | **Order exceeds the fat-finger cap ($...)** | The order is over your fat-finger cap | [Guide 7.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps) | | **Position would exceed the max ($...)** | It would take the symbol past your max position | Guide 7.2 | | **Insufficient buying power: order $... exceeds free cash $...** | SIM is a cash account | Smaller size, or raise SIM start in Settings > Risk | | **Risk locked: ...** | The daily loss limit has tripped | [Guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit) | | **No liquidity for ...** | SIM: nothing on the book up to your limit | Raise the offset, or wait | A LIVE order can also be refused by Interactive Brokers itself, for example for buying power; see [guide 13.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-rejected). If the intel dilution guard is on and the stock has a fresh dilution flag, the first press only warns and you press again within 4 seconds to confirm ([guide 9.7](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/dilution-entry-guard)). **Note.** No order type removes the risk of a fast stock. A marketable limit caps what you pay, but in a thin pre-market book a stock can move several percent between your press and your fill, and it can move against you just as fast. Practise in SIM first; most people who trade this way lose money. ## Questions **What is a marketable limit order?** A limit order priced at or through the other side of the book, so it fills at once like a market order but with a cap. Scalpel buys at the ask plus your buy offset, 10 cents by default. **Why did my order only partly fill?** There was not enough size offered up to your limit. The rest keeps working at the limit: it shows as Partial in the Orders tab and fills as sellers arrive, until you cancel with Ctrl+Q or sell out. **Why can't I trade at night or at the weekend?** Scalpel blocks orders outside 04:00 to 20:00 ET on trading days, when there is no real liquidity. Stop management (B, Shift+T) and cancel still work. **Can I trade the pre-market with Scalpel?** Yes. Pre-market from 04:00 ET is open for orders. LIVE buys may fill outside regular hours while Extended-hours fills is on in Settings > Trading, which is the default, and exits always may. **Does the buy offset change my fill price?** Only as a cap. You fill at the prices offered on the book, starting at the ask; the offset is the most above the ask you allow. --- # Scale out and flatten > Sell half, a quarter or the whole position at the bid, ask or mid, and flatten everything with Esc or Flatten All. What each exit does in SIM and in LIVE. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scale-out-and-flatten Guide 4.5, Placing trades. Beginner, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** To scale out, press `Ctrl`+`X` to sell half your position at the bid, `Ctrl`+`C` for a quarter, or `Ctrl`+`Z` for all of it; `Ctrl`+`A` and `Ctrl`+`S` offer half at the ask or the midpoint instead. To get out of everything at once, press `Esc` (with nothing open) or click **Flatten All** in the header: every desk holding a position sells it all. Sells are always capped to the shares you hold, so no exit can put you short. Taking part of a winner off into strength and letting the rest run is the core of scalping a momentum move: it pays you for being right and keeps a piece for the bigger move. Scalpel gives each common exit its own key and button, on the focused desk. **Before you start:** - A position open on the focused desk ([guide 4.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/entries-and-fills)). - The market open (04:00 to 20:00 ET). When it is closed the sell keys and buttons are blocked; only Flatten All still sends. ## The exits at a glance | Key | Button | Sells | Priced at | |---|---|---|---| | `Ctrl`+`Z` | **Full** | The whole position | Bid minus the sell offset | | `Ctrl`+`X` | **1/2** | Half, rounded down | Bid minus the sell offset | | `Ctrl`+`C` | **1/4** | A quarter, rounded down | Bid minus the sell offset | | `Ctrl`+`A` | **1/2 Ask** | Half, rounded down | The ask | | `Ctrl`+`S` | **1/2 Mid** | Half, rounded down | Halfway between bid and ask | | `Esc` | **Flatten All** (header) | Everything, on every desk | Bid, crossing harder in LIVE (below) | Rounding is down to whole shares: half of 333 is 166, a quarter of 166 is 41. The **Sell** row on the order bar under the chart has a button for each, with the sell **Offset** stepper at its right end (10c a click). *Screenshot: The Sell row with a position open: Full (1), 1/2 and 1/4 at the bid (2), 1/2 Ask and 1/2 Mid (3), and the sell Offset (4). B/E, Trail and Cancel sit between them. Demo data.* ## Scale out of a winner ### 1. Take half at the bid With ABCD at 5.69 bid on a 400-share position from 5.50, press `Ctrl`+`X`. Scalpel sends a sell for 200 shares limited at 5.69 - 0.10 = 5.59, so it fills at the bid and, on a thin book, can take lower bids down to 5.59. You hear "Out, half." ### 2. Check what is left The Positions tab now shows 200 shares open and a closed row for the 200 you sold, with the P&L net of fees and in R. Your stop and take-profit stay armed on the shares you still hold. *Screenshot: After Ctrl+X: 200 shares still open, +1.7R on paper, and 200 closed at 5.69 for +$35.32 (+1.5R) after fees. Demo data.* ### 3. Protect the rest Press `B` to move the stop to your entry, or `Shift`+`T` to let it trail ([guide 5.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/breakeven-and-trailing-stops)). The runner now cannot turn into a loser at the stop, short of a gap. ### 4. Take the rest Press `Ctrl`+`C` for another quarter of what is left (50 shares), or `Ctrl`+`Z` to sell the remaining 200. You hear "Out, full." and the position closes. ## Bid, ask or mid - **At the bid** (Full, 1/2, 1/4) sells into the buyers who are there now. It is the exit that fills. The sell offset lets it reach a few cents under the bid on a thin book; set it in the order bar or **Settings > Trading**. - **At the ask** (1/2 Ask) and **at the mid** (1/2 Mid) are for selling into strength: they rest as a limit at that price and fill only when buyers trade up to it. In SIM they rest the same way and fill from prints on the tape at or above your price. If the move stalls, they sit unfilled while price drops away. If a resting ask or mid sell is not filling and you want out, just press a bid exit: `Ctrl`+`Z` or `Esc`. You do not need to cancel first. When a sell would need shares that a resting sell already offers, Scalpel cancels the resting sell and sends one order for what it covered plus what you asked for, at the lower of the two prices. If your stop fires while one is resting, the stop's exit replaces it the same way. **Careful.** A resting ask or mid sell can sit unfilled. Do not count on it in a falling stock: your stop still guards the shares, and a bid exit replaces it at once. ## Flatten everything with Esc or Flatten All **Flatten All** is the red button in the header, with **Esc** printed on it. It sells the whole position on every desk that holds one, in the mode you are in, and shows a **Flatten all sent** toast; you hear "Flattened.". It first cancels any buy still working on those symbols, so a partly filled entry cannot keep adding shares after you are out (**Sell full** does the same for its desk). *Screenshot: The header, cropped at Flatten All with its Esc hint, and the toast it raises. Demo data.* How a flatten is priced: - **In LIVE**, each exit is a limit 1% under the bid, so one press sweeps the book down to that floor and clears the position, filling at the best bids on the way. If a sell is already working on that stock (a stop's exit, a resting 1/2 Ask), Flatten All replaces it rather than adding a second order: Scalpel cancels it, waits for IBKR to confirm, then sends one sell for everything you hold at the lower of the two limits. - **In SIM**, each exit fills against the bids on the book. If the book is too thin for the whole position, Scalpel keeps selling the rest as fresh bids arrive until you are flat. A plain `Ctrl`+`Z` differs only in LIVE: it keeps your sell offset (10c under the bid) instead of crossing 1%. **With the market closed** (nights, weekends, holidays), Flatten All still sends, because getting out must always be possible, and the toast tells you what happens to it: in LIVE, **Flatten all sent. The market is closed: IBKR may hold the sells until pre-market opens at 4:00 ET**; in SIM, **Flatten all sent. The market is closed: SIM fills at the last prices it saw**. **This can cost you money.** **Esc flattens everything whenever nothing is open, even while you are typing a symbol.** If a symbol suggestion list or an overlay (the cheatsheet, Settings, a panel's settings) is open, the first Esc only closes it. A second Esc flattens every position on every desk. Never use Esc to clear a symbol box. Flatten only sells positions on a desk. A position whose symbol is on no desk is not flattened (and its stop is not watched; Scalpel warns you). ## Never short by accident Every sell is capped to the shares you hold, minus shares that sells you already have working are offering. So pressing `Ctrl`+`Z` twice, or a stop firing while your manual exit is still working, never sells more than you own: the new sell replaces the working one, for what you still hold. A sell with no shares at all is refused with **No long position to sell**. More in [guide 7.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/long-only). ## What can go wrong - **Nothing happens on Ctrl+X.** A text box had the key: click the desk. Or the market is closed, or you hold no shares on this desk. - **The half only partly filled.** A scale-out sells what the bids take down to your limit and stops; it is not retried. Press it again for the rest, or use a full exit. - **The ask exit never filled.** That is a resting order: see above. A bid exit replaces it. - **Esc flattened a trade you wanted to keep.** See the warning. Consider making it a habit to click the desk before typing a symbol, and to read the suggestion list before pressing Esc. ## Questions **How do I sell half my position in Scalpel?** Press Ctrl+X (Cmd+X on a Mac) or click 1/2 on the order bar. It sells half, rounded down to whole shares, at the bid minus your sell offset. **What is the difference between Sell full and Flatten All?** Sell full (Ctrl+Z) sells the focused desk's position at the bid minus your sell offset. Flatten All (Esc or the header button) sells every desk's position, and in LIVE prices each exit 1% under the bid so it clears in one press. **Does Esc close a position even when I am typing?** Yes, when no list or overlay is open. With a symbol suggestion list showing, the first Esc closes the list and the second flattens. **Why has my sell at the ask not filled?** A sell at the ask or the mid is a resting limit, in SIM and LIVE alike: it fills only when buyers trade up to your price. To get out now, press Ctrl+Z or Esc, which replaces it with a sell at the bid. **Can a sell make me short?** No. Scalpel is long only: every sell is capped to the shares you hold, minus shares that working sells already offer. --- # The order bar and orders panel > Every button on the order bar under the chart, the method dropdown, offset and stop steppers, and the Positions and Orders tabs with net P&L and fees. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/order-bar Guide 4.6, Placing trades. Beginner, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The order bar sits under each desk's chart: a **Buy** row with the sizing method dropdown, your four buy buttons (each with the dollar size it would buy above it) and the buy **Offset**, and a **Sell** row with **Full**, **1/2**, **1/4**, **1/2 Ask**, **1/2 Mid**, **B/E**, **Trail**, **Cancel** and the sell **Offset**. Below it, the **ORDERS & POSITIONS** panel has a **Positions** tab (open position over closed trades, with fees and R) and an **Orders** tab, plus a **NET P&L** for the desk's symbol. Everything on the order bar has a hotkey ([guide 4.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/hotkeys)), and most traders end up using the keys. The bar is still worth knowing: its size lines tell you what a key will buy before you press it, and its steppers are the fastest way to change an offset or the Risk (Cents) stop mid-session. ## The order bar, control by control *Screenshot: The order bar with a position open. (1) Method dropdown, (2) buy buttons with their size lines, (3) buy Offset, (4) sell buttons, (5) B/E, Trail and Cancel, (6) sell Offset. Demo data.* | Control | What it does | Key | |---|---|---| | **Method dropdown** | Shows the first preset's sizing kind; picking a kind switches all four presets to it ([guide 4.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/sizing-presets)) | | | **Buy buttons** | Buy with preset 1 to 4. The label is the preset: **100 sh**, **$2500**, **Risk $50** | `Shift`+`1` to `4` | | **Size line** (above each buy) | The dollar size that press would put on at the current ask: **$571**, **$1.9k**. A dash means no ask yet or zero shares | | | **Stop** stepper | Only with Risk (Cents) as the method. The cents stop the risk buttons size against, 5c a click, never under 1c. It changes the saved setting for every desk ([guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk)) | | | **Offset** (buy row) | How far above the ask a buy may fill, 10c a click, never under 0 | | | **Full**, **1/2**, **1/4** | Sell all, half or a quarter at the bid minus the sell offset | `Ctrl`+`Z`, `X`, `C` | | **1/2 Ask**, **1/2 Mid** | Offer half at the ask or the midpoint | `Ctrl`+`A`, `S` | | **B/E** | Move the working stop up to your entry (a stop already above it stays put) | `B` | | **Trail** | Turn trailing on or off; the button is lit while trailing | `Shift`+`T` | | **Cancel** | Cancel working orders on this symbol; only shown while you hold a position | `Ctrl`+`Q` | | **Offset** (sell row) | How far under the bid a bid exit may fill, 10c a click | | Clicking any button also focuses that desk, so the next hotkey goes to it. ## When buttons are grey - **No symbol** on the desk: everything is grey. - **No position**: the Sell row, **B/E** and **Trail** are grey and **Cancel** is hidden. - **Stock halted**: the buy buttons are grey until the halt lifts ([guide 4.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/entries-and-fills)). - **Market closed** (before 04:00 or after 20:00 ET, weekends and holidays): every button is grey. The `B`, `Shift`+`T` and `Ctrl`+`Q` keys and the header's **Flatten All** still work. See [guide 13.13](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-bar-greyed-out). To hide the bar, open the chart pane's settings (the gear on **CHART**) and untick **Quick-order buttons**. The hotkeys keep working without it. **Careful.** The steppers are not per-trade or per-desk. Every **Offset** and **Stop** click changes the saved value, for every desk, until you change it again, the same as editing **Settings > Trading** or **Settings > Stops**. ## The orders and positions panel Each desk's **ORDERS & POSITIONS** panel shows only that desk's symbol, in the mode you are in (SIM and LIVE keep separate positions, orders and history). Two tabs: ### Positions **OPEN** (your position) above **CLOSED** (finished trades on this symbol, newest first). | Column | Open row | Closed row | |---|---|---| | 1 | **SYMBOL** | **TIME** the trade closed | | 2 | **QTY** shares | **QTY** shares | | 3 | **AVG** entry price | **ENTRY** price | | 4 | **NOTIONAL**: shares x last price | **EXIT** price | | 5 | **FEE**: commission so far | **FEE**: entry and exit commissions | | 6 | **UNREAL (R)**: open P&L and R | **NET (R)**: P&L after fees, and R | The open row is washed green or red, stronger the more R it is up or down. **NET P&L** at the top right adds this symbol's closed trades in the list to the open P&L. *Screenshot: The Positions tab: 400 ABCD open at +1.7R, a +1.0R winner and a -1.2R loser closed. Demo data.* To read returns as a percent of entry instead of R, set **Settings > Appearance > Stops / TP returns** to **Percent (%)**; the headings change to **UNREAL (%)** and **NET (%)** ([guide 5.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/r-multiples)). ### Orders Every order on the symbol, newest first: **TIME**, **QTY**, **SIDE** (**BUY** green, **SELL** red), **FILL** (the average fill price), **FEE** and **STATUS**: **Pending**, **Working**, **Partial**, **Filled**, **Cancelling**, **Cancelled** or **Rejected**. **Filled** reads in plain text, **Rejected** in red, and every other status in amber. *Screenshot: The Orders tab with a buy still working as Partial. Demo data.* The **TIME** columns are New York time, the same clock as the header, so 09:41 is eleven minutes after the open whatever time zone your computer is in. A fee of **-** means none has been booked yet. In LIVE the commission is the broker's real figure and can arrive a moment after the fill; in SIM it is the estimate for your commission plan ([guide 6.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/commissions)). The full history and stats are in Analytics ([guide 6.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/analytics)). ## Questions **What does the number above each buy button mean?** The dollar size that press would buy at the current ask, worked out exactly as the order will be. $1.9k over Risk $100 means about $1,900 of stock. **Why is the order bar greyed out?** There is no symbol on the desk, the market is closed (outside 04:00 to 20:00 ET or a weekend or holiday), the stock is halted (buys only), or, for the sell row, you hold no position. **Where do I see my fees?** In the FEE column of the Positions and Orders tabs. Closed trades show the entry and exit commissions together, and NET is after fees. **Why does the Cancel button disappear?** It only shows while you hold a position on that desk. Ctrl+Q cancels working orders whether or not it is showing. **Can I hide the order bar?** Yes: untick Quick-order buttons in the chart pane's settings. The hotkeys still work. --- # How Scalpel's stops work > Why Scalpel holds your stops in the app, not on the book: pre-market rules, the working stop, catastrophe net and take-profit, and what if Scalpel closes. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work Guide 5.1, Stops and targets. Beginner, 8 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Every entry in Scalpel arms three levels: a tight **working stop** (your scalp stop), a wider **catastrophe net** under it, and a **take-profit** at 2R above entry by default. None of them sits on the order book. Scalpel watches every trade itself, and when price trades through a level it sends a real exit order: in LIVE, a limit 5 cents under the last trade, which exchanges accept even in the pre-market. The trade-off is plain: the stops only work while Scalpel is running and connected. ## Why the stops live in the app Scalpel is built first for the pre-market, 04:00 to 09:30 ET, when small-cap gappers make their biggest moves on the thinnest books. That is exactly when ordinary broker stops let traders down: - **A stop order cannot protect you before the open.** Outside regular hours, US exchanges accept limit orders only. A plain stop turns into a market order when it triggers, and a market order is not accepted pre-market, so it simply does not work there. - **A stop-limit can be jumped.** In a thin, fast pre-market book, price can gap straight through your limit. The order then sits unfilled while the stock keeps falling. - **A mental stop fails when you need it most.** Holding a number in your head while you also read Level 2 and the tape is exactly when traders freeze, hesitate or move it. So Scalpel holds the stop for you. It checks every new trade price against your levels, and the moment price trades at or through your stop it sends a **marketable limit sell**: in LIVE, priced 5c under the last trade and always flagged for extended hours, so the exchange accepts it at 06:00 the same as at 11:00. If the market runs away from that sell, Scalpel re-prices it until you are out (below). A side benefit: your stop never shows on the book for anyone else to see or run. The full story of the pre-market problem is in [guide 5.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-stops) and the blog post [Stops that live in the app](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/stops-that-live-in-the-app). **This can cost you money.** An app-monitored stop is not a guarantee. It fires on the first trade at or through your level, but in a fast drop the exit can fill well below the stop, or, in a book with no bids near the price, not fill at once, even after re-pricing. And **if Scalpel is closed, crashed, or disconnected from Interactive Brokers, nothing is watching your position.** Close your trades before you close Scalpel. Fast small-cap trading carries a significant risk of loss; size every trade so that a stop filling two or three times worse than planned is still survivable. ## The three levels *Screenshot: Illustration of the levels on a 400-share entry at 5.50 with a 12c stop. The catastrophe net is not drawn on the real chart.* ### The working stop This is the stop you trade with, the line that should fill if you are wrong. Its distance under your fill depends on how you sized the entry ([guide 4.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/sizing-presets)): | Entry | Working stop under the fill | |---|---| | **Risk (Cents)** | Exactly **Stop (c)**, 30c by default | | **Risk (Low)** | The distance from the ask to just under the 20-bar 1-minute low | | **Risk (ATR)**, **Shares**, **Notional** | **1.5 x the 14-bar ATR** on the 1-minute chart | The ATR stop has a floor, **Stop floor (c)**: 20c, or 1% of the price if that is smaller, and never under 1c. The floor also stands in until there is enough candle history to measure ATR. It is never wider than 40% of the price. This stop distance is **R**, the unit every P&L in Scalpel is measured in ([guide 5.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/r-multiples)). ### The catastrophe net A second, wider stop under the working one: crash protection for the moment the working stop is jumped. It sits at **3 x ATR** (with a 50c floor, or 2.5% of the price if smaller). On a Risk (Cents) or Risk (Low) entry it sits at twice the working stop's distance (the **Catastrophe x** to **Stop = ATR x** ratio, 3 to 1.5): 60c under a 30c stop. It is not drawn on the chart. When you drag the working stop, the net moves the same amount with it; breakeven and trailing move only the working stop. ### The take-profit A target at **Take profit (R)** times R above your entry, **2R** by default. With a 12c stop on an entry at 5.50, it sits at 5.74. When price trades at or above it, Scalpel sells the whole position. Set **Take profit (R)** to **0** for no automatic target; you can still add one by hand ([guide 5.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/drag-stops-and-targets)). ## What you see on the chart The working stop is a red line and the take-profit a green one, each with a chip at the left edge showing what that level would realise, in dollars and R, and a price tag on the axis. The entry line carries your live P&L. *Screenshot: 400 ABCD at 5.50: the stop at 5.38 reads -48.00 (-1.0R), the target at 5.74 reads +96.00 (+2.0R), and the entry line +80.00 (+1.7R) at a 5.70 last. Demo data.* ## What happens when a level is hit Scalpel checks the levels on every price change. In order: 1. **Take-profit**: the last trade is at or above the target. 2. **Catastrophe net**: the last trade is at or below it (checked before the working stop, so a gap through both takes the harder line). 3. **Working stop**: the last trade is at or below it. Then it sells the whole position: - **In LIVE**, a sell limit 5c under the last trade, for every share you hold. It fills at the best bids down to that limit. If a sell of yours is already working (say a resting 1/2 Ask), Scalpel cancels it and sends the one exit for everything instead, so the shares are never offered twice. The stop is used up the moment it fires, but the exit is not left to fend for itself: if price trades under its limit, or it sits unfilled for 5 seconds, Scalpel cancels it and sends a new one under the latest price, crossing about 1% from the first retry. After 5 re-prices it leaves the last order working and tells you: **ABCD: exit still not filled after 5 re-prices. Check it in TWS** ([guide 5.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-stops)). - **In SIM**, a stop fills like a real stop: at the price of the trade that crossed it or the inside bid, whichever is worse, less your SIM slippage, with your plan's commission. A gap through your stop fills below it. A take-profit fills at its own price. A red toast says **ABCD stopped out (working stop)** or **(catastrophe stop)**, or a green one **ABCD take profit hit**, and the voice says "Stopped out.", "Catastrophe stop." or "Take profit.". The levels then clear. *Screenshot: The toasts for a working stop, a catastrophe stop and a take-profit. Demo data.* A single price print more than 25% away from the last good one is treated as a feed glitch and ignored, so one bad tick cannot fire your stop. If prices really did move that far, Scalpel accepts them after a couple of ticks. ## Tune the defaults All of this is in **Settings > Stops** ([guide 11.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-stops)): the ATR multiples, timeframe and period, the cent floors, **Take profit (R)**, the Risk (Cents) stop and trailing. Changes apply to the next entry; levels already armed stay where they are. *Screenshot: Settings, Stops: the ATR multiples, ATR timeframe and period, take-profit R and the cent floors.* ## The rules that keep stops working - **Keep Scalpel open and connected while you hold a position.** No prices means no stop. If the IBKR link drops, reconnect before anything else. - **Keep every symbol you hold on a desk.** A position on no desk has no prices coming in, so its stop is not watched. Scalpel warns you: **ABCD: position held but on no desk, so its stop is not watched. Load it on a desk.** - **Switch between SIM and LIVE only when flat.** Both modes' stops stay watched, so a LIVE stop still fires a real exit while you look at SIM, but you will not see that position until you switch back. - **After a restart**, your stops come back exactly where you left them, in SIM and LIVE: dragged, trailed or at breakeven. - **Use `Esc`, not `Ctrl`+`Q`, if an exit is not filling.** Flatten All replaces the working exit with one sell 1% under the bid. Cancel stops Scalpel working the exit and leaves you holding shares with no stop. ## Questions **Are Scalpel's stops real stop orders at my broker?** No. They are watched by Scalpel and never rest on the book. When price trades through your level, Scalpel sends a real marketable limit sell to Interactive Brokers. **Why not use a normal stop order?** Outside regular hours US exchanges take limit orders only, so a stop that becomes a market order cannot protect you pre-market, and a stop-limit can be jumped in a thin book. Scalpel's exit is a limit priced under the last trade, which is accepted in extended hours. **What happens to my stop if Scalpel closes?** Nothing watches the position until Scalpel is running and connected again. Close positions before you quit. **Is a fill at my stop price guaranteed?** No. The exit goes out on the first trade through your level, but a fast drop or a gap can fill below the stop. In LIVE the exit is limited 5 cents under the last trade; if the market runs away from it, Scalpel re-prices it up to 5 times, and Esc replaces it with a sell 1% under the bid. **What is a catastrophe stop?** A wider backup stop under the working stop, at 3 x ATR or twice the stop distance on risk entries. It is not drawn on the chart and only matters if the working stop is jumped. **How do I turn off the take-profit?** Set Take profit (R) to 0 in Settings > Stops. You can still add a target on any position with the + TP handle on the chart. --- # Move your stop and target on the chart > Drag the stop or take-profit line (or its axis tag) on Scalpel's chart, add a target with the + TP handle, reset with a double-click, and know the limits. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/drag-stops-and-targets Guide 5.2, Stops and targets. Beginner, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** To move your stop or target, grab the red stop line or the green take-profit line on the chart (or its price tag on the right-hand axis) and drag it: the line, its P&L chip and its tag follow the mouse, and the new level takes effect when you let go. With no target set, drag the green **+ TP** handle on the entry line up to add one. Double-click a line to put it back to its default. The stop stays at least one tick under the last price and within 8R of your entry; the target within 8R above entry, and dragging it down through entry removes it. Your stop and target are levels Scalpel watches ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)), so moving them is instant: there is no order at the broker to modify or cancel. Dragging is the quickest way to put the stop under a level that matters on the chart, or to push the target up to the next resistance. **Before you start:** - A position open on the desk, with its stop and target armed ([guide 4.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/entries-and-fills)). - The chart on a timeframe where you can see the levels, usually 10s or 1m ([guide 3.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/chart-basics)). *Screenshot: Before: 400 ABCD at 5.50, the stop at 5.38 (-1.0R) and the target at 5.74 (+2.0R). Demo data.* ## Move a level ### 1. Point at the line or its price tag Hover the red stop line or the green take-profit line until the cursor turns into an up-and-down arrow. You can grab anywhere within a few pixels of the line, or on its coloured price tag on the right-hand axis, which is easier on a busy chart. If the two lines are close, the take-profit wins. ### 2. Drag it to the new price Hold the mouse button and drag. The line, its chip and its price tag move with the cursor and snap to the stock's tick (1c on most stocks). The chip shows what the level would realise at each price, in dollars and R, so you can see the new risk before you commit. ### 3. Let go to commit Release the button. The level is live from that moment, in the mode you are trading (SIM or LIVE). The keyboard goes back to the cockpit, so your hotkeys work straight away. *Screenshot: The stop dragged from 5.38 down to 5.32: the chip reads -72.00 (-1.5R). R stays the 12c you entered with, so a wider stop shows as more than 1R. Demo data.* When you move the working stop, the catastrophe net (the hidden backstop under it) moves by the same amount, so it stays the same distance below. *Screenshot: The take-profit dragged up from 5.74 to 5.86: +144.00 (+3.0R). Demo data.* ## Add a target with + TP If a position has no take-profit (you set **Take profit (R)** to 0, or dragged the target away), a small green **+ TP** handle sits just above the entry line at the right edge of the chart. Drag it up and let go: that price becomes your target. *Screenshot: No target: the + TP handle (1) sits on the entry line. Drag it up to add a take-profit. Demo data.* ## Remove the target Drag the take-profit down to your entry or below and let go: the target is cleared and the **+ TP** handle comes back. The position then exits only on a stop, a manual sell or a flatten. ## Reset with a double-click Double-click a line (two clicks within about a third of a second) to put it back to its default: - **Stop**: one R under your entry, the distance you entered with (or a tick under the last price, if price is already below that). The catastrophe net moves with it. - **Take-profit**: **Take profit (R)** times R above entry (2R by default). With **Take profit (R)** at 0, a double-click removes it. ## The limits | Level | Can go | Cannot go | |---|---|---| | Working stop | Anywhere from 1 tick under the last price down to 8R under entry | At or above the last price (it would fire at once); further than 8R down | | Take-profit | From 1 tick above entry up to 8R above entry | Further than 8R up (it stops there); at or below entry clears it | With a 12c stop on a 5.50 entry and the last trade at 5.70, the stop can go from 5.69 down to 4.54, and the target from 5.51 up to 6.46. The limits stop a slip of the mouse from parking a line somewhere absurd, or through the market. A line pulled off the chart is pinned to the edge so you can always grab it back; right-click the price axis to return it to auto-fit. **You can drag a stop into profit.** While price is above your entry, a stop can sit at or above the entry, to lock in a gain. A stop that **B** (breakeven) or trailing has already lifted stays where it is when you grab it; it is only ever held under the last price. Dragging works both ways, though: you can also pull a stop back down, so watch the chip before you let go. **Note.** R on the chip and the 8R limits use the risk Scalpel recorded when the position opened, in SIM and LIVE alike. A LIVE position Scalpel adopted from TWS uses its default stop distance as R. ## Tips - **Put the stop under a level, not on it.** A cent or two under a round number or a candle low is less likely to be tagged by a wick than the level itself. - **Watch the R on the chip as you drag.** If widening the stop takes it to -2R, your loss at the stop is twice what you planned. Consider selling some shares instead. - **Drag the target before the move, not during it.** A target you keep pushing up is no longer a plan. More on the reasoning in the blog post [Stops that live in the app](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/stops-that-live-in-the-app). ## Questions **How do I move my stop loss on the chart?** Grab the red stop line, or its price tag on the right axis, drag it to the new price and let go. The stop moves the moment you release. **How do I add a take profit after entering?** Drag the green + TP handle on the entry line upward and release at your target price. It shows whenever a position has no target. **Can I drag my stop above my entry?** Yes, while price is above your entry. A dragged stop is only held at least one tick under the last price, so it can lock in a gain. B and trailing do the same by key or automatically. **How do I remove the take profit?** Drag the green line down to or below your entry and let go, or set Take profit (R) to 0 in Settings > Stops for future trades. **Does dragging the stop send anything to my broker?** No. Stops and targets are watched by Scalpel, so a drag just changes the level it watches. The exit order is only sent when price trades through it. --- # Breakeven and trailing stops > Move the stop to breakeven with one key, trail it by your stop, cents, percent or 1-minute candle lows, and make both start by themselves at a set R. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/breakeven-and-trailing-stops Guide 5.3, Stops and targets. Intermediate, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Press `B` (or **B/E** on the order bar) to move your working stop up to your entry price, so the trade can no longer lose at the stop. Press `Shift`+`T` (or **Trail**) to make the stop follow new highs, by the distance you entered with, a set number of cents, a percent, or the low of each finished 1-minute candle. In **Settings > Stops** you can make both happen by themselves once the trade is up a set number of R. A winner that turns into a loser is the most expensive mistake in scalping. Breakeven and trailing are how you lock the gain in as the trade works, without staring at the stop line. Both move only the working stop, and both are watched by Scalpel like every other level ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). **Before you start:** - A position open, with its stop armed ([guide 4.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/entries-and-fills)). - You know what R is: your stop distance ([guide 5.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/r-multiples)). Our demo trade: 400 ABCD bought at 5.50 with a 12c stop at 5.38, so 1R is 12c, or $48. ## Breakeven Press `B`. The working stop jumps to your entry price, 5.50, and the voice says "Breakeven.". The chip on the stop now reads +0.00 (+0.0R): if it is hit, you are out flat, less fees and any slippage on the exit. *Screenshot: After B: the stop sits on the entry at 5.50. Demo data.* `B` only ever moves the stop up. If trailing (or a drag) has already lifted the stop above your entry, pressing `B` leaves it where it is, so a late press never gives back locked-in profit. If you add shares, breakeven means your new average price: buy 400 at 5.50 and 400 more at 5.60, and `B` puts the stop at 5.55. Adding never moves the stop by itself; it stays wherever you had it. Moving to breakeven too soon is its own trap: on a stock that swings 10c either way, a stop at entry gets tagged by normal noise. A common rule is to wait until the trade is up at least 1R. ## Trailing Press `Shift`+`T` or click **Trail**. The button lights up and the voice says "Trailing.". From then on, each time price makes a new high, the stop is pulled up behind it. It never moves down. Press again to stop trailing ("Trail off."); the stop stays where it got to. *Screenshot: Trailing by the stop distance: the high was 5.70, so the stop has followed to 5.58, locking in +32.00 (+0.7R). The Trail button is lit. Demo data.* While trailing, the R on the entry line and in the orders panel is measured to the current stop rather than the one you entered with, and it goes blank once the stop is at or above your entry: there is no risk left to measure against. ## Choose how the stop trails ### 1. Open Settings, then Stops, and scroll to Trailing stop Press `Ctrl`+`,` and choose **Stops**. The **Trailing stop** section is at the bottom. ### 2. Pick Trail by Open **Trail by** and pick one of four: *Screenshot: Trail by: Same as my stop (the default), Cents, Percent, and 1-min candle lows.* | Trail by | The stop sits | High 5.70 | High 5.84 | |---|---|---|---| | **Same as my stop** | Your entry stop distance (1R) under the highest price since trailing started | 5.58 | 5.72 | | **Cents** | **Distance (c)** under the high, 20c by default | 5.50 | 5.64 | | **Percent** | **Distance (%)** under the high, 3% by default (0.1 to 50) | about 5.53 | about 5.66 | | **1-min candle lows** | One tick under the low of the last finished 1-minute candle | Moves at each candle close | Moves at each candle close | **Same as my stop** suits most scalps: the trade keeps the room it had when you entered. **Cents** is predictable. **Percent** gives a pricier stock more room. **1-min candle lows** gives a runner room on the way up and gets you out on the first candle that makes a lower low; it ignores ticks and only moves when a candle closes, by one tick (1c on stocks over $1). ### 3. Set the automatic switches Two boxes make it hands-free, both measured in R from your entry: - **Breakeven at (R)**: once you are up that many R, the stop moves to your entry by itself, once. It only moves the stop up, never down. - **Start trailing at (R)**: once you are up that many R, trailing turns on by itself. **0** turns either off (the default). The **Trail** button and `Shift`+`T` work any time. *Screenshot: Trail by Cents at 20c, Breakeven at (R) 1 and Start trailing at (R) 1.5.* With those settings on our demo trade: at 5.62 (+1R) the stop jumps to 5.50; at 5.68 (+1.5R) trailing starts, and from then on the stop sits 20c under each new high. ### 4. Click Apply The trailing mode applies to open positions from the next price change; the R switches apply from the next tick too. **Tip.** Set **Start trailing at (R)** below your **Take profit (R)**. The target is checked first, so with trailing set to start at 2R and the default 2R target, the target closes the trade before trailing ever begins. For a runner, set **Take profit (R)** to 0, or drag the target higher ([guide 5.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/drag-stops-and-targets)). ## Things to know - **Breakeven and trailing move only the working stop.** The catastrophe net stays where it was. - **R is always the stop you entered with.** A trade on another stock never changes how this one trails, and adding shares does not change it either. - **Switching trailing off sticks.** If **Start trailing at (R)** turned trailing on and you switch it off with **Trail** or `Shift`+`T`, it stays off for that position. Press it again to turn it back on. - **The keys work when the market is closed.** `B` and `Shift`+`T` still work outside 04:00 to 20:00 ET; the order bar buttons are grey. - **You can still drag a trailed stop.** Grabbing it does not snap it back under your entry; it is only held a tick under the last price ([guide 5.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/drag-stops-and-targets)). Dragging can move it down, though, which trailing never does. - **No stop is a guarantee.** A trailed stop fires on the first trade through it, and in a fast drop the exit can fill below it. ## Questions **What is a breakeven stop?** A stop moved to your entry price, so if it is hit you get out with no loss other than fees and slippage. In Scalpel, press B or click B/E, or set Breakeven at (R) to do it automatically. **What is the best trailing stop for day trading?** It depends on the stock. Same as my stop keeps the room you started with; 1-min candle lows lets a runner breathe and exits on the first lower low. Test them in SIM on the stocks you trade. **How does a trailing stop on candle lows work?** Each time a 1-minute candle finishes, Scalpel moves the stop to one tick under that candle's low, if that is higher than the stop already is. It never moves down. **Can the trailing stop move down?** No. Trailing and B only ever raise the stop. The only thing that can lower it is you, by dragging it on the chart. **Why did my take profit close the trade before trailing started?** The target is checked before trailing. Set Start trailing at (R) below Take profit (R), or set Take profit (R) to 0. --- # R multiples: how Scalpel measures a trade > What R is, how Scalpel shows P&L in R on the chart and in the orders panel, how take-profit at N x R works, and why R makes trades on any stock comparable. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/r-multiples Guide 5.4, Stops and targets. Beginner, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** R is the amount you risked on a trade: the distance from your entry to your stop, times your shares. Scalpel measures every result in it: a stop-out is about -1R, a trade that makes twice what you risked is +2R. You see R on the chart's stop, target and entry chips, in the orders panel's **UNREAL (R)** and **NET (R)** columns, and in Analytics, and the default take-profit sits at 2R above your entry. Dollars make trades hard to compare: $50 on a 100-share trade and $50 on a 2,000-share trade are very different results. R fixes that. If you risked $48 and made $96, that is +2R whatever the stock, the price or the size. Over a few hundred trades, your average R per trade (your expectancy) tells you whether what you are doing works. ## How R is worked out **1R** = (entry price - stop price) x shares, using the stop you **entered with**. Our demo trade: 400 ABCD at 5.50 with the stop at 5.38. 1R = 0.12 x 400 = **$48**. | Price | P&L | In R | |---|---|---| | 5.38 (stop) | -$48.00 | -1.0R | | 5.50 (entry) | $0.00 | 0.0R | | 5.70 (now) | +$80.00 | +1.7R | | 5.74 (target) | +$96.00 | +2.0R | R is fixed when the position opens, in SIM and LIVE alike. Dragging the stop later does not change it, which is why a stop dragged wider reads more than -1R: the chip is telling you the trade now risks more than you planned. Adding shares keeps the 1R per share of the first fill, so 1R in dollars grows with the shares. ## Where you see R ### On the chart The stop and take-profit chips show what each level would realise, in dollars and R. The chip on the entry line shows your live P&L and R. *Screenshot: The stop chip -48.00 (-1.0R), the target +96.00 (+2.0R) and the live P&L +80.00 (+1.7R). Demo data.* ### In the orders panel On the **Positions** tab, **UNREAL (R)** shows the open P&L and its R; each closed trade's **NET (R)** shows the result after fees and its R. Because the net is after commissions, a trade stopped out exactly at the stop usually reads a little worse than -1.0R. *Screenshot: The open trade at +1.7R, a winner at +1.5R and a loser at -1.0R after fees. Demo data.* ### In Analytics **Analytics** (the header's **VIEW** picker) adds the R up across trades: expectancy in R, total R, and the R distribution of your wins and losses ([guide 6.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/analytics)). ## Take-profit at N x R The automatic target sits at **Take profit (R)** times R above your entry: 2R by default, so 5.50 + 2 x 0.12 = 5.74 in the example. Change the multiple in **Settings > Stops** (0 turns the automatic target off), or drag the target on the chart ([guide 5.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/drag-stops-and-targets)). A 2R target means one winner pays for two full losers. ## R while trailing While trailing is on, the R on the entry chip and in **UNREAL (R)** is measured to the current, raised stop, so it shows what you now stand to lose. Once the stop is at or above your entry there is no risk left to measure, and the R figure goes blank until trailing is off ([guide 5.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/breakeven-and-trailing-stops)). The stop and target chips keep using your entry R. ## Show percent instead If you prefer percent of entry, set **Settings > Appearance > Stops / TP returns** to **Percent (%)**. The chips then read like **-48.00 (-2.18%)** and the columns become **UNREAL (%)** and **NET (%)**. *Screenshot: Settings, Appearance: Stops / TP returns, Return (R) by default.* *Screenshot: The same trade in percent: the stop -2.18%, the target +4.36%. Demo data.* **Note.** Scalpel records the entry risk on every SIM and LIVE position, and a LIVE position it adopts from TWS takes the default stop distance as its 1R. So R shows on LIVE trades too: on the chips, in the orders panel and in Analytics, and dragging a LIVE stop uses the real 1R for its limits. ## Using R to get better - **Keep 1R the same size.** Risk presets do this for you ([guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk)). If 1R is $25 on one trade and $250 on the next, your R numbers stop meaning anything. - **Losers should be about -1R.** Losers of -2R or -3R mean stops are being widened, jumped, or ignored. - **Watch the average, not the trade.** One +3R trade means little; your average R over a hundred trades is the honest number. Most traders find it is below zero at first, which is what SIM is for. ## Questions **What is an R multiple in trading?** A trade's result divided by the amount you risked on it. Risk $50 to the stop and make $100 and the trade is +2R; get stopped out and it is -1R. **How does Scalpel calculate R?** 1R is the distance from your entry to the stop you entered with, times your shares. Every P&L is divided by that. Moving the stop later does not change 1R. **Why does my stopped-out trade show -1.1R, not -1.0R?** NET (R) is after commissions, and the exit can fill a little below the stop. Both make a full stop-out slightly worse than -1R. **Can I see percent instead of R?** Yes. Set Settings > Appearance > Stops / TP returns to Percent (%). **Does R work on LIVE trades?** Yes. Scalpel records the entry risk on LIVE positions the same as in SIM, so the chips, the orders panel and Analytics show R. Only older LIVE trades journaled before it recorded LIVE risk show dollars without R. --- # Stops in the pre-market: why they cannot sit on the book > US exchanges take only limit orders before 09:30, so a plain stop cannot guard a pre-market trade. How Scalpel's app stops fill the gap, and their limits. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-stops Guide 5.5, Stops and targets. Intermediate, 10 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Before 09:30 and after 16:00 New York time, US exchanges accept limit orders only. A plain stop order becomes a market order when it triggers, so it cannot protect you in the pre-market, and a stop-limit can be jumped when price gaps through its limit. So Scalpel keeps your stop in the app: it watches every trade, and when price trades through your stop it sends a limit sell 5 cents under the last trade, flagged for extended hours, which the exchange accepts at 06:00 as at 11:00, and re-prices it if the market runs away. The trade-off: it only works while Scalpel is running and connected, and no fill is guaranteed. Scalpel is built first for the pre-market, 04:00 to 09:30 ET, because that is when small-cap gappers make many of their biggest moves. It is also when the usual protection, a stop order resting at your broker, quietly stops working. This guide explains why, exactly what Scalpel does instead, and what to do on the day an exit does not fill. **Before you start:** - How the three levels work: working stop, catastrophe net and take-profit ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). - Scalpel connected to TWS or IB Gateway ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). ## Why a normal stop cannot sit on the book before the open Outside regular trading hours (09:30 to 16:00 ET), US exchanges run limit-only sessions. Every order needs a price, and there are no market orders ([glossary: pre-market](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#pre-market), [limit order](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#limit-order)). That breaks the two stop orders most traders know: | Order | What it does when price hits your stop | In the pre-market | |---|---|---| | [Stop order](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#stop-order) | Becomes a market order | No market orders, so most brokers only let it work from the open. Your position is unprotected until 09:30 | | [Stop-limit order](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#stop-limit-order) | Becomes a limit order at your limit price | Accepted, but in a thin, fast book price can gap straight through your limit. The order then sits unfilled while the stock keeps falling | | A mental stop | Whatever you do in the moment | Works only if you act, at the exact moment you are busiest | | **Scalpel's app stop** | Scalpel sends a limit sell 5c under the last trade, flagged for extended hours | Accepted from 04:00, priced off the trade that broke your stop | ### How a stop-limit gets jumped You hold 400 shares of ABCD from 5.50 at 07:45. You set a stop-limit: trigger 5.38, limit 5.36. A seller hits the stock and the prints go 5.40, then 5.31. Nothing traded between them: in a pre-market book there may be only a few hundred shares on each level. The 5.31 print triggers your order, which becomes a sell limit at 5.36, above the market. It cannot fill. By the time you notice and replace it, the stock is 5.20. ### The mental-stop problem The alternative most pre-market traders fall back on is a stop in their head. It fails at exactly the wrong moment: you are reading Level 2, watching the tape and judging the next move, the stock drops through your number, and you freeze, hesitate, or tell yourself it will come back. Holding a mental stop while doing everything else is when traders lose the most. ## What Scalpel does instead *Screenshot: 07:41 ET, before the open: the PRE badge on the desk, and 400 ABCD from 5.50 with the working stop at 5.38 (-48.00, -1.0R) and the target at 5.74. Nothing is resting at the broker. Demo data.* Every entry arms a working stop, a wider catastrophe net and a take-profit ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). None of them is an order. Scalpel holds them and checks them against every new last-trade price of the symbol on your desk: 1. **Price trades at or through a level.** The take-profit is checked first (at or above it), then the catastrophe net, then the working stop (at or below them). 2. **Scalpel sends one exit for the whole position.** In LIVE it is a sell limit priced **5 cents under the last trade**, with the outside-regular-hours flag set, so the exchange accepts it in the pre-market and after hours. It sells every share you hold: if a sell of yours is already working, such as a resting 1/2 Ask, Scalpel cancels it and sends this one exit for everything instead. 3. **It fills at the best bids down to that limit.** A limit 5c under the last trade is marketable: it takes the bids that are there, best first, and only stops at 5c under. 4. **The level is used up, the exit is not.** Scalpel disarms the stop the moment it sends the exit, so it cannot fire twice, and then keeps working the exit until you are out ([below](#if-an-exit-does-not-fill)). 5. **You hear and see it.** A red toast **ABCD stopped out (working stop)** (or **(catastrophe stop)**) and the voice: "Stopped out." or "Catastrophe stop." Worked through with the earlier example: prints go 5.40, 5.39, then 5.37. The 5.37 print is through your 5.38 stop, so Scalpel sends SELL 400 LMT 5.32 straight away. The bids are 300 at 5.36 and 200 at 5.35, so you fill 300 at 5.36 and 100 at 5.35, an average of about 5.358. The loss is about $57 plus fees instead of the $48 you planned at the stop: about 1.2R. In the jumped-stop-limit case, prints 5.40 then 5.31, Scalpel sends a limit at 5.26 and takes whatever bids remain down to there. *Screenshot: The Orders tab after the stop fired: the 400-share SELL filled at 5.36 average, NET P&L -$59.80 with fees, and the toast. Order times are New York time. Demo data.* Two side benefits: your stop never shows on the book, so nobody can see where it is or run price into it, and it can do things a broker stop cannot, such as trail the low of each 1-minute candle ([guide 5.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/breakeven-and-trailing-stops)). ### The catastrophe net The catastrophe net is a second, wider level under the working stop (3 x ATR by default, or twice the stop distance on a risk entry). It is checked before the working stop, so if one print gaps through both, the exit goes out as a catastrophe stop. In LIVE both send the same exit, 5c under the last trade. It is a backstop for a gap, not a second chance: once either fires, both are disarmed. ### SIM and LIVE - **In LIVE** the exit is a real order at Interactive Brokers, priced as above, and it can fill worse than the stop or not fill at all. - **In SIM** a stop-out fills like a real stop: at the price that crossed your stop or the inside bid, whichever is worse, less your **SIM slippage (c)**, with your plan's commission ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). In the example SIM fills at 5.36, the bid under the 5.37 print, not at 5.38. A take-profit fills at its own price. SIM still cannot show you an exit that does not fill at all, so treat SIM stop-outs as the better case and size so the LIVE version is still fine. ### Flatten All `Esc` (or the red **Flatten All** button) sells every position on every desk. In LIVE it is priced about **1% under the inside bid**, deliberately aggressive so one press clears the position: with a 5.20 bid the limit is 5.15, and IBKR fills at the best bids down to that floor. It is also a limit order, so it works in the pre-market too ([guide 4.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scale-out-and-flatten)). If a stop's exit is still working when you press it, Flatten All replaces that order instead of adding a second one: Scalpel cancels it, waits for IBKR to confirm, then sends one sell for everything you hold at the lower of the two limits. ## Extended-hours fills *Screenshot: Settings, Trading: Extended-hours fills is on by default. Its note: exits can always fill outside regular hours.* **Settings > Trading > Extended-hours fills** (on by default) controls your **entries**: on, a buy can fill in the pre-market and after hours; off, buys are regular-hours only and IBKR holds them until 09:30. **Exits always may fill outside regular hours**, whatever this switch says: stops, targets, sells and Flatten All are all sent with the outside-regular-hours flag, so a stop that fires at 07:52 can get you out at 07:52 ([guide 11.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-trading)). **Note.** If you are on 1.12.5 or earlier, update ([guide 12.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/updates)): older versions send a stop's exit once without re-pricing it, and on 1.12.4 and earlier a stop exit only fills outside regular hours while **Extended-hours fills** is on. ## If an exit does not fill A limit 5c under the last trade fills when there are bids down to it. In a very fast fall there may not be: the bids vanish, the next print is 15c lower, and the exit sits above the market. So in LIVE Scalpel keeps working a stop or target exit until you are out: - **If price trades under the exit's limit** once the order is half a second old, or the exit has not filled after **5 seconds**, Scalpel cancels it, waits for IBKR to confirm, and sends a new sell for whatever you still hold, priced off the latest trade at 5c under it or about **1%** under it, whichever is lower. - It does this **up to 5 times**. After that it leaves the last order working and tells you: **ABCD: exit still not filled after 5 re-prices. Check it in TWS**. - At no point are two exits working at once, and every sell is capped to the shares you hold, so re-pricing can never put you short. Continuing the example: the stop fires on a 5.37 print and sends a limit at 5.32, but the next print is 5.25 and the bids above it are gone. Half a second later Scalpel cancels the 5.32 order and sends a new one at 5.20 (5c under 5.25 is 5.20; 1% under is 5.1975, rounded to 5.20). *Screenshot: Price fell through the stop's first exit: that SELL reads Cancelled, and the re-priced SELL sent a second later is Working. Demo data.* What you can do while it works: ### 1. Watch the Orders tab On the desk's **ORDERS & POSITIONS** pane, open **Orders**. Each re-price shows as a cancelled **SELL** and a new one **Working** above it. ### 2. Flatten with Esc if you want out now Press `Esc`. Flatten All replaces the working exit with one sell 1% under the bid for everything you hold. It is not refused and it does not stack a second sell on top. ### 3. If the re-prices run out, go to TWS After the **exit still not filled** toast, the last order stays working and Scalpel stops chasing. The stock has no bids near the price, often because it is halted or collapsing. Check the order and the position in TWS, and decide there. **Careful.** `Ctrl`+`Q` (**Cancel**) cancels the working exit and tells Scalpel to stop working it. The stop is already used up, so after a cancel you hold the shares with no stop at all. Use `Esc` to get out, not `Ctrl`+`Q`. **This can cost you money.** A stop does not limit your loss to the stop price. In a fast drop, a gap or a halt the exit can fill well below your stop, or not at all until bids return. Small-cap pre-market trading carries a significant risk of loss. Size every trade so that a stop filling two or three times worse than planned is still a loss you can take, and set a daily loss limit ([guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)). ## What survives a restart - **LIVE stops are saved.** Every change to a LIVE level (the fill, a drag, breakeven, a trail) is written to **live_stops.json** in Scalpel's data folder. After a restart they come back exactly where they were. - **LIVE positions come from IBKR.** When Scalpel connects, it reconciles with your account: a position that is still open is adopted with its saved stop, and one that was closed in TWS while Scalpel was off is closed in Scalpel too. A position Scalpel has no saved stop for, for example one you bought in TWS, gets a stop at the default distance under IBKR's average cost, so check it. - **SIM stops are saved too**, in **sim_stops.json** beside the SIM ledger, so open SIM positions come back with the levels you had. - **While Scalpel is closed or disconnected, nothing is watching.** If price went through your stop in the meantime, the first price after Scalpel reconnects fires the exit, at whatever the market is by then. ## The trade-offs, plainly | | A stop order at your broker | Scalpel's app stop | |---|---|---| | Works before 09:30 | Usually not | Yes, from 04:00 | | Visible on the book | Can be | Never | | Priced off | Your trigger | The trade that broke your stop | | Can trail candle lows, breakeven by key | No | Yes | | Works with your computer off | Yes | **No.** Scalpel must be running and connected, with the symbol on a desk | So keep Scalpel open and connected while you hold anything, keep every symbol you hold on a desk (a position on no desk has no prices, so its stop is not watched), and close your trades before you close the app. ## Questions **Can I use a stop loss order in the pre-market?** Usually not a plain one. US exchanges accept only limit orders outside regular hours, and a stop becomes a market order when it triggers. A stop-limit is accepted but can be jumped when price gaps through its limit. Scalpel's app stop sends a limit sell 5 cents under the last trade, which is accepted from 04:00. **Why does Scalpel not place my stop at Interactive Brokers?** Because a resting stop cannot protect a pre-market trade, and a stop-limit can be skipped in a thin book. Scalpel watches every trade itself and sends a marketable limit the moment price trades through your level. The cost is that Scalpel must be running and connected. **Is my stop price guaranteed?** No. The exit goes out on the first trade at or through your stop, priced 5 cents under the last trade, and fills at the bids that are there. In a fast drop it can fill well below your stop. If price runs away from it, Scalpel re-prices it up to 5 times, and Esc replaces it with a sell 1% under the bid. **What happens if my stop's exit does not fill?** In LIVE, Scalpel cancels it and sends a new one priced off the latest trade, at least about 1% under it, when price trades under its limit or after 5 seconds, up to 5 times. Then it tells you to check the order in TWS. Pressing Ctrl+Q stops this and leaves you with no stop. **Do I need Extended-hours fills on for my stops to work pre-market?** No. Exits always go out flagged for extended hours. The switch decides whether your buys can fill outside regular hours. If you are on 1.12.4 or earlier, update, or keep it on. **What happens to my stop if Scalpel crashes?** Nothing watches the position until Scalpel is running and connected again. LIVE stops are saved, so they come back where they were, and the first price after reconnecting fires the exit if the stop was crossed in the meantime. --- # Paper trading with SIM > SIM fills your orders against the live Level 2 book, with partial fills, slippage and commissions. How it works, its paper ledger, and how to reset it. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim Guide 6.1, SIM and LIVE. Beginner, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** SIM is Scalpel's paper trading mode, and the mode it starts in. Your orders fill against the live [Level 2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#level-2) book from Interactive Brokers, level by level, with partial fills, optional slippage and your IBKR plan's commissions, and they book to a paper cash account that starts at $25,000. Nothing reaches your broker until you switch MODE to LIVE. Paper trading only teaches you something if the fills feel like real ones. SIM uses the same market data, the same keys, the same app-monitored stops and the same risk caps as LIVE. The one difference is where the order goes: to a simulator on your computer instead of your IBKR account. That makes SIM the place to learn the keys, find your size and make your mistakes for free. **Before you start:** - Scalpel connected to TWS or IB Gateway, with live market data ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers), [guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). SIM needs the real book to fill against. - A symbol on a desk ([guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)). ## Check that you are in SIM The **MODE** picker sits in the header next to **VIEW**. A new install starts in **SIM**, and Scalpel never switches to LIVE by itself. *Screenshot: The left of the header: VIEW, then MODE on SIM (1). Demo data.* On the right of the header, **ACCOUNT** reads **SIM** and there is no red **LIVE ORDERS** badge. **NET LIQ**, **MARGIN USED**, **DAILY P&L** and **UNREAL P&L** all come from the paper ledger. *Screenshot: The header stats in SIM: the paper account's net liq, the value of open positions as margin used, and the P&L. No LIVE ORDERS badge. Demo data.* ## How a SIM buy fills Every buy key sends a [marketable limit](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#marketable-limit): the ask plus your buy offset (10c by default, **Settings > Trading > Buy offset (c)**). SIM then does what an exchange would do with that order: 1. It walks the ask side of the book you can see, cheapest level first, filling as much as each level shows. 2. It stops at your limit. A level priced above the limit is never touched. 3. If the displayed asks run out before your size does, the rest keeps working at your limit, like a real order resting on the book. The **Orders** tab shows it as **Partial** in amber. 4. The working remainder fills from new prints on the tape: every trade at or under your limit after you pressed is a seller your order would have met, so that size fills, at those prints' price. Each print counts once. 5. It works until it is filled or you stop it: **Cancel** (`Ctrl`+`Q`), any sell of that symbol, or a stop-out cancels what is left. *Screenshot: A 2,000-share buy against a thin book: 1,245 shares filled at once from the displayed asks, the rest working at the limit. Times are New York time. Demo data.* **Worked example.** ABCD shows 5.71 on the ask with 245 shares, 1,000 at 5.72 and 2,000 at 5.73. You press a 2,000-share buy with the default 10c offset, so the limit is 5.81. SIM takes 245 at 5.71, 1,000 at 5.72 and 755 at 5.73: the whole order fills at an average of about 5.72. On a thinner book, where only 1,245 shares show up to 5.81, you get 1,245 now and the other 755 as sellers print at 5.81 or lower. If nothing at all is offered at or under your limit, the order is rejected with a red toast: **No liquidity for ABCD**. ## How a SIM sell fills A sell at the bid (**Sell full**, **1/2**, **1/4**, **Flatten All**) is marketable: it walks the bids you can see and is **not** held back by its limit, so it always fills against the displayed bids. If a full exit (**Sell full**, **Flatten All** or `Esc`) is bigger than the bids on screen, the rest is sold again each time a fresh book arrives, until you are flat. Half and quarter scale-outs are never retried: a partial scale-out is a deliberate partial. A sell priced above the bid, **Sell half (ask)** or **Sell half (mid)**, is not marketable, so SIM treats it like a real limit: it rests at its price, shows as **Working**, and fills from new prints on the tape at or above that price, the buyers who came up to it. If the move stalls, it sits there unfilled, just as it would in LIVE. A bid exit while it rests replaces it with one sell for both, so nothing is sold twice. ## Stops, slippage and fees in SIM - **Stops and take-profits** are the same app-monitored levels as in LIVE ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). A stop that fires fills like a real stop: at the price of the trade that crossed it or the inside bid, whichever is worse, less your SIM slippage. On a gap through your stop that is well below the stop price. A take-profit fills at its own price. - **SIM slippage (c)** (Settings > Risk, default 0) makes every order fill N cents per share worse: buys higher, sells lower, stop-outs included. 1 or 2 cents makes SIM a little more honest on fast small caps. - **Your stops survive a restart.** SIM saves every level (a drag, a trail, breakeven) beside the paper ledger, so open SIM positions come back with the stops you had. - **Commissions** follow the plan you pick in Settings > Risk (IBKR Pro Tiered by default), with exchange and clearing fees on Tiered and Custom. See [guide 6.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/commissions). *Screenshot: The Positions tab in SIM: the FEE column shows the estimated fee on the open position and the round-trip fee on each closed trade. Realized P&L is net of fees. Demo data.* ## The paper ledger SIM books every fill to a paper ledger on your computer: cash, positions at average cost, realized and unrealized P&L, total fees and the closed trades. It is saved after every fill, so it is all still there after a restart. The ledger is a **cash account**: no margin and no short selling. A buy must fit in your free cash, or it is blocked with **Insufficient buying power: order $8000 exceeds free cash $5000** (with your numbers). Your fat-finger and max-position caps apply on top ([guide 7.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps)). In SIM, the header's **DAILY P&L** is the realized P&L since midnight New York time, and the daily loss limit counts from the same moment, so each practice day starts clean without a reset ([guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)). Your cash and closed trades carry over from day to day until you reset. ## Change the balance and reset SIM ### 1. Set your SIM balance Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`), then **Risk**. Set **SIM start ($)** to the size of the account you will really trade. Practising a $5,000 account with $25,000 of paper cash teaches you sizes you cannot use. Set **SIM slippage (c)** while you are here, then click **Apply**. *Screenshot: Settings, Risk: SIM start ($), SIM slippage (c) and the reset button, outlined.* ### 2. Reset the account A new balance takes effect at the next reset. Click **Reset SIM account**. The button turns into **Confirm reset to $25000** (with the balance in the **SIM start ($)** box); click it again to reset. One click alone does nothing. The reset uses the balance the button shows and saves it, even if you have not clicked Apply yet. *Screenshot: The reset needs two clicks: the first arms it, the second resets to the balance it shows.* The reset puts the cash back to that balance and clears the SIM positions, their stops, orders, closed trades and any SIM risk lock. Your SIM trades in **Analytics** are kept: Analytics has its own journal, so your practice history survives a reset ([guide 6.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/analytics)). The reset only ever touches SIM. Pressed while MODE is on LIVE, it resets the SIM account in the background and leaves your LIVE positions, orders and account on screen exactly as they were. **Note.** Reset only when you are flat in SIM. A reset wipes open SIM positions without booking them as trades. ## What SIM cannot copy SIM is close, not identical. Know where it is kind and where it is harsh: - **Your order does not move the book.** The Level 2 you see is the real market. Your paper buy takes shares that, in reality, someone else may have taken first, and the next press sees the same size until IBKR sends a new book. On a thin stock, real fills are often worse. - **No queue.** A real resting order waits behind everyone already at its price. SIM's working buy remainder, and a resting ask or mid sell, fill as soon as prints reach your price. - **Hidden size is invisible.** Iceberg and other hidden liquidity can fill a real order; SIM only fills against what is displayed or printed. - **A stop-out always fills.** SIM fills a stop at the crossing price or the bid, whichever is worse, which is honest about gaps. But it cannot show you a LIVE exit that does not fill at once: in LIVE, Scalpel sends a sell 5c under the last trade and re-prices it if the market runs away, and a fast drop can still fill well below your stop ([guide 6.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/go-live)). - **No broker in the loop.** Broker rejections, permissions and routing are LIVE-only things. Treat a good SIM week as "my process works", not "this is what I will make". Many people who trade fast small caps lose money, and live fills and live nerves are harder than paper. ## Questions **Does SIM use real market data?** Yes. Market data is always live, in SIM and LIVE alike. SIM fills your paper orders against the real Level 2 book and tape from your Interactive Brokers connection, so it needs a live connection and a market-data subscription. **Is SIM the same as the IBKR paper trading account?** No. SIM is Scalpel's own simulator on your computer. It needs no paper login and never sends orders to Interactive Brokers. Scalpel always connects to your live login for data. **Why did my SIM buy only partly fill?** The displayed asks up to your limit ran out before your size did. The rest keeps working at the limit and fills from new prints at or under it. Cancel it with Ctrl+Q, or any sell of the symbol cancels it. **Can I paper trade outside market hours?** From 04:00 to 20:00 ET on trading days, yes. When the market is closed the order bar greys out and the trading keys are blocked, because there is no live book to fill against. **Do SIM and LIVE share positions or history?** No. Each mode keeps its own positions, orders, closed trades and Analytics journal. Switching mode shows that mode's state. **How do I start SIM over?** Settings > Risk > Reset SIM account, then click Confirm reset. It resets the cash to the SIM start ($) balance shown and clears SIM positions, stops, orders and closed trades. Analytics keeps your SIM journal. --- # Switch to LIVE safely > The checklist before your first live order in Scalpel, how to switch modes, what happens to stops in the other mode, and the LIVE ORDERS badge. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/go-live Guide 6.2, SIM and LIVE. Intermediate, 8 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Get flat in SIM, check your caps and daily loss limit, then pick **LIVE** in the header's **MODE** picker. The switch is instant, with no restart and no confirmation, so the red **LIVE ORDERS** badge is your proof: while it shows, every key sends a real order to your Interactive Brokers account. Your stops stay app-monitored in LIVE, so Scalpel must keep running and connected while you hold a position. Going live changes one thing in Scalpel: where the order goes. The keys, the stops, the caps and the screen stay the same. What changes is you. Real money makes people hesitate, size up after a loss and skip stops. Fast small-cap scalping carries a significant risk of loss, it is very difficult, and many people who try it lose money. Go live when your SIM results come from a process you can repeat, start with the smallest risk you can, and keep the daily loss limit on. **Before you start:** - A week or more of SIM practice with a repeatable routine ([guide 14.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/first-week-in-sim), [guide 6.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/analytics)). - Scalpel connected to your live TWS or IB Gateway login, with the market data you need ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers), [guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). - Your stops understood ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). ## The checklist Run through this before your first live order. Every line is something a new live trader has paid for. | Check | Where | Why | |---|---|---| | Your buy presets risk an amount you can lose ten times in a row | Settings > Sizing ([guide 4.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/sizing-presets)) | The first live week is not the week to size up | | Fat-finger and max-position caps suit your account | Settings > Risk ([guide 7.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps)) | The defaults ($250,000 each) are far bigger than a first live clip | | A daily loss limit is set, with auto-flatten if you want it | Settings > Risk ([guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)) | It blocks new entries once the day goes wrong | | **Extended-hours fills** is on if you buy outside 09:30 to 16:00 ET | Settings > Trading | It lets your entries fill in the pre-market and after hours. Exits, stop exits included, always may | | You are flat in SIM | The orders panel on each desk | So nothing is left working in the mode you leave | | Every symbol you will hold stays on a desk | Your desks | A position on no desk has no watched stop | | You know `Esc` flattens everything when nothing is open | [guide 4.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scale-out-and-flatten) | Including while your cursor sits in an empty symbol box | ## Why your stops live in Scalpel, not at IBKR Scalpel's stops are not orders resting at your broker. Scalpel watches every trade itself, and when price trades through your stop it sends the exit. That is a deliberate choice, made for the pre-market: - **Outside regular hours, US exchanges take limit orders only.** There are no market orders before 09:30 ET, so a plain stop order (which turns into a market order) cannot protect you there. - **A stop-limit can be jumped.** In a thin, fast pre-market book, price can gap straight through the limit, and the order sits unfilled while the stock keeps falling. - **A mental stop fails when you need it most.** Watching Level 2 and the tape while holding a number in your head is exactly when traders freeze. So when price trades through your stop in LIVE, Scalpel sends a [marketable limit](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#marketable-limit) sell 5 cents under the last trade, always flagged for extended hours, so it is accepted in the pre-market too. If price keeps falling past that limit, or the exit 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, up to 5 times ([guide 5.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-stops)). A bonus: your stop never shows on the book for anyone to see. The trade-off is plain: **stops only work while Scalpel is running and connected.** If your computer sleeps, the app closes or the link to TWS drops, nothing is watching. And no exit is guaranteed: a fast drop can fill below your stop, or leave part of the exit unfilled. **Flatten All** in LIVE prices its sell about 1% under the bid so that one press clears the position, and it replaces any exit already working rather than stacking a second sell. ## Switch to LIVE ### 1. Get flat in SIM Close every SIM position and cancel any working SIM order (`Ctrl`+`Q` on each desk). You can switch with positions open, and their stops keep being watched (see below), but you will not see them again until you switch back. ### 2. Choose what the header P&L shows Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`), then **Trading**. **Header P&L (LIVE)** decides where **DAILY P&L** and **UNREAL P&L** come from in LIVE: - **Broker (IBKR)** (the default): the whole IBKR account, including anything you trade in TWS. - **Scalpel only**: the realized P&L of Scalpel's own closed trades, plus the unrealized P&L of positions loaded on a desk. **NET LIQ** stays the broker's figure either way. Click **Apply**. *Screenshot: Settings, Trading: Header P&L (LIVE) next to Mode, outlined.* The **Mode** field on this tab switches SIM and LIVE straight away when you apply, exactly like the header picker. This guide uses the header picker because you can see the result at once. ### 3. Pick LIVE in the header Click **MODE** in the header (1) and choose **LIVE**. There is no confirmation dialog. *Screenshot: The MODE picker open, with LIVE under SIM (1). Demo data.* Scalpel swaps to the live account at once: a red toast says **LIVE mode activated** and the voice says "Live mode activated." *Screenshot: The toast after switching to LIVE.* ### 4. Check the badge and the account Look at the right of the header. **ACCOUNT** reads **IBKR**, the stats are your real account, and the red **LIVE ORDERS** badge (1) sits next to **Flatten All**. If you do not see the badge, you are not routing live orders. *Screenshot: The header in LIVE: your IBKR account's numbers and the LIVE ORDERS badge (1). Demo data.* ### 5. Take your first live trade small Use your smallest preset, ideally a fixed dollar risk ([guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk)), and watch the whole cycle once: the fill, the FEE column filling in with IBKR's real commission, the stop on the chart, and the exit. The FEE column shows a dash until IBKR's commission report arrives, usually a moment after the fill. ## What happens when you switch - **The switch is instant.** Both backends stay running, so there is no reconnect and no restart. - **Each mode keeps its own world.** Positions, working orders, closed trades and the Analytics journal are separate for SIM and LIVE. The market data is the same live feed in both. - **A risk lock clears.** Switching mode lifts a tripped daily loss lock, which is why switching to SIM is not a way to keep trading LIVE after a bad morning. - **The other mode's stops keep firing.** If you switch to SIM while holding a LIVE position, its stop and take-profit are still watched and still send a real exit. You hear "Stopped out" and see a red toast, as you do for a warning about that exit, but the order and the closed trade only show when you switch back to LIVE. ## Positions Scalpel did not open Scalpel reads every stock position IBKR reports for the account, when it starts and continuously after. A position you opened in TWS, or one you held overnight, shows up in LIVE as a Scalpel position, and Scalpel puts its default stop under your average cost if it has no saved stop for it. Close a position in TWS and Scalpel closes it too. That has two effects worth knowing: - If you load that symbol on a desk, its app stop is live and can sell it. - If it is not on any desk, its stop is not watched, and every few minutes you get a warning toast: *Screenshot: The warning for a held position that no desk is showing. Load the symbol on a desk to watch its stop.* The simplest rule: keep longer-term holdings out of the account you scalp with, and keep every symbol you trade on a desk until you are flat. In SIM, a desk holding only a LIVE position is not locked, so you can change its symbol by accident and leave the LIVE position on no desk. ## What can go wrong - **No LIVE ORDERS badge.** You are still in SIM: the switch only happens when you pick LIVE in the header, or apply LIVE in Settings > Trading ([guide 11.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-trading)). - **A live order is rejected.** IBKR refused it, and the red toast carries its reason: trading permissions, a symbol you cannot trade, or buying power. Scalpel's own cash check is off in LIVE, so IBKR decides what you can afford. See [guide 13.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-rejected). - **The exit filled below the stop.** The stop sells 5c under the last trade, and in a fast drop the bids can be lower still; each re-price goes lower again. Size so that a stop-out two or three times worse than planned is still survivable. - **A toast says the exit is still not filled after 5 re-prices.** Scalpel has stopped chasing and left the last sell working. Check the order and the position in TWS. - **The app was closed with a position open.** Nothing was watching it. Reopen Scalpel and load the symbol, or manage it in TWS. **This can cost you money.** The daily loss limit in LIVE counts the trades Scalpel closes, plus open P&L, from midnight New York time, including trades closed before a restart. Trades you make in TWS are not part of it. Decide your daily stop before the open and keep it. ## Questions **Do I need to restart Scalpel to go live?** No. Pick LIVE in the header's MODE picker and orders route to your IBKR account at once. The red LIVE ORDERS badge confirms it. **Is there a confirmation before switching to LIVE?** No dialog. You get a red toast and the voice callout Live mode activated, and the LIVE ORDERS badge stays in the header for as long as you are in LIVE. **Are my stops sent to Interactive Brokers?** No. Stops are watched by Scalpel and fire a marketable limit sell when price trades through them, which also works in the pre-market, where stop orders cannot. They only work while Scalpel is running and connected. **What happens to my SIM positions when I switch to LIVE?** They stay in the SIM ledger, and their stops are still watched. You see them again when you switch back to SIM. **Can I trade the same account in TWS at the same time?** Yes, but Scalpel adopts every position in the account and arms its default stop on any it has no stop for. Set Header P&L (LIVE) to Scalpel only if you want the header to show only Scalpel's trades. --- # Commissions: pick your IBKR plan > Match Scalpel's SIM fees to your Interactive Brokers plan: Pro Tiered, Pro Fixed, Lite or custom, plus exchange and clearing fees, and the FEE column. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/commissions Guide 6.3, SIM and LIVE. Beginner, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** In LIVE, Scalpel books the real commission Interactive Brokers reports for every fill. In SIM it estimates fees from the plan you pick in **Settings > Risk > Commission plan**: **IBKR Pro Tiered** (the default, $0.0035 a share, $0.35 minimum), **IBKR Pro Fixed** ($0.005 a share, $1.00 minimum), **IBKR Lite** ($0) or **Custom**. On Tiered and Custom, SIM also adds the exchange and clearing fees IBKR passes through. Pick the plan your IBKR account is on, so your paper P&L matches what live trading would cost. Fees are the cost a scalper pays on every single trade, win or lose. A 10c winner on 200 shares is $20 before fees; at two fills of $1.34 each it is $17.32 after them. Over a hundred trades a month that difference decides whether a small edge is an edge at all. Scalpel nets fees out of every realized P&L figure, every R multiple and every Analytics stat, so set the plan before you judge your SIM results. **Before you start:** - Know your Interactive Brokers pricing plan. It is shown in Client Portal, in your account settings. - Scalpel open in SIM ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). ## The four plans | Plan | Per share | Minimum per order | Cap | Exchange and clearing fees in SIM | |---|---|---|---|---| | **IBKR Pro Tiered** (default) | $0.0035 | $0.35 | 1% of trade value | Added | | **IBKR Pro Fixed** | $0.005 | $1.00 | 1% of trade value | Included in the price, not added | | **IBKR Lite** | $0 | $0 | None | Not added | | **Custom** | Your number | Your number | Your number | Added | The commission on one fill is the per-share rate times the shares, raised to the minimum, then capped at the percent of the trade's value: `min(max(rate x shares, minimum), cap% x shares x price)`. The cap can pull a tiny order below the minimum, exactly as IBKR does: 1 share at $5 on Fixed costs 5c, not $1. On **Tiered** and **Custom**, SIM adds what IBKR passes through on that plan: - **Exchange fee** on fills that take liquidity: $0.003 a share, or 0.3% of the trade's value on stocks under $1. A marketable buy, a sell into the bids and a stop-out all take liquidity. A working buy remainder that fills from the tape, a sell resting at the ask or the mid, and a SIM take-profit rest at their price, so they pay no exchange fee. - **Clearing fee** on every fill: $0.0002 a share. Regulatory fees on sales (tiny on a scalp) are left out on every plan. ## Pick your plan ### 1. Open Settings, Risk Press `Ctrl`+`,` (`Cmd`+`,` on a Mac) and click **Risk**. The commission settings sit under **SIM commission (per-share)**. ### 2. Choose the plan Open **Commission plan** and pick the plan your account is on. Picking a plan fills in **Comm $/share**, **Comm min ($)** and **Comm cap (% of trade)** for you. *Screenshot: Settings, Risk: the Commission plan list, on IBKR Pro Tiered.* ### 3. Or set your own numbers If your rate differs (Tiered's per-share rate drops as your monthly volume grows), type your own numbers into the three fields. The plan picker shows **Custom** as soon as they match no plan. Custom adds the exchange and clearing fees like Tiered. *Screenshot: Custom: a lower per-share rate with the Tiered minimum and cap.* ### 4. Apply Click **Apply**. The new plan prices every SIM fill from now on; fills already booked keep the fee they were charged. ## Worked examples What SIM charges for one fill that takes liquidity (a marketable buy or sell): | Fill | Tiered | Fixed | Lite | |---|---|---|---| | 100 shares at $3.00 | $0.67 ($0.35 + $0.02 clearing + $0.30 exchange) | $1.00 (the minimum) | $0 | | 200 shares at $4.00 | $1.34 ($0.70 + $0.04 + $0.60) | $1.00 | $0 | | 500 shares at $5.00 | $3.35 ($1.75 + $0.10 + $1.50) | $2.50 | $0 | | 1,000 shares at $5.00 | $6.70 ($3.50 + $0.20 + $3.00) | $5.00 | $0 | | 10,000 shares at $0.50 | $52.00 ($35.00 + $2.00 + $15.00) | $50.00 (the 1% cap) | $0 | A round trip pays twice: buy and sell. So a 500-share scalp on a $5 stock costs about $6.70 on Tiered and $5.00 on Fixed in SIM. **Note.** With the pass-through fees added, SIM's Tiered estimate is cheaper than Fixed for fills under about 150 shares and dearer above that, on stocks over $1. Real Tiered bills vary: the per-share rate falls with volume, and exchange fees and rebates differ by venue and by whether you add or take liquidity. These numbers are SIM's estimate, not a quote. Choose your plan with Interactive Brokers on your own trading; Scalpel just needs to know which one you are on. ## Where fees show - **The FEE column** in the orders panel. On the **Orders** tab it is the fee for each order. On the **Positions** tab, the open position shows the entry fees so far and each closed trade shows its round trip. A dash means no fee yet. - **Realized P&L** everywhere (the closed trades, the header, **NET P&L** on the desk) is net of fees. - **R multiples** use the net P&L, so a 1R target that only just pays for its fees reads a little under 1R ([guide 5.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/r-multiples)). - **Analytics** shows the total as **COMMISSIONS** on the Overview ([guide 6.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/analytics)). *Screenshot: The FEE column: $3.35 of entry fees on the open 500 shares, and $2.22 for each 166-share round trip. Demo data.* ## In LIVE LIVE ignores the plan setting. Each fill's FEE is the commission IBKR reports for it, which arrives a moment after the fill (the column shows a dash until then). Scalpel adds the entry commission to the position and nets both sides out of the trade's realized P&L when it closes. ## Questions **Which IBKR plan is best for day trading?** It depends on your share sizes and volume, and only Interactive Brokers can quote it. In SIM's estimate Tiered is cheaper on small fills and Fixed on larger marketable ones. Set Scalpel to the plan your account is actually on. **Why are my SIM fees higher on Tiered than the $0.0035 rate?** Because SIM adds the exchange fee ($0.003 a share when you take liquidity) and clearing ($0.0002 a share) that IBKR passes through on Tiered. Fixed and Lite prices include them, so SIM adds nothing there. **Does the commission plan change LIVE fees?** No. In LIVE Scalpel books the commission Interactive Brokers reports for each fill. The plan only drives SIM's estimate. **Why does the FEE column show a dash?** No fee has been booked yet. In LIVE the commission report arrives just after the fill; on IBKR Lite in SIM the fee is zero. **Can I change the exchange and clearing fee rates?** Not in Settings. They have sensible defaults and are only editable in Scalpel's settings file. To leave them out, use Fixed or Lite. --- # Analytics: review your trading > Scalpel's Analytics view: equity curve, win rate, expectancy, profit factor, R distribution, every trade, results by symbol and hour, and a trader grade. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/analytics Guide 6.4, SIM and LIVE. Intermediate, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Pick **Analytics** in the header's **VIEW** picker to review every closed trade in the current mode. **Overview** shows net P&L, win rate, [expectancy](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#expectancy) in R, [profit factor](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#profit-factor), total R and max drawdown over an equity curve and an R distribution; **Trades** lists every trade; **Breakdowns** splits results by symbol and by New York hour; **Goals** grades you against fixed targets. SIM and LIVE each keep their own journal, all net of fees. A trading journal answers the questions your memory gets wrong: do you make money at 07:00 or only after the open, on $2 stocks or $8 ones, and are your losers really 1R? Scalpel keeps the journal for you. Every trade it closes, by a key, a stop, a take-profit or a flatten, is written to the current mode's journal with its entry, exit, size, fees and R. **Before you start:** - Some closed trades in the mode you want to review. SIM is fine; SIM and LIVE are kept apart ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). - [R multiples](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#r-multiple) understood ([guide 5.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/r-multiples)): most of these numbers are in R. ## Open Analytics ### 1. Switch VIEW to Analytics Click **VIEW** in the header (1) and choose **Analytics**. The desks give way to the dashboard; switch back with **Trade**. Your positions and stops keep running while you look. *Screenshot: The VIEW picker open: Trade and Analytics (1). Demo data.* ### 2. Check which journal you are reading The bar at the top says **ANALYTICS**, then the mode in a badge (**SIM** in blue, **LIVE** in orange), the four tabs, and the number of trades on the right. Analytics always reads the current MODE's journal: to see your LIVE trades, switch MODE to LIVE. With no trades yet in that mode it says so. *Screenshot: Analytics before the first trade in SIM.* ### 3. Read the Overview The six large boxes are the headline numbers. Below them, the **EQUITY CURVE** and the **R DISTRIBUTION**. *Screenshot: Overview on a 20-trade SIM journal: +$252.13 net, 55% win rate, +0.3R expectancy, profit factor 1.57. Demo data.* ### 4. Find the leaks in Breakdowns Open **Breakdowns** and look for the symbol or the hour where the money goes. See the sections below. ### 5. Check the Goals Open **Goals** to see where you stand against the four targets and which grade that earns. ## The headline numbers | Box | What it is | In the example | |---|---|---| | **NET P&L** | Every closed trade's realized P&L added up, after fees | +$252.13 | | **WIN RATE** | Winners as a share of winners plus losers. Trades that closed at exactly $0 are left out | 55% | | **EXPECTANCY** | The average R per trade: what one more trade is worth, in units of risk | +0.3R | | **PROFIT FACTOR** | Dollars won divided by dollars lost. Above 1 makes money; Inf means no losers yet | 1.57 | | **TOTAL R** | Every trade's R added up | +5.1R | | **MAX DRAWDOWN** | The biggest fall of your running P&L from a high to a later low, in dollars | -$105.14 | **The equity curve** is your running net P&L, one step per trade (not per day). It is green when you are ahead overall and red when you are behind, with a faint line at zero. The red strip under it is the **drawdown**: how far below your best point you were after each trade. Long red stretches are losing streaks. **The R distribution** counts your trades in seven buckets: **<-2R**, **-2..-1**, **-1..0**, **0..1**, **1..2**, **2..3** and **3R+**. Red bars are losers, green bars winners. A healthy scalper's losers sit almost all in **-1..0**: stops honoured. Bars in **-2..-1** or **<-2R** are trades where the stop was moved, ignored or gapped. **Note.** R needs the risk you entered with. Scalpel records it on every SIM and LIVE entry; a position it adopted from TWS takes the default stop distance as its 1R. A trade with no recorded risk, such as an older LIVE trade journaled before Scalpel recorded LIVE risk, has no R: it counts in the dollar figures but not in expectancy, total R, the R distribution or the R ratios. ## Every other stat Under the charts are three rows of smaller boxes. *Screenshot: The secondary stats on the same journal. Demo data.* | Stat | Meaning | |---|---| | **SHARPE** | Average R divided by how much your R varies, per trade. Higher is steadier. Not annualised | | **SQN** | Sharpe times the square root of the number of trades. Green above 1.6 | | **SORTINO** | Like Sharpe, but only losing trades count as variation | | **KELLY** | The share of capital the Kelly formula would stake given your win rate and payoff. A curiosity, not a sizing rule | | **RECOVERY** | Net P&L divided by max drawdown: how many times over you have earned back your worst dip | | **EXPECTANCY $** | Net P&L per trade in dollars | | **AVG WIN**, **AVG LOSS** | The average winner and loser in dollars | | **PAYOFF** | Average win divided by average loss. 1.28 means winners are 1.28 times the size of losers | | **LARGEST WIN**, **LARGEST LOSS** | The single best and worst trade | | **COMMISSIONS** | Total fees paid ([guide 6.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/commissions)) | | **TRADES**, **WINS**, **LOSSES** | The counts | | **WIN STREAK**, **LOSS STREAK** | The longest run of each. A $0 trade does not break a streak | | **TRADING DAYS** | New York dates with at least one closed trade | ## Trades: every trade, sortable **Trades** lists the journal, newest first. Type in **Filter symbol...** to show one ticker, and use **All**, **Wins** and **Losses** to filter by outcome. Click any column heading to sort by it; click again to reverse. The footer adds up the rows you are looking at, so filtering to **Losses** shows exactly what your losers cost. *Screenshot: Trades, newest first, with the totals for the rows shown. Demo data.* Two columns read differently from what you might expect: **BALANCE** is your running total of net P&L at that trade, not your account balance, and **TIME** is the close time in New York time, the same clock as the header and the orders panel. Sorting by **TIME** puts the trades in the order they closed. ## Breakdowns: where the money comes from *Screenshot: Breakdowns: by symbol, the R distribution, and net P&L by New York hour. Demo data.* - **BY SYMBOL** shows trades, net, win rate and total R for each ticker, best net first. Click a heading to sort. One ticker carrying the whole result is luck you cannot repeat. - **NET P&L BY HOUR (ET)** has a bar for each hour you traded, by the time each trade closed in New York: **07** is 07:00 to 07:59 ET. Green hours made money, red ones lost it. Is your edge in the pre-market and the first hour, or do you give it back later in the morning? This chart answers that. ## Goals and the trader grade *Screenshot: Goals: met targets in green, the rest in gold, and the grade. Demo data.* | Goal | Target | |---|---| | **ACCURACY** (your win rate) | 75% | | **PAYOFF (WIN/LOSS)** | 2.0 | | **PROFIT FACTOR** | 2.0 | | **EXPECTANCY** | Positive R | The **TRADER GRADE** comes from accuracy and payoff together: | Grade | Accuracy | Payoff | |---|---|---| | **Pro** | 70% or more | 1.0 or more | | **Advanced** | 60% or more | 1.5 or more | | **Beginner** | 50% or more | 1.0 or more | | **Novice** | Anything else | | The targets are deliberately hard. A grade on 20 trades says little; on 200 it starts to mean something. ## What can go wrong - **Your LIVE trades are missing.** Analytics reads the current mode. Switch MODE to LIVE. - **SIM history survived a reset.** That is by design: Reset SIM account clears the paper ledger, not the journal. - **R columns show a dash.** The trade had no recorded entry risk, so it has no R. - **Too few trades to judge.** A few dozen trades can look great or terrible by chance. Trading this way is difficult and carries a real risk of loss; judge your process on a large sample in SIM before you trust a number with money. ## Questions **Does Analytics include commissions?** Yes. Every P&L figure and R multiple is net of fees: SIM's estimate from your commission plan, or the real commission Interactive Brokers reports in LIVE. The total is the COMMISSIONS box. **Are SIM and LIVE trades mixed?** No. Each mode has its own journal. Analytics shows the one for the mode in the header's MODE picker. **What is a good expectancy?** Anything above 0R makes money over many trades, before slippage you did not have in SIM. A small positive number on hundreds of trades is worth more than a big one on twenty. **Why does profit factor say Inf?** You have no losing trades yet, so there is nothing to divide by. **Can I export my trades?** Not from the view. The journal is a plain text file per mode in Scalpel's data folder, journal/sim-trades.jsonl and journal/live-trades.jsonl, one trade per line. --- # Set a daily loss limit (the kill-switch) > Set a max daily loss in Scalpel: when your P&L hits it, new entries stop, a RISK LOCK banner shows, and it can flatten everything. How to resume trading. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit Guide 7.1, Risk controls. Beginner, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Set **Daily loss ($)** in **Settings > Risk** (default $1,000; 0 turns it off). When your realised plus open P&L falls to minus that amount, Scalpel trips its kill-switch: a red **RISK LOCK** banner appears, every new buy is refused, and, if you tick **Auto-flatten on daily loss**, every open position is sold. Sells, stops and Flatten All keep working. The day counts from midnight New York time. **Resume trading** on the banner lifts the lock; it comes back only if the day's loss grows by another quarter of the limit, and a new day starts with the full limit again. A daily loss limit is the rule that saves your account on a bad day. Momentum day traders (the style taught by Ross Cameron of Warrior Trading, among others) treat it as non-negotiable: after a set loss, you stop, because the trades you take angry or tired are the ones that turn a bad day into a disaster. Scalpel enforces the rule for you, so you do not have to win an argument with yourself at 10:15. (Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Ross Cameron or Warrior Trading.) This style of trading carries a significant risk of loss and most people who try it lose money. A hard daily limit, small fixed risk per trade and plenty of SIM practice are the basics, not extras. **Before you start:** - Your per-trade risk decided ([guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk)). - Scalpel open in the mode you will trade. ## Set your limit ### 1. Open Settings, then Risk Press `Ctrl`+`,` (or click **Settings** in the header) and choose **Risk**. The limit is under **Kill-switch caps**. ### 2. Enter Daily loss ($) Type the most you are willing to lose in a day, in whole dollars. A common rule of thumb is a small multiple of your per-trade risk: with $100 a trade, a $300 to $500 limit stops you after three to five full losers. **0** turns the limit off. *Screenshot: Settings, Risk: Daily loss ($) set to 500, and Auto-flatten on daily loss ticked.* ### 3. Decide on auto-flatten Tick **Auto-flatten on daily loss** to have Scalpel sell every open position the moment the limit trips. Leave it off and the lock only stops new buys: open trades keep their stops and you exit them yourself. ### 4. Click Apply The new limit applies straight away, no restart. ## What counts toward the limit Scalpel adds up **realised P&L** (closed trades, after fees) and **open P&L** on the positions you hold, and checks the total against the limit on every price change. Open P&L counts, so a big open loser can trip the limit before you sell it. "The day" starts at midnight New York time, in both modes: - **SIM** counts the SIM trades closed since midnight, plus open P&L. A new day starts clean on its own, with no reset needed. The header's **DAILY P&L** is the realised part and **UNREAL P&L** the open part. - **LIVE** counts the trades Scalpel has closed since midnight, including any closed before you restarted Scalpel, plus open P&L. Trades you make outside Scalpel (in TWS) are not counted. ## When the limit trips *Screenshot: Down $503 with a $500 limit: the header P&L, the RISK LOCK banner with Resume trading, and the toast when a buy is refused. Demo data.* - A red banner sits under the header: **RISK LOCK - Daily loss limit hit (-$503). New entries blocked.** The amount is your P&L at the moment it tripped. - The voice says "Risk limit hit. Entries blocked." - Every buy, from a key or the order bar, is refused with **Risk locked: Daily loss limit hit (-$503)**. - Sells, scale-outs, stops, take-profits, breakeven, trailing, cancel and **Flatten All** all still work, so you can always get out. - With auto-flatten on, every open position on a desk is sold at once: in LIVE, priced 1% under the bid to clear in one go. ## Resume trading The banner's **Resume trading** button lifts the lock ("Risk cleared.") and you can buy again. Scalpel remembers where your P&L stood when you pressed it, and the lock comes back only if: - the day's loss grows by **another quarter of your limit** from that point. With a $500 limit, resumed at -$503, it locks again at -$628; - or, on a later day, that day's own loss reaches the full limit: the count starts over at midnight New York time. A lock lifts by itself at New York midnight, even if Scalpel was left running: the new day starts with your full limit. Other things that also lift the lock: - **Raise Daily loss ($)** in Settings > Risk (or set it to 0), then click **Resume trading**. - **Reset SIM account** while MODE is on SIM: it zeroes your SIM P&L and lifts the lock. - **Switch modes** between SIM and LIVE: the lock lifts, and each mode is checked on its own figures. **Careful.** Resume trading is a deliberate step, and the limit was the plan you made with a clear head. Pressing it hands you another quarter of your limit to lose on a day that has already gone wrong. If you find yourself reaching for it, that is usually the moment to close the platform for the day. **This can cost you money.** The daily loss limit cannot stop a loss that is already happening. A gap through your stops, or a large open position when the limit trips, can take you well past the number you set before the exits fill. Keep per-trade risk small enough that the limit is hit by several small losers, not one big one. ## Related caps The daily loss limit works alongside two per-order caps, the fat-finger cap and the max position cap ([guide 7.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps)). Every Risk tab option is in [guide 11.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-risk). ## Questions **What is a daily loss limit in day trading?** The most you allow yourself to lose in one day. Once you reach it you stop trading until the next day. Scalpel enforces it by refusing new buys and, if you choose, flattening your positions. **How much should my daily loss limit be?** Many traders use a small multiple of their per-trade risk, for example three to five times. It should be an amount you can lose without it changing how you trade tomorrow. **Does the daily loss limit close my open trades?** Only if Auto-flatten on daily loss is ticked. Otherwise open trades keep their stops and you exit them yourself; only new buys are blocked. **Why did RISK LOCK come back after I clicked Resume trading?** The day's loss grew by another quarter of your limit after you resumed. With a $500 limit that is a further $125. It does not come back for a smaller move. **Does the daily loss limit reset at midnight?** Yes, at midnight New York time, in SIM and LIVE. In LIVE it also remembers trades closed earlier that day if you restart Scalpel. --- # Fat-finger and max-position caps > What Scalpel's fat-finger cap and max-position cap block, how they interact with risk sizing, and sensible values for small, medium and larger accounts. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps Guide 7.2, Risk controls. Beginner, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Two caps in **Settings > Risk** check every buy before it is sent. **Fat-finger ($)** refuses any single order worth more than that many dollars; **Max position ($)** refuses a buy that would take your position in one stock past that value. Both default to $250,000, far above most accounts, so set them to fit yours. A capped order is refused whole, never shrunk, with a red toast saying which cap stopped it. A fat finger is the trade you did not mean: an extra zero in a preset, the wrong key, a risk preset with a stop so tight it asks for 20,000 shares. The caps are a backstop for those moments. They cost nothing on a normal trade and save you on the one that would have hurt. ## What each cap checks | Cap | Checks | Refusal message | |---|---|---| | **Fat-finger ($)** | This order's shares x the ask | **Order exceeds the fat-finger cap ($15000)** | | Buying power (SIM) | This order against your free SIM cash | **Insufficient buying power: order $18273 exceeds free cash $12450** | | **Max position ($)** | (shares you hold + this order) x the ask, for this stock | **Position would exceed the max ($20000)** | The checks run in that order, on buys only: sells, stops and flattens are never blocked by a cap. The caps work the same in SIM and LIVE. In SIM, which is a cash account, the full value of the order must also fit in your free cash. In LIVE, buying power is Interactive Brokers' check, and the broker refuses what your account cannot carry. *Screenshot: The three ways a buy can be refused for size. Demo data.* Each refusal also makes the voice say "Rejected.", and nothing is sent. ## Set your caps Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`), then **Risk**. The caps are under **Kill-switch caps**, in whole dollars. Click **Apply**; they take effect at once. *Screenshot: Example caps for a $25,000 account: Fat-finger 15000 and Max position 20000, with a $300 daily loss limit.* **Careful.** A cap of **0** blocks every buy. Only **Daily loss ($)** uses 0 for off. ## How they meet risk sizing Risk presets size from the stop ([guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk)), and a tight stop asks for a lot of shares. The caps stop that from going too far, but they **refuse** the order rather than trim it: - **Risk $100** at a 10c stop on a $9 stock: 1,000 shares, $9,000. Under a $15,000 cap: sent. - The same at a 5c stop: 2,000 shares, $18,000. Over the cap: refused, nothing bought. If that happens, widen the stop or use a smaller button; do not raise the cap in the heat of the moment. The size line above each buy button shows the dollar value before you press, so you can see a refusal coming ([guide 4.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/order-bar)). ## Sensible starting values These are starting points, not advice. Set the caps from your own account and the most you would ever put into one stock. | Account | Fat-finger ($) | Max position ($) | Daily loss ($) | |---|---|---|---| | $5,000 cash | 4,000 | 5,000 | 100 to 150 | | $25,000 | 15,000 | 20,000 | 250 to 500 | | $100,000 | 40,000 | 60,000 | 1,000 to 1,500 | - **Fat-finger** a little above your biggest normal order, so normal trades never hit it. - **Max position** at the most you want in one stock, adds included. On thin small caps, a position you cannot sell quickly is a risk of its own. - In SIM, set **SIM start ($)** to the size of the account you will trade live, so the buying-power check matches reality ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). More on setting up a small account in [guide 14.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/small-account-setup). The daily loss limit is in [guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit). ## What the caps do not do - They do not limit your **loss**: a $15,000 position with a 30c stop and a $15,000 position with a $1 stop pass the same cap. Risk is set by your preset and stop. - They do not stop a **gap**. A stock can open far below your stop. - They do not apply to **sells**. Exits always go through, capped only to the shares you hold ([guide 7.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/long-only)). Fast small-cap trading carries a significant risk of loss. The caps catch mistakes; they cannot make a bad trade safe. ## Questions **What is a fat-finger cap?** A limit on the dollar value of a single order. Scalpel refuses any buy over it, so a wrong preset or an extra zero cannot send a huge order. The default is $250,000; set it a little above your largest normal order. **What is the default max position in Scalpel?** $250,000 per stock, the same as the fat-finger cap. Both are far above most accounts, so set them to your own. **Does Scalpel shrink an order that is over a cap?** No. The whole order is refused with a toast naming the cap. Use a smaller button or a wider stop. **Do the caps apply in LIVE as well as SIM?** Yes, both. SIM also checks your free SIM cash, because it is a cash account; in LIVE, Interactive Brokers checks buying power. **Can a cap stop me selling?** No. Caps only check buys. Sells, stops and Flatten All are never blocked by them. --- # Why Scalpel is long-only > Scalpel is long-only by design: every sell is capped to the shares you hold, so a double press never puts you short. No shorts, futures, options or crypto. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/long-only Guide 7.3, Risk controls. Beginner, 3 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel only buys stocks and sells what it bought: it never opens a short position. Every sell, whether a scale-out, a full exit, a stop, a take-profit or a flatten, is capped to the shares you hold, so a double press or a stop firing during your own exit can never leave you short. This is a deliberate design choice: Scalpel is built for long-only scalping of US stocks, and it does not trade shorts, futures, options or crypto. ## Opinionated by design Scalpel is specialised software. It is built for one style of trading: buying momentum in US small-cap stocks, first of all in the pre-market (04:00 to 09:30 ET), and selling into strength. It works in regular hours too, but every part of it, from the Level 2 montage to the app-held stops, is shaped around that one job. So there are things it does not do, and almost certainly never will: - **No shorting.** You cannot sell what you do not own. - **No futures, options or crypto.** Stocks only. - **No auto trader.** You make every trade. Leaving those out keeps the cockpit simple and the safety rules strict. Every exit key means "sell some or all of what I hold", never "sell, whatever I hold". ## What long-only means for your exits - **Sells are capped to your position.** Half of 400 is 200; `Ctrl`+`Z` sells exactly what you hold, never more. - **A sell with nothing to sell is refused.** With no position, the order bar's sell buttons are grey, and a sell key shows **No long position to sell**. - **Sells already working count.** Interactive Brokers reports fills a moment after they happen, and a sell at the ask can rest for a while, so Scalpel counts the unfilled part of every sell you have working. If a new sell needs shares a working sell already offers, Scalpel never stacks the two: it cancels the working sell, waits for the cancel to be confirmed, and sends one order for what is still held, at the lower of the two prices. Press `Ctrl`+`Z` twice, or let a stop fire while your manual exit is still working, and you still sell exactly what you hold. - **Stops and targets only close longs.** When a stop or take-profit fires, it sells the shares you hold, replacing any sell already working on them. - **Flatten sells to zero, not past it.** In SIM, a flatten keeps selling the rest of a position on a thin book until you are flat, and stops there. *Screenshot: Flat: the Sell row is grey and a sell key is refused. Demo data.* ## Why it matters Accidentally going short is one of the most dangerous mistakes a fast trader can make. A short position has no ceiling on its loss, and the stocks momentum traders trade, small caps on news, are exactly the ones that squeeze hardest. The usual cause is not a decision to short: it is a stacked exit, a double-tapped key, or a stop and a manual sell going out together. Scalpel makes that impossible by design. It does not make trading safe. Long positions in fast small caps can and do fall hard, and most people who trade this way lose money. Your protection on the long side is your size, your stop and your daily loss limit ([guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk), [guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work), [guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)). ## Questions **Can I short stocks with Scalpel?** No. Scalpel is long only. Every sell is capped to the shares you hold, so it can never open or add to a short. **Does Scalpel trade futures, options or crypto?** No. Scalpel trades US stocks only, and there are no plans to change that. **What happens if I press sell twice?** You never sell more than you own. If the first sell has filled, the second is refused with No long position to sell. If it is still working, the second replaces it with one sell for what you hold. **Why is the sell row greyed out?** You hold no position on that desk, or the market is closed. With no shares there is nothing to sell. --- # Set up the IBKR scanner > Turn on Scalpel's IBKR scanner: switch a desk to SCAN, set price, change, volume and share filters, and know how many market data lines the list uses. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner Guide 8.1, Scanner. Beginner, 10 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel's scanner is Interactive Brokers' own market scanner, run over your TWS connection, so there is no separate scanner service or data feed to pay for. Click **TRADER** in a desk's header to turn it into a scan desk, then set the filters in **Settings > Connection > IBKR scanner**. Out of the box it lists up to 30 US stocks between $0.10 and $100 that are up at least 10% on the day, pre-market included, and each listed name uses one IBKR market data line. Scalpel is built for one job: long-only momentum scalping of US small caps, pre-market first. The scanner is where that starts, and it uses only what you already have through Interactive Brokers, plus free public data from the SEC and FINRA for share counts and short interest. Every scan panel in Scalpel works from one list: the IBKR scanner's. High of day momentum, Running up and Setups all watch the names on it, so once this list is right, the other scans fill in on their own. This guide turns a desk into a scan desk, walks through every filter, explains how the list is built, maps it to the classic momentum checklist, and covers the two limits worth knowing before the open: market data lines and the 40-symbol intel cap. **Before you start:** - Scalpel connected to TWS or IB Gateway ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). - Real-time US stock data on your IBKR account ([guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). The panel's prices come from your own quotes, so delayed data means delayed rows. - Optional but worth it: an SEC contact email, for share counts, market caps and the intel chips ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)). ## How the IBKR scanner builds its list Five IBKR scans run side by side, all with the same filters: | Scan | What it catches | |---|---| | Top gainers | The biggest percent gain against yesterday's close, pre-market included | | 3 minute volume spikes | Volume running far above its usual pace. A name starting to move often shows here first | | Halted | Movers in a trading pause, such as a volatility halt | | Hot by volume | The heaviest trading | | Gappers | The biggest gap from yesterday's close to today's open. Empty until 09:30 ET | Scalpel merges them into one list: every scan's number one first, then every scan's number two, and so on, so the top name of any scan gets in at once, whichever scan found it. A stock on two scans keeps its better place. A name that drops off every scan keeps its slot for 3 minutes while there is room, so a stock flickering at the edge of a scan does not churn in and out. IBKR reruns its scans about every 30 seconds and sends back symbols only. Everything else on the panel (price, change, relative volume, the ranking) comes from live IBKR quotes, tick by tick, so the panel keeps moving between IBKR's refreshes. Only major US exchanges are scanned: no OTC stocks. **Note.** IBKR allows ten scanner subscriptions at a time through the API, with up to 50 rows each. Scalpel uses five. If other software on the same login runs API scanners too, they share that allowance. ## Set up the scanner ### 1. Turn a desk into a scan desk In the header of the desk you want to scan with, click **TRADER** (1). It changes to **SCAN** (2) and the desk fills with three scan panels: **IBKR scanner** on top, then **High of day momentum** and **Running up**. *Screenshot: The desk header before and after: click TRADER (1) and the desk becomes a scan desk reading SCAN (2), with the hint and the Add panel and Hide buttons on the right. Demo data.* Switching to SCAN unloads that desk's symbol and frees its market data line. A desk holding a position cannot switch: you get **D1 holds a position: close it before switching it to SCAN**, because a position on no desk would have its stop unwatched. Use a desk with no position, or close the trade first. Click **SCAN** to switch back: the desk reloads the symbol it had. Scalpel remembers each desk's mode, so the scan desk is still there tomorrow. **Tip.** On one screen, three trader desks and one scan desk is a good start. With a second monitor, give the scan desk its own screen and widen it: the INTEL column shows more chips the wider the panel. See [guide 2.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/multi-monitor-setup). ### 2. Check the scanner is switched on Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) and stay on the **Connection** tab. Under **IBKR scanner (market scans over TWS)**, **Enabled** is ticked by default. *Screenshot: Settings, Connection: the IBKR scanner block, outlined, at its defaults.* ### 3. Set the price band **Price min** and **Price max** are in dollars: 0.1 and 100 by default, so sub-dollar runners count. If you only trade $2 to $20 stocks, set 2 and 20. The list then spends its slots on names you would actually trade instead of on $0.40 tickers you would never touch. ### 4. Set the minimum move **Min change %** is the percent the stock must be up on the day, against yesterday's close, pre-market included. The default is 10. The scans are long only: they look for gainers, never for stocks falling. On a slow day, 5 widens the net; on a hot day, 20 keeps the list to the real runners. ### 5. Choose the list size **List size** is how many names the merged list holds: 30 by default, from 1 to 100. Each name takes one IBKR market data line for as long as it is listed, so size the list to your lines (more on that below). ### 6. Add the optional filters These are off by default: - **Min volume**: shares traded today, pre-market included, as a plain number (500000, not 500K). It drops stocks showing a big percent move on a few hundred shares. Leave it empty for no limit. - **Max shares out (M)**: a cap on shares outstanding, in millions, so 20 means under 20 million shares. IBKR does not allow float as an API scan filter, so this is the closest cap there is. Leave it empty unless you need it: names IBKR has no share count for are dropped, and those are often the fresh small caps that run. - **Stocks only (no ETFs)**: on by default. Leveraged single-stock ETFs move with their underlying and would double up the list. ADRs stay in, since many small-cap runners are ADRs. ### 7. Apply and read the panel Click **Apply**. The filters apply live, with no restart: the scans resubscribe and the list rebuilds within seconds. The **IBKR scanner** panel shows the list ranked by change, biggest first. *Screenshot: The IBKR scanner panel: the rank and how far it moved (1), the symbol with its HALT tag and new-name dot (2), the intel chips (3), the squeeze score (4), shares out and short interest (5), and the squares that load a row onto a desk (6). Demo data.* ## Read the IBKR scanner panel | Column | What it shows | |---|---| | **RANK** | The name's place by change. A green +2 means it climbed two places since the last update; a red -1 means it slipped one | | **SYM** | The symbol, a red **HALT** tag while it is halted, and a pulsing red dot for 30 seconds after it first appears | | **PRICE**, **CHG%** | Last price and percent change against yesterday's close, pre-market included | | **VWAP** | A yellow dot while the price is above the session [VWAP](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#vwap). Blank below it | | **INTEL** | Up to three chips: dilution, the news catalyst and borrow ([guide 9.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/intel-chips)) | | **SQZ** | The squeeze score, 0 to 100, on a violet cell that glows brighter as it rises ([guide 8.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/shares-out-short-interest-squeeze)) | | **RVOL** | [Relative volume](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#relative-volume): today's volume against IBKR's 90-day average daily volume | | **SHS OUT** | Shares outstanding, from SEC filings | | **SHORT** | FINRA short interest as a percent of shares out, then days to cover, for example 18% 3.4d | | **MKT CAP** | Price x shares outstanding | | **VOL** | Shares traded today | | **DESK** | One small square per open trader desk, in the desk's colour | A dash means Scalpel does not know the value yet. SHS OUT, MKT CAP and the SHORT percent need the SEC contact email ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)). Click a row to load the stock onto a trader desk: an empty one first, otherwise one with no open position. If the stock is already on a desk, that desk takes focus instead. To pick the desk yourself, click its square on the row. Click a column header to sort by it, biggest first; click again to flip the order. [Guide 8.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scanner-panels) covers the rest of the panel's controls. When a new name joins the list, the panel's bell rings and a toast reads, for example, **New on IBKR scanner: TUVW +41%**. Names already on the list when the scanner starts, or reconnects, stay quiet, so opening Scalpel at 09:45 does not set off thirty alerts. ## The momentum checklist, mapped to Scalpel Scalpel's scanning is inspired by the small-cap momentum style taught by Ross Cameron of Warrior Trading. His publicly known stock selection criteria are five: a price of roughly $2 to $20, up 10% or more on the day, at least 5 times normal volume, a news catalyst, and a low float. Here is where each one lives in Scalpel: | Criterion | Where Scalpel checks it | |---|---| | Price roughly $2 to $20 | **Price min** and **Price max** on the IBKR scanner (set 2 and 20), or Running up's own $2 to $20 default | | Up 10% or more | **Min change %**, 10 by default, and the **CHG%** column | | 5x relative volume | The **RVOL** column, and Running up's **Min rel volume (x)** of 5 | | A news catalyst | The catalyst chip in the **INTEL** column ([guide 9.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/catalyst-grading)), and **Require news catalyst** on Running up | | Low float | The **SHS OUT** column, the float's stand-in, and **Max shares out (M)** ([guide 8.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/shares-out-short-interest-squeeze)) | The scanner's defaults are deliberately wider than the checklist (from $0.10, any volume, any share count), so it surfaces everything that is moving and you narrow it down with your eyes and the columns. [Guide 14.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/momentum-method) covers the method as a whole. Scalpel is independent software, not affiliated with or endorsed by Ross Cameron or Warrior Trading. **Note.** A list of movers is not a list of trades. Small-cap momentum trading carries a significant risk of loss, it is very difficult, and many people who try it lose money. Practise in SIM first ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)) and trade a small fixed risk with a daily loss limit. ## Market data lines and the 40-symbol intel limit **Lines.** Every listed name holds one IBKR market data line, and your trader desks need their own. Most IBKR accounts start with 100 lines. A list of 30 plus four trader desks fits comfortably; a list of 100 leaves no room for anything else. The scanner runs whenever it is enabled, even with no scan desk open, because intel and the other scans read its list. If you never scan, untick **Enabled** to give the lines back. **Intel.** Scalpel's intel (dilution, catalysts, borrow, shares out and short interest) follows at most 40 symbols at once: the stocks you hold first, then the symbols on your desks, then the IBKR scanner's list in IBKR's own order. With a list of 30 and four desks, everything is covered. With a list of 60, the bottom of the list gets no chips, no share count and a thinner squeeze score. **Tip.** A List size of 30 to 35 is the sweet spot for most traders: every name gets intel, and the lines stay well inside the default allowance. ## What can go wrong Every scan panel says why it is empty: *Screenshot: The two empty states: the scanner is switched off (with a button straight to Settings), and the scanner is waiting for TWS.* - **"IBKR scanner is off".** The scanner is unticked. Click **Open settings**, tick **Enabled** under IBKR scanner, then **Apply**. See [the fix guide](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-scanner-off). - **"Waiting for TWS".** Scalpel is not connected yet, or TWS has not answered the scanner. Check the footer reads IBKR Connected ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). Each part of Scalpel opens its own TWS connection, so make sure TWS allows enough API clients. - **"No matches".** The scanner is running but nothing passes your filters. Early in the pre-market, or on a quiet day, 10% movers can be thin: lower **Min change %**, widen the price band, or clear **Max shares out (M)**. - **Prices lag or rows stay blank.** Rows show only once a name has a live price, and the prices are your own IBKR quotes. With delayed data the panel is delayed too ([guide 13.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-delayed-data)). ## Questions **Does Scalpel's scanner cost extra?** No. It runs Interactive Brokers' own scanner over your TWS connection. The live prices on the panel use the IBKR market data you already pay for, one line per listed name. **Can I scan by float?** No. IBKR refuses float as an API scan filter. Max shares out (M) is the closest cap, and the SHS OUT column shows shares outstanding from SEC filings, which is never below the float. **Does it work in the pre-market?** Yes. Top gainers, volume spikes, halts and hot by volume all run from 04:00 ET, with change measured against yesterday's close. The gappers scan stays empty until the 09:30 open. **Why is a stock I can see moving not on the list?** It failed a filter (price band, min change, min volume, max shares out), it is an ETF, it trades OTC, or the list was full. Raise List size or loosen the filter that excludes it. **How often does the list update?** IBKR reruns its scans about every 30 seconds, and Scalpel merges the results every second. Prices, change and ranking on the panel update tick by tick from your quotes. **Can different panels use different scanner filters?** No. There is one IBKR scanner list, shared by every panel. Running up adds its own filters on top of that list; High of day momentum and Setups show every listed name that triggers. --- # Scan types: momentum, running up and setups > What Scalpel's high-of-day momentum, running up and setups scans find, the running up filters, setup letter chips, and when each scan announces a name. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scan-types Guide 8.2, Scanner. Intermediate, 8 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Every Scalpel scan watches the IBKR scanner's list. **High of day momentum** shows any listed stock breaking its high of day, pre-market included, for a minute after each break. **Running up** shows stocks in a sharp burst (up 2% inside the last minute on 5 times their recent volume) and is the only scan with filters of its own. **Setups** shows stocks with a live entry pattern, such as gap and go or a micro pullback, marked with a coloured letter chip. Scalpel has four scan panels, and they are not four separate searches of the market. The **IBKR scanner** builds one list of movers ([guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)); the other three watch every name on that list, second by second, and call out the moments that matter for a long entry: a new high, a sudden burst, a pattern completing. This guide explains what each one looks for, Running up's filters, the six setup letters, and exactly when each scan alerts. **Before you start:** - The IBKR scanner switched on and a scan desk open ([guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)). - To switch a panel to another scan, use the dropdown in its title ([guide 8.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scanner-panels)). ## The four scans at a glance | Scan | Shows a stock when | Its own filters | Bell by default | Toast | |---|---|---|---|---| | **IBKR scanner** | It is on IBKR's merged list | In Settings > Connection | On | New on IBKR scanner | | **High of day momentum** | It breaks its high of day, for 60 seconds after the last break | None | On | New momo | | **Running up** | It is up 2% in about a minute on a volume burst, and passes the filters | Yes, in the cog | Off | New runner | | **Setups** | It has a live entry setup | None | On | The setup's name | High of day momentum and Setups have no filters because the IBKR scanner's list has already done the filtering: if a name is on the list and it triggers, you see it. ## High of day momentum This is the "it's breaking out" panel. A stock shows up the moment it trades above its high of day, in any session, pre-market included, and stays on the panel for 60 seconds after its latest new high. A stock grinding to a new high every few seconds is one entry, not a stream. Once it goes a full minute without a new high it drops off, and the next break adds it back and alerts again. The high it measures against is real. When a name joins the list, Scalpel reads today's high (pre-market included) from IBKR's 1-minute history, so a stock added at 10:15 does not "break" a high it was already above at 09:40. ## Running up This is the "something is happening right now" panel: a sudden burst of buying, whether or not it is at a new high. A stock shows when, at the same moment: - its price is up at least 2% over roughly the last 60 seconds (fixed, not a setting), and - this second's volume is at least **Min rel volume (x)** times its average over the last 30 seconds, and - it passes every filter in the panel's cog. Open the cog on the Running up panel to set them. Changes apply as you type: there is no Apply button. *Screenshot: Running up settings at their defaults, then the Global switches every scan's cog shares.* | Setting | Default | What it does | |---|---|---| | **Alert on new entry** | Off | The bell for this scan, also on the panel title | | **Price min ($)**, **Price max ($)** | 2, 20 | The price band | | **Min gap (%)** | 10 | Up at least this much on the day, against yesterday's close | | **Min rel volume (x)** | 5 | The burst: this second's volume against its recent average. Not the daily RVOL column | | **Max shares out** | 10M | Shares outstanding must be under this | | **Min volume** | 100K | Shares traded today | | **Min market cap ($)** | 0 | No floor | | **Max market cap ($)** | Empty | No ceiling | The share, volume and market cap boxes take short numbers: 500K, 10M, 1.5B. A stock whose shares out or market cap is not known yet passes those two filters, so a missing number never hides a mover. **Require news catalyst**, in the Global block, makes Running up show only stocks with a headline in the last 24 hours from the news providers on your IBKR account. It applies to Running up only. **Careful.** Require news catalyst reads headlines through intel. With intel switched off ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)), no stock has a headline on file, so Running up shows nothing at all. High of day momentum and Running up both rank their rows the same way: stocks on a green 1-second bar first, then those with fresher news, then the bigger current volume burst, then the bigger percent change. Each shows its top 25. ## Setups: the six letter chips Setups shows any listed stock with a live entry setup, marked by a coloured letter beside the symbol. The pattern names will be familiar if you have studied the momentum style Ross Cameron teaches at Warrior Trading; Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by either. *Screenshot: The Setups panel with one of each letter: G, M, H, F, T and R. Demo data.* | Chip | Setup | What triggers it | |---|---|---| | **G** (green) | Gap and go | The first cross above the pre-market high after the 09:30 open. Once per stock per day | | **M** (blue) | Micro pullback | A shallow pullback during a fast move, then a reclaim of the recent high on volume | | **H** (yellow) | HOD break | A new high of day in regular hours, when nothing stronger is live | | **F** (light green) | Bull flag | A strong push (the pole), a tight, shallow pullback, then a break over the flag's high | | **T** (lilac) | Flat top | A shelf of near-equal highs, then a break above it | | **R** (orange) | Consecutive run | Five or more green 1-minute candles in a row, then the first new high after the run | When two setups fire at once, gap and go wins, then the candle patterns (bull flag, flat top, micro pullback, consecutive run), then a bare HOD break. A setup stays on the panel for about 25 seconds and refreshes while it keeps confirming. A few honest details: - **Candle patterns need history.** Bull flag, flat top, micro pullback and consecutive run read 1-minute candles that Scalpel builds from the live ticks once a stock is on the list. A name that joined two minutes ago cannot show a bull flag yet. - **Gap and go and HOD break are regular hours only.** The candle patterns can fire in the pre-market ([guide 8.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-scanning)). - **Gap and go does not fire late.** If a stock already crossed its pre-market high after the open before it reached the list, its gap and go has happened, and Scalpel will not call a later cross one. - **The letters show on every panel**, not just Setups, while a setup is live. Untick **Setup chips** in any scan's cog to hide them elsewhere; the Setups panel always shows them, because the setup is why the row is there. **Note.** A setup chip is a pattern match, not a reason to buy on its own. Read the Level 2 and the tape before you press ([guide 3.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-level-2)). This style of trading is fast, difficult and carries a significant risk of loss. ## When each scan alerts A scan alerts with a toast, the bell sound and a voice callout only when its bell is on **and** a panel of that scan is open on a scan desk. A scan with no open panel stays silent however busy it is. *Screenshot: Scan toasts, top right: each names the scan or setup, the symbol and its change on the day. Click one to load the stock onto a desk. Demo data.* - **IBKR scanner** and **Running up** alert the first time a stock appears on that scan in the session. A name that leaves and comes back does not alert again (unless you **Clear** the panel's log, which resets it). - **High of day momentum** and **Setups** alert on every fresh entry, at most once a minute per stock. On Setups the minute is per setup type, so a gap and go right after a micro pullback on the same stock still calls out. - The bell rings at most once every 1.5 seconds, so a burst of names at the open does not become a wall of noise. Every alert still lands in the panel's LOG view. The voice callout says the scan or setup name. To change sounds, see [guide 10.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/voice-callouts); for toasts, [guide 10.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/alerts-and-toasts). ## What can go wrong - **The IBKR scanner is full but Running up is empty.** Its defaults are much stricter than the list: $2 to $20, under 10M shares out, 100K volume and a 2% burst in the last minute. On a slow tape that is rare. Loosen **Min rel volume (x)** or **Min gap (%)** in its cog. - **Running up is always empty.** Check **Require news catalyst** is off, or that intel is on. - **No alert for a stock you saw appear.** The bell is muted (a crossed-out bell on the panel title), no panel of that scan is open, or the stock already alerted on that scan this session. ## Questions **Can I set filters for High of day momentum or Setups?** No. They show every stock on the IBKR scanner's list that triggers. To narrow them, tighten the IBKR scanner's own filters in Settings > Connection. **What is the difference between RVOL and Running up's relative volume?** The RVOL column is today's volume against the 90-day daily average. Running up's Min rel volume is a burst: this second's volume against the average of the last 30 seconds. **Why did gap and go not fire on a stock that gapped?** Gap and go is the first cross above the pre-market high after 09:30, once a day. It does not fire if the stock had no pre-market trades, never crossed, or crossed before it joined the list. **Do the setups work in the pre-market?** Bull flag, flat top, micro pullback and consecutive run can fire from 04:00 ET once Scalpel has a few minutes of candles. Gap and go and HOD break wait for the open. **Why does a stock show on High of day momentum and then vanish?** It stays for 60 seconds after its latest new high. Without a fresh high in that minute it drops off, and the next break brings it back. --- # Scan the pre-market > Scan pre-market movers from 04:00 ET in Scalpel: what the gainers, volume spike and gap scans show before the open, gap and go, and what changes at 09:30. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-scanning Guide 8.3, Scanner. Intermediate, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel scans the pre-market from 04:00 ET. The IBKR scanner's top gainers, 3 minute volume spikes, halts and hot by volume all run before the open, with change measured against yesterday's close, while the gappers scan stays empty until 09:30. High of day momentum, Running up and four of the six setups work pre-market too; gap and go and HOD break start at the open, when gap and go fires on the first cross above the pre-market high. Scalpel is built for the pre-market first. The small caps that run hardest often do it between 07:00 and 09:30 ET, on overnight news, with thin books and few traders watching. The scanner is ready for that: nothing waits for the opening bell except the one scan that cannot work without an open price. This guide covers what each scan does before 09:30, how to read the numbers when volume is thin, gap and go, and what changes at the open. **Before you start:** - The IBKR scanner set up on a scan desk ([guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)). - TWS logged in before you want to scan. IBKR's scanner and quotes run from 04:00 ET. - Intel turned on, so the catalyst and dilution chips are there when news breaks ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)). ## What runs before 09:30 | Scan or column | In the pre-market | |---|---| | **IBKR scanner** | Top gainers, 3 minute volume spikes, halts and hot by volume run from 04:00 ET. **Gappers** is empty until 09:30, because a gap is measured to the opening price | | **CHG%** | Against yesterday's close, pre-market trading included | | **VOL**, **Min volume** | Pre-market shares count | | **RVOL** | Today's volume so far against the 90-day average for a whole day, so it starts low and climbs through the morning | | **High of day momentum** | Works. The high of day includes the pre-market | | **Running up** | Works, with its own filters | | **Setups** | Bull flag (F), flat top (T), micro pullback (M) and consecutive run (R) work once Scalpel has a few minutes of 1-minute candles. Gap and go (G) and HOD break (H) wait for the open | | **Intel** | SEC filings are checked every 5 seconds from 06:00 ET on weekdays, and every 2 minutes outside 06:00 to 22:00. Headlines from your IBKR news providers arrive around the clock | *Screenshot: The header clock at 07:42 ET, reading Pre-market, over the IBKR scanner: four gappers ranked by change, with their catalyst and dilution chips. Demo data.* **Tip.** Read RVOL against the clock. A stock showing 2.0x at 07:30 has already traded two full average days of volume before the open, which is enormous. The same 2.0x at 15:30 is unremarkable. ## Gap and go A gap and go is the classic open for a stock that gapped up overnight: it holds its gains in the pre-market, then breaks above the pre-market high once the regular session starts. It is one of the momentum patterns taught by Ross Cameron of Warrior Trading, whose style inspired Scalpel's scans (Scalpel is independent, not affiliated with or endorsed by him or Warrior Trading). Scalpel tracks each listed stock's pre-market high, read from IBKR's history when the stock joins the list and kept up to date from the live trades. After 09:30, the first trade back above that high puts a green **G** chip on the row and calls out **Gap and go**. It fires once per stock per day. If the stock already crossed its pre-market high after the open before it reached the list, the gap and go has happened and Scalpel will not call a later cross one. ## A pre-market scanning routine 1. **From 07:00, read the list.** Early on, the list can be short. If it is empty, lower **Min change %** to 5 for now ([guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)). 2. **Check why each stock is moving.** The catalyst chip in the INTEL column says what the news is and how strong ([guide 9.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/catalyst-grading)). No chip means no headline on file. 3. **Strike out the sellers.** A red **Selling** or amber **Dilution** chip means the company can sell stock into your move. A red **Offering** chip is an offering headline ([guide 9.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/check-dilution)). 4. **Look at the supply.** SHS OUT and the squeeze score ([guide 8.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/shares-out-short-interest-squeeze)) show which names can move fast on little buying. 5. **Load the best two or three onto desks** with the coloured squares, and watch their Level 2 and tape. 6. **At 09:30,** expect the list to reshuffle as the gappers scan fills in, and watch for G chips. [Guide 14.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-routine) turns this into a full morning routine. ## What changes at 09:30 - **The gappers scan fills.** It can add a burst of names in the first minute, each one ringing the bell once. The bell rings at most once every 1.5 seconds; every alert is kept in the panel's LOG view. - **Gap and go and HOD break go live** on the Setups panel. - **Liquidity arrives.** Spreads usually tighten and the book thickens. Pre-market prints on thin books are easy to push around, so a pre-market high can be a single print. **Careful.** Pre-market trading is thin and fast. Outside regular hours US exchanges take limit orders only, spreads are wide, and a stock can drop through several price levels in one print. That is why Scalpel's stops are watched by the app and sent as marketable limit orders flagged for extended hours, rather than resting stop orders that cannot work before the open ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). Even so, an exit can fill well below your stop. Pre-market momentum trading carries a significant risk of loss: start in SIM and keep your size small. ## What can go wrong - **The list is empty at 05:00.** Few stocks are up 10% that early on real volume. Lower **Min change %**, or clear **Min volume**, which counts only the few shares traded so far. - **No intel chips on a pre-market runner.** The stock may be past the 40-symbol intel limit, or the news has not reached your IBKR news providers yet. Check that intel is on and watching ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)). - **No G chip on a stock that clearly gapped and went.** It crossed its pre-market high before it joined the list, or before Scalpel was running. ## Questions **What time does Scalpel's scanner start?** As soon as IBKR's scanner returns results, from 04:00 ET on trading days, as long as TWS or IB Gateway is logged in and Scalpel is connected. **Why is the gappers scan empty in the pre-market?** IBKR's gappers scan measures the gap from yesterday's close to today's open, and there is no opening price until 09:30. The top gainers scan covers pre-market gaps until then. **Is percent change in the pre-market against yesterday's close?** Yes. CHG% and Min change % compare the last price, pre-market included, with the previous session's close. **Can I trade pre-market in Scalpel?** Yes. Pre-market, regular hours and after-hours all trade. Entries are marketable limit orders and Extended-hours fills is on by default in Settings > Trading; exits can always fill outside regular hours. Stops are watched by the app, so Scalpel must stay running. **Does the pre-market high include the first minutes after 04:00?** Yes. The pre-market high is the highest trade from 04:00 ET to the open, read from IBKR's 1-minute history when a stock joins the list and kept current from live trades after that. --- # Shares out, short interest and the squeeze score > Why Scalpel shows shares outstanding instead of float, how FINRA short interest and days to cover are dated, and what goes into the 0 to 100 squeeze score. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/shares-out-short-interest-squeeze Guide 8.4, Scanner. Advanced, 8 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Interactive Brokers does not supply float through its API, so Scalpel's **SHS OUT** column shows shares outstanding from SEC filings instead. Shares outstanding is never below the float, so a small number is a sure low float. **SHORT** is FINRA short interest as a percent of shares out plus days to cover, published twice a month, and **SQZ** is a 0 to 100 squeeze score built from supply, live borrow, relative volume, short interest, price and company size, cut when the company is selling stock. 70 and up is built to squeeze; under 40 is not a squeeze setup. Low supply, heavy demand and trapped shorts are what make a small cap move several dollars in minutes. Three columns on every scan panel measure them: **SHS OUT**, **SHORT** and **SQZ**. This guide explains where each number comes from, how old it can be, why Scalpel shows shares outstanding rather than float, and exactly how the squeeze score is put together, with a worked example. **Before you start:** - A scan desk with the IBKR scanner running ([guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)). - The SEC contact email set in Settings > Intel ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)). Without it, SHS OUT, MKT CAP and the SHORT percent stay blank, and the squeeze score has less to work with. ## Float vs shares outstanding **Shares outstanding** is every share the company has issued. The **[float](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#float)** is the part the public can actually trade: shares outstanding minus those held by insiders, large owners and restricted holders. The float is always the smaller number, often much smaller. Momentum traders care about the float, because a small float means few shares for sale when buyers rush in. Scalpel shows shares outstanding because that is what it can get honestly, for free: - IBKR's API has no float field, and its scanner refuses float as a filter. - Reliable float data is a paid third-party feed. Scalpel is built to run on what you already have through Interactive Brokers, plus free public sources. - Shares outstanding is reported by every listed company in its SEC filings, and Scalpel reads it from SEC EDGAR at no cost. Because shares outstanding is never below the float, it works as a ceiling: | SHS OUT reads | What you know about the float | |---|---| | 3.0M | The float is 3.0M or less: a sure low float | | 9.1M | At most 9.1M. Low by any standard | | 40.0M | Could be 40M, or 8M if insiders hold most of it. Check the company's filings before you treat it as low float | | - | Not known yet: no SEC contact email, past the 40-symbol intel limit, or a company EDGAR does not cover | **Careful.** SHS OUT is the count from the company's latest reported financials, so it can lag. A company that sold 10 million new shares last week, or did a reverse split, has a different share count than the column shows until its next report. A red **Selling** chip on the same row is your clue ([guide 9.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/check-dilution)). **MKT CAP** is the last price times shares outstanding, so it needs the same data and moves with the price. ## Short interest and days to cover The **SHORT** column reads like **18% 3.4d**: - **18%** is [short interest](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#short-interest): the shares sold short, as a percent of shares outstanding. - **3.4d** is [days to cover](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#days-to-cover): the short position divided by the average daily volume, the number of days of normal trading it would take the shorts to buy back. The numbers come from FINRA's consolidated short interest, which is free. Brokers report it twice a month, for the 15th and the last trading day of the month, and FINRA publishes it about a week later. So the reading can be up to three weeks old. Scalpel checks each watched symbol once a day and keeps the newest report from the last 75 days. Two things to keep in mind: - **It is a percent of shares out, not of the float.** With a float smaller than shares out, the real percent of the float is higher than the column says. - **It is slow.** Short interest tells you how crowded the short side was at the last report. For what shorts can do right now, read the live borrow chips ([guide 9.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/borrow-and-short-squeezes)). If only the days show (for example **2.1d**), FINRA has a reading but the share count is missing, so there is no percent. A dash means FINRA has no recent reading, which is common for brand-new listings. ## The squeeze score (SQZ) SQZ answers one question: how built is this stock to squeeze? It is a 0 to 100 score on a violet cell that glows brighter as the score rises. Hover it to see why. ### What goes into it | Ingredient | Weight | Full marks at | Falls to zero at | |---|---|---|---| | Supply: shares out (or the float, when known) | 25% | About 1M shares | About 50M shares | | Live borrow pressure ([guide 9.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/borrow-and-short-squeezes)) | 20% | A borrow score of 100 | 0 | | Relative volume | 20% | 10x or more | No volume | | Short interest, percent of shares out | 15% | 30% or more | 0% | | Days to cover | 5% | 5 days or more | 0 | | Price | 7.5% | $2 to $10 | Never: 70% from $10 to $20, 30% under $2, 25% over $20 | | Market cap | 7.5% | About $50M or less | About $5B | Supply and market cap are scored on a log scale, so the step from 2M to 4M shares matters far more than from 40M to 42M. The score averages only the ingredients Scalpel knows. A missing reading (no FINRA report, no borrow data yet) drops out instead of counting as zero, so a fresh listing is not punished for missing paperwork. ### The dilution cut New stock for sale kills squeezes, because every spike has a seller waiting. After the fuel is scored, dilution cuts it: | Dilution read ([guide 9.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/check-dilution)) | Cut | |---|---| | Selling now (severe) | Score halved | | High risk | A quarter off | | Medium (can dilute) | A tenth off | | Low | None | ### Reading it | SQZ | Hover card says | Means | |---|---|---| | 70 to 100 | **Built to squeeze** | Tight supply, heavy demand and little new stock coming. It can move fast if buyers step in | | 40 to 69 | **Some squeeze fuel** | A few squeeze ingredients. It needs volume and a catalyst to really go | | 0 to 39 | **Not a squeeze setup** | Plenty of supply or little demand. Moves here tend to be slower | ## Worked example WXYZ trades at $4.20, up 38% on contract news. It has 3.0M shares outstanding, 600,000 shares sold short (20% of shares out, 2.5 days to cover), is trading 12 times its normal volume, nobody can borrow it to short (a borrow score of 80), and it has no dilution flags. Its market cap is 3.0M x $4.20 = $12.6M. | Ingredient | Reading | Points | |---|---|---| | Supply | 3.0M shares out | 18.0 of 25 | | Borrow pressure | 80 | 16.0 of 20 | | Relative volume | 12x (over 10x) | 20.0 of 20 | | Short interest | 20% (of 30%) | 10.0 of 15 | | Days to cover | 2.5 (of 5) | 2.5 of 5 | | Price | $4.20 | 7.5 of 7.5 | | Market cap | $12.6M | 7.5 of 7.5 | | **Total** | | **81** | (The supply part is 17.98, so the exact total is 81.48 and the panel shows 81.) *Screenshot: WXYZ's SQZ of 81 with its hover card: Built to squeeze, then the ingredients, strongest first. Demo data.* Now suppose WXYZ files to sell stock and its dilution read goes to high: 81.48 x 0.75 = 61, **Some squeeze fuel**, and the card's first line reads "High dilution risk: score cut by a quarter". If it prices an offering, the read goes to severe and the score halves to 41. **Note.** SQZ describes the stock's structure, not where it goes next. A score of 90 can still fall all day, and most high scores never squeeze. Use it to choose which stocks to watch, then trade what the Level 2 and the tape show you ([guide 3.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-level-2)). Small-cap momentum trading carries a significant risk of loss. **Tip.** Click the **SQZ** header to sort a panel by score, highest first. In the pre-market, sort by SQZ, then read the catalyst chip of the top five. ## Questions **Why does Scalpel show shares outstanding instead of float?** IBKR's API does not supply float and its scanner refuses it as a filter, and reliable float data is a paid feed. Shares outstanding comes free from SEC filings and is never below the float, so a small number is a sure low float. **Is a low shares outstanding the same as a low float?** A low shares outstanding guarantees a low float, because the float is always smaller. A high shares outstanding does not rule out a low float: insiders may hold most of the shares. **How old is the short interest in the SHORT column?** Up to about three weeks. FINRA collects it for the 15th and the end of each month and publishes it about a week later. Scalpel checks once a day per symbol. **Why did the squeeze score change when the price did not?** Relative volume keeps rising through the day, the live borrow read changes as shorts use up the available shares, and a new financing filing cuts the score. Any of these moves SQZ without a price change. **What is a good squeeze score?** 70 and up reads as built to squeeze, 40 to 69 as some squeeze fuel, under 40 as not a squeeze setup. It ranks structure only: it does not predict direction. **Why does the SHORT column show only days, like 2.1d?** FINRA has a short interest reading, but Scalpel has no share count to turn it into a percent. Set the SEC contact email in Settings > Intel, and check the symbol is within the 40 that intel follows. --- # Arrange scan panels > Add, remove, resize and drag scan panels, change their scan, switch LIVE and LOG views, mute the bell, send a row to a desk, and every option in the cog. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scanner-panels Guide 8.5, Scanner. Beginner, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** On a scan desk, click **Add panel** in the desk header to add a scan panel, pick its scan from the dropdown in the panel's title, drag the gap between panels to resize them, and drag a title onto another panel to swap them. Each title bar has **LIVE** or **LOG**, a bell to mute alerts, a cog for that scan's settings and an **X** to remove the panel. Click a row to load the stock onto a free desk, or click a coloured square to pick the desk. A scan desk is a stack of scan panels you can shape to the way you trade: one big IBKR scanner list, or a tall Setups panel with a small High of day momentum strip under it. This guide covers every control on the desk and on each panel, with the details that are easy to miss, such as which settings are shared between panels. **Before you start:** - A desk switched to **SCAN** ([guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)). - At least one trader desk open, so rows have somewhere to load ([guide 2.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/arrange-desks)). ## The scan desk and its panels A new scan desk opens with three panels, top to bottom: **IBKR scanner**, **High of day momentum** and **Running up**. *Screenshot: A scan desk: Add panel in the desk header (1), the scan dropdown in each panel's title (2), and the gap you drag to resize two panels (3). Demo data.* Every panel's title bar carries the same controls: *Screenshot: The title bar: the scan dropdown (1), the row count (2), LIVE or LOG (3), the bell (4), the cog (5) and the close button (6).* ## Arrange the panels ### 1. Add a panel Click **Add panel** in the scan desk's header. The new panel appears at the bottom, split from the lowest panel, and shows the first scan not already on the desk. On the default desk, that is **Setups**. ### 2. Choose its scan Click the scan name in the panel's title and pick **IBKR scanner**, **High of day momentum**, **Running up** or **Setups**. [Guide 8.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scan-types) explains what each one finds. *Screenshot: The scan dropdown open on a panel's title.* ### 3. Resize panels Drag the gap between two panels up or down. Give the panel you read most the most rows: each row is 21 pixels, and a panel scrolls when it has more rows than fit. ### 4. Reorder panels Drag a panel by its title bar and drop it on another panel: the two swap places. ### 5. Remove a panel Click the **X** at the right of the title bar. A scan desk always keeps at least one panel, so the last one has no X. To switch the whole desk back to trading, click **SCAN** in the desk header. **Hide** in the desk header closes the desk altogether (when more than one desk is open). Scalpel saves the layout as you change it, per desk, so it is the same next time. ## LIVE and LOG views Click **LIVE** (green) to switch the panel to **LOG** (blue), and click again to go back. - **LIVE** shows the stocks on the scan right now, in rank order or your chosen sort. - **LOG** is the scan's alert history, newest first, up to 200 entries: every time a stock entered the scan this session, with a **TIME** column (now, 40s ago, 3m ago, 2h ago). *Screenshot: High of day momentum in LOG view: the newest alert flashing blue, older rows fading over a few minutes, and a red dot on the row where each stock first appeared. Demo data.* In LOG view a fresh entry flashes blue for a couple of seconds, rows fade as they age so the newest read brightest, and the row where a stock appeared for the first time keeps a red dot, so you can see at a glance that ABCD's latest break, 40 seconds ago, was its second. **Clear** (LOG view only) empties the log. It also resets the scan's memory of which stocks it has seen, so the next appearance of each one counts as new again and alerts again. **Note.** View, sort and bell belong to the scan, not to the panel. Two panels showing the same scan always share them: switch one to LOG and both switch. ## Mute a scan Click the **bell**. A crossed-out bell means that scan is muted: no toast, no sound and no voice for it, though the rows and the log still update. It is the same switch as **Alert on new entry** in the cog. By default IBKR scanner, High of day momentum and Setups are armed and Running up is muted. ## The cog: a scan's settings Click the **cog** for that scan's settings. They apply as you change them; close the window with the X. What is in it depends on the scan: - **IBKR scanner**: **Alert on new entry**, and a note that its filters are in Settings under Connection ([guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)). - **High of day momentum** and **Setups**: **Alert on new entry** only. They show every listed stock that triggers. - **Running up**: **Alert on new entry** plus its own price, gap, relative volume, shares out, volume and market cap filters ([guide 8.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scan-types)). Every cog ends with the same **Global** block, shared by all panels: *Screenshot: The IBKR scanner's cog, with the Global block outlined.* | Global switch | Default | What it does | |---|---|---| | **Require news catalyst** | Off | Running up shows only stocks with a headline in the last 24 hours | | **Setup chips** | On | The coloured setup letters beside symbols. The Setups panel always shows them | | **Intel column** | On | The dilution, catalyst and borrow chips on every scan panel. The desk strips and chart lines stay on either way | Turning off **Intel column** gives the other columns more room on a narrow scan desk. ## Sort a panel Click a column header to sort by it, biggest first; click it again to flip the order. The arrow beside the header shows the active sort. SYM, PRICE, CHG%, SQZ, RVOL, SHS OUT, SHORT, MKT CAP and VOL sort; RANK, VWAP and INTEL do not. The sort is saved per scan. Sorting the IBKR scanner by CHG%, biggest first, matches its live rank order. ## Send a row to a desk - **Click a row** to load the stock onto a trader desk: an empty desk first, otherwise one with no open position. If the stock is already on a desk, that desk takes focus instead. If every trader desk holds a position, the toast **No free desk: every trader desk holds a position** says so; if every desk is a scan desk, **No trader desk open: click SCAN on a desk to switch it to TRADER** tells you what to do. - **Click a coloured square** in the **DESK** column to load the stock onto that desk. There is one square per open trader desk, in the desk's colour, which is what the scan desk's header hint means by "Click a desk color to load". *Screenshot: The DESK squares up close: PQRS is on the green desk, so its square is filled; XYZA is on none.* A filled square means that desk already holds the stock. Clicking a filled square empties that desk. A desk holding a position never changes symbol: you get "D2 holds a position: close it before changing the symbol" instead, so a click on the scanner can never orphan an open trade. Scan alert toasts work the same way: click one to load its stock. [Guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks) covers loading symbols in general. ## What can go wrong - **Clicking a row does nothing visible.** The stock is already on a desk and that desk just took focus, or no trader desk is free (check for the toast). - **The LOG view emptied itself.** Someone pressed **Clear**, or Scalpel restarted: the log lives for the session. - **A panel shows fewer rows than the count.** The panel is shorter than its list. Scroll it, or drag the gap to give it more height. ## Questions **Can I put the same scan on two panels?** Yes, but both panels share that scan's rows, sort, LIVE or LOG view and bell, so it is mostly useful across two scan desks on different screens. **How many scan panels can a desk hold?** As many as fit. Each Add panel splits the lowest panel in two, so in practice three or four panels per desk stay readable. **Do scan panels use market data lines?** Not by themselves. The IBKR scanner's list uses one line per listed stock whether or not any panel is open, and the other scans read the same quotes. **Does Clear stop alerts?** No, the opposite. Clear resets which stocks the scan has seen, so each one alerts again the next time it appears. Mute the bell to stop alerts. **Why do the rows have alternating shading?** That is the zebra striping for readability. Turn it off in Settings > Appearance > Zebra stripes. --- # Turn on intel > Set the SEC contact email and an optional OpenAI key so Scalpel reads filings, dilution, shares outstanding and news. What each source needs and costs. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel Guide 9.1, Intel: borrow, dilution and catalysts. Beginner, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Intel is on by default: borrow and news catalysts work straight away from your IBKR connection. To turn on SEC filings (the dilution read, shares outstanding, market cap and the short interest percent), open **Settings > Intel** and enter a real email in **Contact email**; it is sent only to sec.gov, which requires it. Optionally, add an OpenAI API key for AI headline grading and warrant and offering prices on the chart, for a few cents a day. Intel is what Scalpel knows about a stock that the tape cannot show: whether the company is about to sell stock into your move, why the stock is moving, and whether shorts are trapped. It runs on free sources only: Interactive Brokers' own data and the news on your account, SEC EDGAR, FINRA and Nasdaq. There is no paid news or data service to subscribe to. The one optional extra is an OpenAI key. **Before you start:** - Scalpel connected to TWS or IB Gateway ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). - An email address you read. The SEC asks for a real one. - Optional: an OpenAI account with an API key and billing set up. ## What intel reads, and what each part needs | Read | Source | Needs | |---|---|---| | Borrow: shares left to short, the borrow fee | IBKR's live shortable data and its public stock-loan file, the Nasdaq Reg SHO threshold list, FINRA daily short volume | Nothing extra | | Short interest and days to cover | FINRA | Nothing extra (the percent needs the share count) | | News catalysts | The news providers on your IBKR account, graded by keyword | Nothing extra | | Dilution: filings, shelves, offerings, cash runway | SEC EDGAR | **Contact email** | | Shares outstanding, market cap | SEC EDGAR | **Contact email** | | AI headline grading | OpenAI | An OpenAI key | | Warrant, offering and conversion lines on the chart | SEC EDGAR, read by OpenAI | **Contact email** and an OpenAI key | Intel follows up to 40 symbols at once: the stocks you hold first, then the symbols on your desks, then the IBKR scanner's list ([guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)). Everything runs on your own computer: requests go straight from Scalpel to each source. ## Set up intel ### 1. Open the Intel tab Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) and click **Intel**. **Enabled**, beside **Intel (borrow, dilution, catalysts)**, is ticked by default. Under it, five status lines say what is working. Before setup, the first reads **SEC filings: off until a contact email is set below**. *Screenshot: The Intel tab before setup: SEC filings off, and the Contact email field, outlined, still empty.* ### 2. Enter your contact email Under **SEC EDGAR**, type your email in **Contact email**. The SEC's fair access rules require every automated request to name a real contact, and sec.gov refuses anonymous or placeholder ones, so filings stay off until this is set. The address goes only to sec.gov, in the User-Agent header of each request. FINRA, Nasdaq, IBKR's file server and OpenAI see a generic "Scalpel trading cockpit" with no contact details. ### 3. Apply and check the status Click **Apply**. Scalpel re-reads every watched company at once, so the dilution chips, SHS OUT and MKT CAP fill in within a minute or so, without a restart. The first status line changes to **SEC filings: live**. *Screenshot: The Intel tab after setup: the status lines, outlined, read SEC filings live, the news providers on the account, the borrow file's time, OpenAI on and 32 symbols watched.* ### 4. Optional: add an OpenAI key Scroll down to **OpenAI (optional)** and paste your key into **API key**. Two switches, both on by default, decide what it is used for: - **Grade headlines**: each live headline is graded by OpenAI's Decisions API for its kind, strength, whether it raises money and whether it is new. The keyword grade shows first and the AI grade replaces it when it lands, usually within a few seconds. Billed on input only, a few cents a day. - **Extract filing terms**: financing filings are read for their warrant, offering and conversion prices, which become the orange lines on the chart ([guide 9.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/warrant-and-offering-lines)). Each filing is read once and cached for good. *Screenshot: The lower half of the Intel tab: the API key and its two switches, outlined.* Instead of pasting the key, you can set the **OPENAI_API_KEY** environment variable; Scalpel uses it when the box is empty. The status line reads **OpenAI: on** once a key is in place. ### 5. Set how much news history to load **News history days** is how far back Scalpel loads headlines for a stock when it first starts watching it: 3 by default, from 1 to 30. It applies on the next start. ## The status lines | Line | What it means | |---|---| | **SEC filings: off until a contact email is set below** | No valid email (it needs an @ and a dot). Filings, dilution and share counts are off | | **SEC filings: waiting for sec.gov** | The email is set but sec.gov has not answered yet. Normal for a few seconds; if it stays, see below | | **SEC filings: live** | Filings are being read | | **News: BRFG, BRFUPDN, ...** | The news providers on your IBKR account, by IBKR's codes. **News: waiting for IBKR** until TWS answers | | **IBKR borrow file: loaded (...)** | IBKR's stock-loan file, with the time IBKR stamped on it. Scalpel fetches it every 15 minutes | | **OpenAI: no key, keyword grading only** | No key: the keyword grader runs and no supply lines are drawn | | **OpenAI: on** | The key is set | | **OpenAI: key rejected, keyword grading until it changes** | OpenAI refused the key. Scalpel stops calling until you enter a different one | | **Watching 32 symbols** | How many symbols intel follows now, up to 40 | ## What it costs and what is shared The SEC, FINRA, Nasdaq and IBKR sources are free. The news is whatever your IBKR account already carries through the API; Scalpel does not add a provider. The OpenAI key is billed by OpenAI to your own account: headline grading is a few cents a day, and filing extraction is a one-off per filing. When the key is set, OpenAI receives the headline (and up to the first 1,200 characters of the article, when IBKR supplies it) with the ticker, price, change and market cap, and excerpts of financing filings. Nothing about your account or your trades is sent. ## What can go wrong - **SEC filings stays on "waiting for sec.gov".** Something is blocking the connection to sec.gov (a firewall, a VPN, a proxy), or the address contains characters a web header cannot carry, such as an accented letter. Use a plain ASCII address. See [the fix guide](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-intel-off). - **News stays on "waiting for IBKR", or no catalyst chips appear.** Your IBKR account has no news providers available to the API. Check the news subscriptions on your IBKR account; several are free. - **OpenAI: key rejected.** The key is wrong, revoked, or the OpenAI account has no billing. Fix it on OpenAI's side and paste the key again. - **A stock has no chips at all.** It may be past the 40 symbols intel follows. Load it onto a desk: desk symbols come before the scanner list. ## Questions **Why does Scalpel need my email for SEC filings?** The SEC requires every automated request to sec.gov to carry a real contact in its User-Agent header and refuses anonymous ones. Scalpel sends the address only to sec.gov hosts. **Do I need an OpenAI key?** No. Without one, a keyword grader grades headlines and every dilution, borrow and short interest read still works. The key adds AI grading and the warrant and offering lines on the chart. **How much does the OpenAI key cost to run?** Headline grading is billed on input only and comes to a few cents a day. Filing extraction runs once per financing filing and is cached, so it costs little after the first days. **Does intel need a paid news subscription?** No. Scalpel grades the headlines from whatever news providers your IBKR account already has through the API. It does not use any paid third-party news feed. **Which symbols does intel follow?** Up to 40: the stocks you hold, then the symbols on your desks, then the IBKR scanner's list in IBKR's order. Symbols past 40 get no intel until a slot frees up. **What happens if I untick Enabled?** Intel stops: no chips, no desk strips, no supply lines, no dilution guard and no intel alerts. Running up with Require news catalyst then shows nothing, because no stock has a headline on file. --- # Check a stock for dilution before you buy > Spot a company about to sell stock into your move: S-1, S-3 shelves, 424B prospectuses, ATMs, warrants and cash runway, read into one dilution verdict. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/check-dilution Guide 9.2, Intel: borrow, dilution and catalysts. Intermediate, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Dilution is a company selling new shares, which puts a seller on every spike you buy into. Scalpel reads each company's SEC filings and finances into one verdict, shown as a chip on the scan row and the desk: a red **Selling 21h** means a financing filing in the last 7 days, a red **Warrants near** means warrants or convertible notes can be cashed in near the price, an amber **Dilution** is high risk, and a grey **Can dilute** means it is set up to sell. Hover the chip for the reasons and the filings. A small cap with fresh news and a tight float can run hard. If the same company has just registered stock to sell, the run often stalls exactly where the company or its new shareholders start selling. Checking for that by hand means reading EDGAR filing lists, prospectus supplements and balance sheets in the minute before you trade. Scalpel does it for every stock it watches, from SEC EDGAR directly, with no paid dilution service involved. **Before you start:** - Intel on, with the SEC contact email set ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)). Without it, there is no dilution read at all. - Optional: an OpenAI key, for warrant and offering prices and for reading 8-Ks whose items leave it open. ## The filings that mean dilution Scalpel classifies every filing for the stocks it watches. These are the ones that sell, or set up to sell, stock: | Form | What Scalpel calls it | What it means for a long | |---|---|---| | **S-1**, **F-1** | Registering stock to sell | A new offering or a resale is being registered | | **S-1/A** | Offering paperwork updated, pricing may be close | An amended registration: often days before an offering prices | | **S-3**, **F-3** | Shelf: can sell stock later | A [shelf](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#shelf-registration): permission to sell stock any time over the next three years | | **EFFECT** | Sale paperwork approved: can sell now | The SEC declared a registration effective | | **424B4**, **424B1** | Offering priced | The final terms of an offering | | **424B5** | Selling stock off its shelf | A sale off the shelf, including an [ATM offering](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#atm-offering) that sells into the market | | **424B3**, **424B7** | Holders cleared to sell shares | Existing holders can now resell their shares | | **8-K** with item 3.02 | Sold shares privately | An unregistered sale of stock, such as a private placement | Some filings look like dilution and are not, so Scalpel leaves them out: a **424B2** is debt paperwork, and an **S-3ASR** is an automatic shelf only large, seasoned companies can file. An 8-K that reports a signed agreement (item 1.01) or other news (8.01) can hide a financing; with an OpenAI key, Scalpel reads the filing and relabels it, for example **Selling stock: registered direct** or **Warrant deal: new shares coming**. From the company's reported financials, Scalpel also works out its **cash runway** (cash divided by its quarterly cash burn, in months) and how much its **share count** grew over about a year. ## The verdict All of that becomes one verdict, with the reasons strongest first: | Verdict | When | Chip | |---|---|---| | **Severe** | A financing filing in the last 7 days, or a warrant or conversion price at, below or within 10% above the current price | Red **Selling 21h** (with the filing's age), or red **Warrants near** | | **High** | A financing filing 8 to 30 days ago; or a shelf plus under 6 months of cash; or a shelf plus two or more 424B prospectuses in 12 months | Amber **Dilution** | | **Medium** | A shelf on file; or under 12 months of cash; or the share count up more than 50% in a year; or a 424B in the last 12 months | Grey **Can dilute** | | **Low** | None of the above | No chip | Any financing filing in the last 7 days reads as selling now, including a brand-new shelf. A shelf is permission, not a sale, but a company that just filed one usually means to use it. **Note.** Low is not a guarantee. It means none of the warning signs are in the filings Scalpel has read. A company can announce an offering at any moment, and an evening deal often reaches you as a headline before its filing does. ## Check a stock before you buy 1. **Look for a dilution chip.** It is the first chip in a scan row's **INTEL** column, and it shows in the intel strip under a desk's header. No chip means Low. 2. **Hover it.** The card leads with what it means for a long trade, then the reasons, the prices where new sellers sit, and the recent financing filings with their age and form. *Screenshot: EFGH's red Selling 21h chip, hovered: a 424B5 off a shelf 21 hours ago, the shelf behind it, a 64% jump in share count, the last offering's price and the warrants, then the filings themselves. Demo data.* 3. **Read the prices against the chart.** "Last offering at 2.60 (2.0M shares)" means 2 million shares were just sold at $2.60. Those buyers may sell into a run above it. "Warrants at 3.75" means holders can buy new shares at $3.75 and sell them, so a push toward $3.75 meets supply. With an OpenAI key these prices are drawn on the chart ([guide 9.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/warrant-and-offering-lines)). 4. **Check the desk strip when the stock is loaded.** It carries the same chip with the filing in plain words. *Screenshot: Desk D2's intel strip on EFGH: the Deal catalyst with its headline, then Selling 21h with the filing it refers to. Demo data.* 5. **Decide with the rest of the picture.** A strong catalyst on a company that is selling stock is a common trap: the news brings buyers, and the company sells to them. A common approach is to pass on a red chip, or to trade it smaller and take profits faster into spikes. That is your call; the chip only makes sure you know. ## How fast Scalpel sees a filing - SEC EDGAR's live filings feed is checked every 5 seconds on weekdays from 06:00 to 22:00 ET, and every 2 minutes outside those hours. - For stocks you hold and stocks on your desks, Scalpel also re-reads the company's full filing list every 60 seconds during those hours. - A news flash announcing a new filing (Dow Jones posts one for each 8-K) makes Scalpel re-read that company at once. EDGAR itself posts filings within seconds to a few minutes during the day. An offering priced in the evening usually reaches you first as a press release headline (graded as offering news, [guide 9.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/catalyst-grading)), with the 424B prospectus the next morning. When a financing filing lands on a stock you hold, you get a red toast and a spoken exit warning, in SIM and LIVE. On a stock you are only watching, an amber toast. For the first press of a buy key soon after, see [the dilution entry guard (guide 9.7)](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/dilution-entry-guard). ## What can go wrong - **No dilution chip on any stock.** The SEC contact email is missing, or SEC filings are not live yet. Check the status lines in Settings > Intel ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)). - **A stock you know is diluting shows no chip.** It may be past the 40 symbols intel follows, or the company is not in SEC EDGAR's ticker list (some foreign issuers and very new listings). Load it onto a desk to put it ahead of the scanner list. - **The share count looks too low after an offering.** SHS OUT comes from the last reported financials and lags a fresh sale. Trust the Selling chip over the count. ## Questions **What is an S-3 shelf registration?** Permission from the SEC to sell stock at any time over about three years, in pieces, without filing a new registration each time. Scalpel reads an S-3 or F-3 filed in the last three years as a company that can dilute. **What is a 424B5?** A prospectus supplement for a sale off a shelf: a takedown or an at-the-market program. Scalpel labels it Selling stock off its shelf and reads it as selling now for 7 days. **What is an ATM offering?** An at-the-market program: the company sells new shares straight into the market over time, often into strength. It is filed as a 424B5 with a sales agreement, and it puts a quiet seller behind every spike. **How quickly does Scalpel pick up a new filing?** EDGAR's live feed is checked every 5 seconds on weekdays from 06:00 to 22:00 ET. Held and desk symbols also get their filing list re-read every minute. **Why does the chip say Selling when the company only filed a shelf?** Any financing filing in the last 7 days reads as selling now, a new shelf included. Hover the chip: the card names the form, so you can see whether it was a shelf or a sale. **Does a Low verdict mean the stock will not dilute?** No. It means none of the warning signs are in the filings read so far. Offerings can be announced at any time, often by press release first. --- # Borrow, short fees and squeeze setups > Read borrow like a squeeze trader: shares left to short, the borrow fee, the Reg SHO threshold list and short volume, combined into Scalpel's borrow chips. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/borrow-and-short-squeezes Guide 9.3, Intel: borrow, dilution and catalysts. Advanced, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel reads the short side live: whether any shares are left to borrow (IBKR's shortable data), what shorts pay to borrow them (IBKR's stock-loan file), the Reg SHO threshold list and FINRA short volume, scored into a 0 to 100 borrow pressure. The chips are **Can't short** (no shares left), **Short fee 85%** (a borrow fee of 20% a year or more) and **Hard to short** (few shares to borrow). For a long, it means this: when borrow is gone and the fee is climbing, no new shorts can pile on, and a push through VWAP or the high of day has forced buyers behind it. Scalpel is long only ([guide 7.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/long-only)), but the short side still matters to your long. Short sellers are future buyers: every share sold short has to be bought back. When they cannot add, and holding the position costs them a fortune, a run through a level they defended can force them to buy at the same moment you want to sell into strength. That is a short squeeze. This guide explains where Scalpel's borrow data comes from, what the chips and the score mean, and how far to trust them. **Before you start:** - Intel on ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)). Borrow needs nothing else: no SEC email and no OpenAI key. ## Where the borrow data comes from All free, all through what you already have: | Source | What it gives | How fresh | |---|---|---| | IBKR shortable data, on your quotes | Whether shares can be borrowed (easy, locate needed, or none) and how many are left | Live, for symbols on your desks and the IBKR scanner's list | | IBKR's public stock-loan file | The annual borrow fee and the shares available, for every US stock | IBKR updates it about every 30 minutes; Scalpel fetches it every 15 | | Nasdaq Reg SHO threshold list | Stocks with persistent fails to deliver, a sign of heavy shorting | Daily | | FINRA daily short volume | The share of yesterday's volume that was short selling | Daily | | FINRA short interest | The total short position, twice a month ([guide 8.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/shares-out-short-interest-squeeze)) | Up to about three weeks old | IBKR's shortable reading has three levels: **easy** (at least 1,000 shares to borrow), **locate needed** (shortable only if the broker can find shares), and **none**. ## The borrow chips A stock gets one borrow chip, the strongest that applies: | Chip | When | What it means for a long | |---|---|---| | **Can't short** | No shares left to borrow | Shorts are trapped: they cannot add, and a push through VWAP or the high can force them to buy | | **Short fee 85%** | The borrow fee is 20% a year or more (the number is the fee) | Shorting is expensive. Every day short costs them, which is squeeze fuel | | **Hard to short** | Locate needed: few shares to borrow | Some squeeze fuel | No chip means borrow is easy and cheap, or nothing is known yet. The chip is violet, Scalpel's squeeze colour, on scan rows and in the desk's intel strip, where the strip's summary is the verdict below. ## The borrow pressure score Behind the chip, Scalpel scores how trapped the shorts are, 0 to 100: | Ingredient | Weight | Scoring | |---|---|---| | Borrow fee | 25% | Zero at 1% a year or less, full at 100% or more, on a log scale | | Shares left to short | 25% | Full when none are left; 70% when a locate is needed; 60% when under 50,000 shares are left | | Borrow used up today | 15% | How much of this session's first availability reading is gone. 80% used up scores full | | Fee rising since yesterday | 10% | Counts when the fee is 5% or more and up on yesterday's. A doubling scores full | | Reg SHO threshold list | 10% | Full when the stock is on it | | Crowding | 10% | Short interest (30% of shares out scores full) and days to cover (5 days scores full), averaged | | Short volume | 5% | Zero at half of yesterday's volume, full at 80% | Like the squeeze score, it averages the ingredients it knows, but with a floor, so one lonely reading cannot max it out. | Score | Card title | Means | |---|---|---| | 60 to 100 | **Shorts trapped** | Shorts cannot add and are paying to stay in. A push through VWAP or the high can force them to buy (squeeze) | | 30 to 59 | **Squeeze fuel building** | Shorting is getting hard and expensive. Some squeeze fuel | | 0 to 29 | **Shorts not trapped** | Shorts can still add freely. No squeeze edge here | ## Worked example PQRS opened with 120,000 shares available to borrow. By mid-morning there are none. The borrow fee is 85% a year, up from 40% yesterday. FINRA has 18% of shares out sold short with 3.4 days to cover, and 62% of yesterday's volume was short selling. It is not on the threshold list. | Ingredient | Reading | Points | |---|---|---| | Shares left | None | 25.0 of 25 | | Fee | 85% | 24.1 of 25 | | Used up today | All 120,000 | 15.0 of 15 | | Fee rising | 40% to 85%, more than double | 10.0 of 10 | | Crowding | 18% and 3.4 days | 6.4 of 10 | | Short volume | 62% | 2.0 of 5 | That is 82.5 points out of the 90 that apply (the threshold list is left out), so the score is 82.5 / 90 = 92: **Shorts trapped**. *Screenshot: PQRS's Can't short chip, hovered: Shorts trapped, the reasons strongest first, then the shares left, the fee and the score. Demo data.* The last line of the card, "Borrow pressure 92 of 100", is this score. A short interest reason names its base: "of the float" when Scalpel knows the float, otherwise "of shares outstanding". It feeds the stock's overall **SQZ** score on the scan panel with a 20% weight ([guide 8.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/shares-out-short-interest-squeeze)). ## Alerts When a stock you are watching runs out of borrow during the session (IBKR's shortable reading drops to none), Scalpel raises a toast, for example **PQRS: no shares left to short**, with a sound. It fires once per stock per day. ## How far to trust it - **Trapped shorts are fuel, not a trigger.** A stock with no borrow can still fade all day if no buyers show up. The squeeze needs a push through a level the shorts care about, usually VWAP or the high of day, with real volume on the tape. - **Short interest is old; borrow is live.** A big short interest from three weeks ago may already have covered. The live chip tells you about now. - **Squeezes reverse hard.** The forced buying ends when the shorts are out, often at the top of the spike. Momentum trading carries a significant risk of loss; have your exit planned before you enter. **Tip.** Watch the chip change. **Hard to short** turning into **Can't short** during a run, with the toast, is the moment the short side runs out of room. ## What can go wrong - **"IBKR borrow file: loading" never finishes.** The file comes over FTP from ftp2.interactivebrokers.com, which some firewalls and networks block. The live shortable chips still work; the fee does not. - **No live borrow on a stock.** Live shortable data rides on the quote, so it exists only for symbols on your desks and the IBKR scanner's list. Other symbols get the file-based fee and availability only. - **The fee shows no trend on the first day.** The rising-fee ingredient needs yesterday's fee, which Scalpel saves each day; on your first day running Scalpel there is none. ## Questions **What does hard to borrow mean?** Few or no shares are available for short sellers to borrow, so new shorts are limited and borrowing costs rise. In Scalpel it shows as Hard to short when a locate is needed, and Can't short when none are left. **What is a borrow fee?** The annual interest a short seller pays to borrow the shares, as a percent of their value. IBKR publishes it for every US stock. Scalpel shows Short fee with the rate once it reaches 20% a year. **What is the Reg SHO threshold list?** A daily list of stocks with persistent fails to deliver: trades where shares sold, often short, were not delivered on time. Being on it adds to Scalpel's borrow pressure. **Can I short a stock in Scalpel?** No. Scalpel is long only: every sell is capped to the shares you hold. The borrow read is there to help you judge a long trade. **Is borrow pressure the same as the SQZ score?** No. Borrow pressure scores the short side only. SQZ combines it, at a 20% weight, with supply, relative volume, short interest, price and company size, then cuts for dilution. --- # Why is it moving? Catalyst grading > How Scalpel grades each headline by kind and strength, from fluff to explosive, why an offering is never good news, and how news timing compares to EDGAR. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/catalyst-grading Guide 9.4, Intel: borrow, dilution and catalysts. Intermediate, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel grades every headline from the news providers on your IBKR account by kind (FDA, trial data, deal, earnings, M&A, hype, offering and more) and strength, from None to Explosive. The strongest recent one becomes a chip such as **FDA 4m**: green for strong news, blue for decent, grey for weak, and red for an offering, which is never graded as good news. A keyword grader answers instantly; with an OpenAI key, an AI grade replaces it within seconds. "Why is it moving?" is the first question on any runner, and the answer decides a lot. FDA approval on a $20M company can carry it all day; a conference attendance press release usually cannot; an offering means the company is selling to the people buying the spike. Scalpel answers it on the scan row and the desk, so you do not have to open a news window while the stock moves. **Before you start:** - Intel on ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)), with **News** in its status lines showing your providers. - Optional: an OpenAI key, for AI grading. ## Where the headlines come from Scalpel uses the news providers your IBKR account already has through the API, such as Dow Jones and Briefing.com. There is no separate paid news feed. When it starts watching a stock, it loads the last **News history days** of headlines (3 by default), then streams new ones live. The same story arriving on several Dow Jones feeds within 10 minutes is merged into one, and market columns and roundups are never graded as a catalyst. ## Kinds and strength Each headline gets a kind, shown on the chip: | Chip | Kind | |---|---| | **FDA** | An FDA or other regulatory decision, designation or clearance | | **Trial data** | Clinical trial results or data | | **Deal** | A contract, order, partnership, licence or collaboration | | **Earnings** | Financial results or guidance | | **M&A** | A merger, acquisition, buyout or tender offer | | **Hype** | A pivot into a hot theme: AI, crypto treasury, quantum, drones, nuclear, rare earths | | **Uplist** | A move up to a major exchange | | **Offering** | Raising money by selling stock, warrants or convertibles, or registering an offering | | **Reverse split** | A reverse stock split | | **Delisting** | A listing deficiency, a delisting notice, or regaining compliance | | **Analyst** | An analyst rating or price target | | **Legal** | Lawsuits, settlements, patents | | **Fluff PR** | A press release with no real content, such as a conference appearance | | **News** | Anything else | And a strength, judged for a low-float momentum stock, not a large cap: | Strength | Grade | Meaning | |---|---|---| | **Explosive** | 4 | Company-changing: FDA approval, a buyout, a contract bigger than the company, a hot-theme pivot | | **Strong** | 3 | Important: positive trial data, a large contract, a strategic deal | | **Moderate** | 2 | Real but ordinary: a meaningful contract, solid results, trial progress | | **Weak** | 1 | Minor: a small order, a conference, a routine update | | **None** | 0 | Nothing price-moving | An offering is always red, whatever else the headline says, and never graded above weak: "Acme Prices $10 Million Offering Following FDA Approval" is offering news, not FDA news. **Note.** Grades run from 0 to 4 in fractions. The strength word in the hover card's list is the grade rounded, while the chip colour uses the exact grade: green from 3, blue from 2, grey below. So a 2.5 reads **Strong** in the list with a blue chip, and a 1.5 reads **Moderate** with a grey one. ## The chip and its card The chip shows the lead catalyst: the strongest graded headline from the last 24 hours, newest on a tie. An offering headline always leads, so it can never hide behind good news. Automatic filing notices never lead. The chip's label is the kind and the headline's age: **FDA 4m**, **Deal 2h**, **Fluff PR 16h**. Hover it for the verdict and the recent headlines, each with its age, strength and kind: *Screenshot: ABCD's FDA 4m chip, hovered: Strong catalyst, then the headlines behind it. Demo data.* | Chip colour | Card title | Card says | |---|---|---| | Green | **Strong catalyst** | Real news that can bring in buyers. The best runners have this | | Blue | **Decent catalyst** | Can move it, but it needs volume to follow through | | Grey | **Weak catalyst** | Little real news here. The move is mostly momentum or hype | | Red | **Offering news** | The company is selling stock. Usually bad for longs: expect sellers into strength | ## How the grading works **The keyword grader** runs on every headline the moment it arrives, and stands alone without an OpenAI key. It checks rules in order, dilution first, so an offering word wins over everything else, and shrinking or ending an offering program is correctly not dilution. A concrete dollar figure on a deal or result adds half a point. | Headline | Keyword grade | |---|---| | Acme Receives FDA Approval for Lead Candidate | FDA, Explosive, green | | Acme Reports Positive Topline Phase 2 Results | Trial data, Strong, green | | Acme Signs $40 Million Supply Agreement With Major Retailer | Deal, reads Strong, blue chip (2.5) | | Acme Launches Bitcoin Treasury Strategy | Hype, blue chip (2.5) | | Acme to Present at Healthcare Conference | Fluff PR, Weak, grey | | Acme Announces Pricing of $5 Million Registered Direct Offering | Offering, red | **The AI grader**, with an OpenAI key and **Grade headlines** on, sends the headline (and the start of the article, when IBKR supplies it within a few seconds) with the ticker, price, change and market cap. It answers four questions: the kind, the strength against the company's size (a deal worth more than the market cap is huge for a micro cap), whether it raises money, and whether it is new information rather than a recap. Its grade replaces the keyword grade when it lands, usually within a few seconds; if it times out, the keyword grade stays. Of the history loaded at start, the 8 most recent headlines from the last 24 hours per stock are AI-graded. ## Alerts *Screenshot: Intel toasts: a strong catalyst (blue), an offering on a stock you watch (amber), and a financing filing on a stock you hold (red). Demo data.* - **A strong live catalyst**: graded Strong or Explosive (3 and up), judged new, and under 15 minutes old, on a stock intel is watching. An info toast and a sound, reading for example **ABCD FDA: Abcd Receives FDA Approval for Lead Candidate**. Turn these off with **Strong catalyst alerts** in Settings > Intel if they are too chatty. - **An offering headline** always alerts and cannot be switched off: a red toast and a spoken exit warning on a stock you hold, an amber toast on one you only watch. Click a toast to load its stock onto a desk. More in [guide 10.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/alerts-and-toasts). ## Timing: news vs EDGAR The news and the filings race each other. Dow Jones posts a line for each 8-K within about a minute of EDGAR. A company's press release usually hits the wires before the matching filing, and an offering priced in the evening usually reaches you as a headline hours before its 424B prospectus appears the next morning. Scalpel reads both ([guide 9.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/check-dilution)), so whichever arrives first sets the chip. Paid news terminals will be ahead on some headlines. The point here is having the news, the dilution read and the borrow read on the desk where you trade, graded the same way every time. **Careful.** A green chip is not a reason to buy on its own. Strong news on a company that is selling stock, or news that broke three hours ago and has already been traded, can fail fast. Small-cap momentum trading carries a significant risk of loss. ## What can go wrong - **No catalyst chips anywhere.** Check the **News** line in Settings > Intel. "News: waiting for IBKR" means no providers are available to the API on your account. - **A moving stock has no chip.** No headline on file in the last 24 hours, the only headlines are columns or filing notices, or the stock is past the 40 symbols intel follows. - **The grade looks wrong.** Keyword grading is blunt. The AI grade is better at context; check **OpenAI: on** in the status lines. ## Questions **Where does Scalpel get its news?** From the news providers on your Interactive Brokers account, through TWS. Scalpel does not add or require any paid news feed. **Why is an offering never good news in Scalpel?** An offering means the company is selling new stock, often to the buyers of the spike. Both graders put dilution first, and the AI grade of an offering is capped at weak. **Do I need an OpenAI key for catalyst grading?** No. The keyword grader grades every headline without one. The key adds AI grading, which judges strength against the company's size and spots recaps. **Why does the chip say Fluff PR?** The headline is a press release with no material content, such as a conference appearance or a letter to shareholders. The move is mostly momentum or hype. **How old can the catalyst on the chip be?** Up to 24 hours. The age is on the chip, for example Deal 2h. Older headlines stay in the hover card's list but no longer lead. --- # Every intel chip, explained > Each intel chip on Scalpel's scan rows and desk strips, from Selling and Warrants near to FDA, Can't short and Short fee: what it means for a long trade. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/intel-chips Guide 9.5, Intel: borrow, dilution and catalysts. Beginner, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel's intel chips are three reads in a word or two. Dilution chips (red **Selling** and **Warrants near**, amber **Dilution**, grey **Can dilute**) say whether the company can sell stock into your move. Catalyst chips (**FDA 4m**, **Deal 2h**, **Fluff PR 16h**, red **Offering 5m**) say why it is moving and how good the news is. Violet borrow chips (**Can't short**, **Short fee 85%**, **Hard to short**) say whether shorts are trapped. Hover any chip for what it means for a long trade and the facts behind it. Chips sit in the **INTEL** column of every scan panel and in the intel strip under a desk's header. They are deliberately short, so you can read three of them in the time it takes a stock to tick. This page lists every chip, what it means for a long trade, and where to read more. **Before you start:** - Intel on ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)). Dilution chips also need the SEC contact email. *Screenshot: Every intel chip, grouped by the read it comes from, in the app's colours.* ## Dilution chips Is the company about to sell stock into your move? Details in [guide 9.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/check-dilution). | Chip | Colour | When | What it means for a long | |---|---|---|---| | **Selling 21h** | Red | A financing filing in the last 7 days. The time is its age | The company filed to sell stock 21 hours ago. Expect a seller on every spike; breakouts tend to fail | | **Warrants near** | Red | Warrants or convertible notes can be cashed in at, below or within 10% above the price (needs an OpenAI key to find the prices) | Severe dilution risk without a fresh filing: holders can cash in and sell | | **Dilution** | Amber | High risk: a financing 8 to 30 days ago, or a shelf with little cash or frequent sales | It can sell stock any time and probably needs to. Spikes can get sold into | | **Can dilute** | Grey | Medium risk: a shelf, under a year of cash, fast share growth or a recent sale | It is set up to sell stock if the price runs. Watch for a new filing | ## Catalyst chips Why is it moving, and is the reason any good? The chip is the kind of news and its age. Details in [guide 9.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/catalyst-grading). | Chip | Colour | When | What it means for a long | |---|---|---|---| | **FDA 4m**, **Trial data 9m**, **M&A 1h** | Green | Strong or explosive news (a grade of 3 or more) | Real news that can bring in buyers. The best runners have this | | **Deal 2h**, **Earnings 3h**, **Analyst 5h** | Blue | Decent news (a grade of 2 to 3) | Can move it, but it needs volume to follow through | | **Fluff PR 16h**, **Hype 1h**, **News 40m** | Grey | Weak news (under 2) | Little real news. The move is mostly momentum or hype | | **Offering 5m** | Red | An offering headline. It always leads, whatever else came out | The company is selling stock. Usually bad for longs: expect sellers into strength | The colour follows the strength, not the kind: a **Hype** headline can be blue or grey, and a minor **FDA** designation can be blue. Only headlines from the last 24 hours make a chip. ## Borrow chips Can shorts still add, and what does it cost them? All violet. Details in [guide 9.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/borrow-and-short-squeezes). | Chip | When | What it means for a long | |---|---|---| | **Can't short** | No shares left to borrow | Shorts are trapped. A push through VWAP or the high can force them to buy (squeeze) | | **Short fee 85%** | A borrow fee of 20% a year or more | Shorting costs 85% a year. Squeeze fuel | | **Hard to short** | Few shares left to borrow (locate needed) | Some squeeze fuel | The hover card's verdict scales with the borrow pressure score: **Shorts trapped** from 60, **Squeeze fuel building** from 30, **Shorts not trapped** below. ## Where chips show *Screenshot: The same reads in two places: ABCD's scan row, with up to three chips in the INTEL column, and desk D1's intel strip, where each chip has a one-line summary. Demo data.* - **Scan panels**: the **INTEL** column holds up to three chips, always in the same order: dilution first (it is a warning), then the catalyst, then borrow. A narrow panel clips the last chip rather than breaking the row. To hide the column, untick **Intel column** in any scan panel's cog ([guide 8.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scanner-panels)); the desk strips and chart lines stay on. - **Desk intel strip**: a trader desk with something to say shows a strip flush under its header, with the catalyst, dilution and borrow reads side by side. Each has a summary: the headline, the filing (for example "Selling stock off its shelf (424B5)") or the borrow verdict. With nothing to say, there is no strip. - **The chart**: the prices behind dilution, as orange dashed lines ([guide 9.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/warrant-and-offering-lines)). Every chip opens the same kind of hover card, wherever it is: the verdict in the chip's colour, a line on what it means for a long trade, then the facts. ## Not intel chips A few other marks share the scan rows: - The red **HALT** tag: the stock is halted right now. - The coloured letters **G**, **M**, **H**, **F**, **T** and **R**: live entry setups ([guide 8.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scan-types)). - The **SQZ** cell: the squeeze score, which uses the borrow and dilution reads ([guide 8.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/shares-out-short-interest-squeeze)). **Note.** Chips summarise public information; they do not tell you to buy or sell. A red chip on a stock that keeps running, and a green chip on one that fades, are both everyday events. Read the chips, then trade what the Level 2 and the tape show. ## Questions **What does the red Selling chip mean?** The company made a financing filing in the last 7 days, such as a 424B5 prospectus or a new registration. The number is the filing's age. Expect a seller on every spike. **What is the difference between Dilution and Can dilute?** Dilution (amber) is high risk: a recent financing, or a shelf with little cash or frequent sales. Can dilute (grey) is medium: the company is set up to sell, for example with a shelf on file, but nothing points to it needing to now. **Why does a stock have no chips?** Nothing notable was found, intel is off or still loading, the SEC contact email is missing for dilution, or the stock is past the 40 symbols intel follows. **Why are the borrow chips violet?** Violet is Scalpel's squeeze colour, shared with the SQZ score: borrow chips are about the fuel for a short squeeze. **Can I hide the chips?** On scan panels, yes: untick Intel column in any panel's cog. Desk strips and chart lines stay on; switch intel off in Settings > Intel to remove everything. --- # Warrant and offering lines on the chart > Scalpel draws the prices where new sellers can appear: warrant strikes, the last offering and note conversions, read from filings. What they need and mean. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/warrant-and-offering-lines Guide 9.6, Intel: borrow, dilution and catalysts. Advanced, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** With the SEC contact email and an OpenAI key set, Scalpel reads each company's recent financing filings for the prices where new sellers can appear, and draws them on the chart as orange dashed lines labelled on the right: **Warrants 2.10 (3.2M)** where warrant holders can cash in, **Offering 1.85** where the last offering's buyers may sell, and **Converts 0.90** where note holders can convert and sell. Switch them per chart with **Warrant and offering lines** in the chart's cog. When a small cap sells stock, it often sells warrants with it, or borrows on notes that convert into stock. Each of those has a price, and at that price somebody who did not buy on the open market can suddenly make money by selling to you. A run toward a warrant strike tends to meet a wall. These lines put those prices on your chart, read straight from the filings, so you can see them before price gets there. **Before you start:** - Intel on with the SEC contact email set, and an OpenAI key with **Extract filing terms** ticked ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)). - The chart on a trader desk ([guide 3.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/chart-basics)). ## The three lines | Label | What it is | What it means for a long | |---|---|---| | **Warrants 3.75 (2.0M)** | A warrant exercise price, with the shares behind it | Above it, holders can buy new shares at 3.75 and sell them at the market. Expect selling into a run through it | | **Offering 2.60 (2.0M)** | The price per share of a recent offering, with its size | Those buyers may sell to get out at even or a profit, so it can cap a bounce or, from above, attract sellers on a dip back to it | | **Converts 0.90** | A convertible note's conversion price | Note holders can turn debt into stock at 0.90 and sell. A conversion price far below the market is a standing seller | *Screenshot: EFGH's 1 minute chart with the last offering at 2.60 under the price and warrants at 3.75 above it, both for 2.0M shares. Demo data.* The lines are orange, apart from the stop red, take-profit green and VWAP yellow, and dashed so they never read as one of your own levels. Their labels sit at the right edge: the left edge belongs to your position's pills. A level only shows when it is inside the chart's price range, so a warrant strike far above the price appears as the stock approaches it, or when you zoom out. ## How Scalpel finds the prices 1. **The filings.** For each company it watches, Scalpel takes up to six financing filings from the last 12 months: 424B prospectuses, S-1 registrations and 8-Ks that report a sale of stock. 2. **The excerpt.** It downloads each filing's main document from SEC EDGAR and cuts out the passages about the deal terms. 3. **The extraction.** OpenAI is asked to report only the offering prices, warrant exercise prices and conversion prices that the text states, with the share counts behind them, and never to compute or guess. 4. **The checks.** Pre-funded warrants (with a token exercise price of a cent or so) are skipped, since they are not a price level. Any level more than 20 times away from the current price is dropped as a misread. 5. **The cache.** Each filing is read once and kept for good, so the cost is a one-off. A failed read is retried after a day. New filings are read as they arrive, so a fresh offering's price usually appears on the chart within a minute or two of the filing. **Note.** Without an OpenAI key, or with **Extract filing terms** off, no lines are drawn. Everything else about dilution still works: the chips and the hover card's reasons come from the filings themselves ([guide 9.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/check-dilution)). ## Lines and the dilution verdict The same prices feed the dilution read. A warrant or conversion price at, below, or within 10% above the current price makes the verdict **Severe**, shown as a red **Warrants near** chip when there is no fresher filing to show. Hover the dilution chip to see each level in words, for example "Warrants at 3.75 (2.0M shares): holders may sell there". ## Turn them on or off The lines are on by default. To switch them for a chart, open the chart's cog and tick or untick **Warrant and offering lines**. *Screenshot: Chart settings, with Warrant and offering lines outlined.* ## How far to trust them - **They are prices, not promises.** Warrant holders do not have to exercise at the strike, and offering buyers may hold. The line marks where selling becomes possible, not where it will happen. - **Read the terms behind them.** A filing can describe warrants that were later repriced, or an offering only partly sold. Hover the dilution chip, and check the filing on SEC EDGAR when it matters. - **The extraction can miss.** The model reports only numbers the text states; if a filing words its terms unusually, a level can be missing. No line does not prove no warrants. ## Questions **Why are there no warrant lines on my chart?** Lines need intel on, the SEC contact email, an OpenAI key with Extract filing terms ticked, and Warrant and offering lines on in the chart's cog. The company also needs a financing filing with stated prices in the last 12 months, and the level must be inside the chart's price range. **What is a warrant exercise price?** The price at which a warrant holder can buy a new share from the company. Above it, they can exercise and sell at the market for a profit, which adds supply. **Does reading filings cost much?** Each financing filing is read once by OpenAI and cached for good, so the cost is small and one-off. Headline grading is the daily cost, a few cents. **Why is the offering line below the price?** It marks where the last offering's buyers got their shares. If the stock dips back to it, they may sell to get out at even, and above it they may sell into strength to take profit. --- # The dilution entry guard > After a financing filing or offering headline, Scalpel holds your first buy on it and asks for a second press within 4 seconds. How the guard works. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/dilution-entry-guard Guide 9.7, Intel: borrow, dilution and catalysts. Beginner, 3 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** For 30 minutes after a financing filing or an offering headline on a stock, Scalpel holds back your first press of a buy key on it and shows an amber toast, such as **CDEF: 424B5 filed. Press buy again to confirm**. Press the same buy again within 4 seconds to send the order. It is on by default; change the window with **Guard minutes** (1 to 1,440) or switch it off with **Dilution entry guard** in Settings > Intel. The worst time to buy a small cap is right after it files to sell stock: the spike you are chasing is often the company's chance to sell to you. In a fast tape, it is easy to press buy before you have read the new red chip. The guard does not block you. It makes you press twice, once to see the warning and once to mean it. **Before you start:** - Intel on ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)). Filings need the SEC contact email; offering headlines work from your IBKR news alone. ## How it works When you press a buy key (`Shift`+`1` to `Shift`+`4`, or a buy button on the order bar), Scalpel checks the stock on the focused desk. If, within the last **Guard minutes** (30 by default), the company made a financing filing or an offering headline came out, the press is held back: *Screenshot: The first press held back: an amber toast names the newest trigger and asks for a second press.* - The toast names the newer of the two triggers: the filing's form (**424B5 filed**, **S-1/A filed**, **8-K filed**) or **Offering headline**. - A short rejection sound plays, and no order is sent. - **Press the same buy again within 4 seconds** (same desk, same preset key) to send it. The second press goes through as normal. - A different preset key, another desk, or a press after 4 seconds counts as a new first press and is held again. The financing filings that arm it are the ones in [guide 9.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/check-dilution): S-1 and F-1 registrations and amendments, S-3 and F-3 shelves, EFFECT notices, 424B prospectuses (not 424B2), 8-Ks with item 3.02, and 8-Ks that the AI reads as a stock sale. Offering headlines are those graded as raising money ([guide 9.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/catalyst-grading)). It applies in SIM and LIVE alike. It never touches sells, stops or Flatten All: getting out is never delayed. ## Change the window or switch it off Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`), click **Intel** and scroll to **Alerts and guard**. *Screenshot: Settings, Intel, scrolled down: Dilution entry guard and Guard minutes, outlined.* - **Dilution entry guard**: on by default. Untick it to never hold a buy. - **Guard minutes**: how long after the filing or headline the guard stays armed, from 1 to 1,440 (a whole day). 30 by default. Click **Apply**; it takes effect at once. **Tip.** If you trade the pre-market, consider raising Guard minutes to 240 or more: an offering filed at 07:00 is still the biggest fact about the stock at 09:45. ## Related alerts The guard is about entries. Separately, and whatever the guard setting, a financing filing or offering headline on a stock you **hold** always raises a red toast and a spoken exit warning, and on a stock you only watch, an amber toast ([guide 10.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/alerts-and-toasts)). ## Questions **Does the guard block me from buying?** No. It holds the first press and asks you to confirm. Press the same buy key again within 4 seconds and the order is sent. **Why did my buy not go through after I pressed twice?** The second press must be the same preset key on the same desk within 4 seconds. A different key, another desk, or a slower second press starts over. **Does it work without the SEC email?** Partly. Offering headlines from your IBKR news still arm it. Financing filings need the SEC contact email set in Settings > Intel. **Does it slow down my exits?** No. The guard only checks buys. Sells, stops, the take-profit and Flatten All are never held. --- # Voice callouts and sounds > What Scalpel says and plays: fills, exits, stops, the risk lock, mode switches, session times, exit warnings and scanner alerts, and how to mute each. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/voice-callouts Guide 10.1, Audio and alerts. Beginner, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel talks you through every trade so your eyes can stay on the book. A voice confirms entries ("Filled, level two"), exits ("Out, half"), stops ("Stopped out"), take-profits, breakeven, trailing, rejections, the risk lock, mode switches, connection changes, the session times and the exit warnings, and calls out new scanner names and setups. Switch the voice, the sound effects or everything in **Settings > Audio**; the tape's own sound is in the Level 2 panel's cog. Scalping is a game of seconds. Looking away from Level 2 to check whether an order filled, or whether your stop is now at breakeven, costs you the next print. So audio in Scalpel is not decoration: every action you take with a key gets a spoken confirmation, and every event you need to react to has a sound. With the voice on, the orders panel becomes something you glance at to double-check, not something you watch. There are two separate audio channels: - **Callouts**: spoken words and short sound effects for trading events. Settings > Audio. - **Tape sound**: the focused desk's prints played as notes, inspired by [Aggr.trade](https://aggr.trade), so you can hear buyers and sellers. It lives in the Level 2 panel's cog; see [guide 3.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/tape-sound). **Before you start:** - Scalpel on Windows or macOS with a working output device. Audio is not played on other systems. - Your trading keys known ([guide 4.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/hotkeys)): most callouts confirm a key. ## Set the volume and what plays ### 1. Open Settings, Audio Press `Ctrl`+`,` (`Cmd`+`,` on a Mac) and click **Audio**. *Screenshot: Settings, Audio at the defaults: everything on, volume 80%.* ### 2. Choose the channels - **Enable audio** is the master switch: off silences everything, the tape included. - **Sound effects** are the short tones: blips, chimes and alarms. - **Voice callouts** are the spoken words. - **Volume** runs from 0% to 100% in 5% steps (80% by default) and sets the level of both. Click **Apply**. A soft click confirms the save. **How voice and sound share an event.** Many events have both a spoken form and a tone. Scalpel plays one, never both: the voice if **Voice callouts** is on, otherwise the sound effect. So turning the voice off does not leave you deaf; you hear the tone instead. **Voices never talk over each other.** If a callout arrives while another is still speaking, the new one is dropped, so you never hear two sentences at once. Sound effects mix freely. That is also why a burst of events (a fill and its stop a second later) may give you only the first callout: glance at the screen when it matters. **Tip.** For the tape sound without the voice, keep **Enable audio** and **Sound effects** on and turn **Voice callouts** off. The tape needs Sound effects on to play at all. ## Everything Scalpel says ### Your orders | When | You hear | |---|---| | You press a buy key | A short rising blip | | The buy fills (fully or partly) | "Filled, level one" to "Filled, level four": the preset that fired, `Shift`+`1` to `Shift`+`4` | | You press **Sell full**, **Sell half** or **Sell quarter** (any of the bid, ask or mid keys) | "Out, full", "Out, half" or "Out, quarter", at once, on the keypress | | You press **Flatten All** or `Esc` | "Flattened" | | A position closes without a key (auto-flatten, a manual close in TWS) | "Out, in profit", "Out, at a loss", or "Out" if it closed at exactly $0 | | `Ctrl`+`Q` (`Shift`+`Q` on a Mac) cancels working orders | "Cancelled" | | An order is refused (a cap, buying power, no liquidity, a buy on a halted stock, a broker rejection) | "Rejected", with a red toast giving the reason | ### Stops and targets | When | You hear | |---|---| | The working stop fires | "Stopped out" | | The catastrophe net fires | "Catastrophe stop" | | The take-profit fills | "Take profit" | | `B` moves the stop to breakeven | "Breakeven" | | `Shift`+`T` turns trailing on or off | "Trailing" or "Trail off" | A stop-out or take-profit plays its own callout instead of "Out, at a loss" or "Out, in profit", so you always know which level closed you out. Stops are covered in [guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work). ### Risk, mode and connection | When | You hear | |---|---| | The daily loss limit trips the **RISK LOCK** | "Risk limit hit. Entries blocked." | | You lift the lock with **Resume trading**, or it clears | "Risk cleared." | | You switch MODE to SIM or LIVE (in the header or in Settings > Trading) | "Sim mode activated." or "Live mode activated." | | Scalpel connects to TWS or IB Gateway | "Connected." | | The connection drops | "Connection lost." and an amber toast | ### The trading day As the New York clock crosses each boundary while Scalpel is running: | Time (ET) | You hear | |---|---| | 04:00, the pre-market opens | "Pre-market is open. Good luck!" | | 07:00 | "Mid-morning open." | | 09:30, the regular session opens | "The market is open. Good luck out there!" | | 16:00, the regular session closes (13:00 on a half day) | "The market is closed. Nice work today!" | Starting Scalpel in the middle of a session does not announce it; only crossing the boundary does. The 07:00 call is skipped on weekends and market holidays. ### Exit warnings while you hold a long | When | You hear | |---|---| | The 1-minute chart shows a bull trap: a poke above the recent high that closed back under it | "Long, weakening." and an amber toast | | Selling your whole position into the bids on screen would slip 0.6% or more | "Thin bids. Exit carefully." and a red toast | | A financing filing or an offering headline lands on a symbol you hold | "Long, weakening." and a red toast | The first two can be switched off in the Level 2 panel's cog: **Exit alert (long weakening)** and **Thin bid exit warning**. Each fires once when the condition starts, and again only after it has cleared and at least 12 seconds have passed. *Screenshot: The Level 2 settings (an excerpt): the two exit warnings, both on by default.* These are warnings, not predictions. The bull trap read was the one chart pattern that held up when replayed over recorded sessions, and even then only for the next minute or so ([guide 3.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-line-and-read-bar)). ### The scanner | When | You hear | |---|---| | A new name joins the IBKR scanner list | "New gainer" | | A name makes a new high of day on the momentum scan | "New mo-mo" | | A new name on Running up | "New runner" | | A setup on the Setups scan | "Gap and go", "Micro pullback", "Breaking highs" (a high-of-day break), "Bull flag", "Flat top" or "On a run" (a long green run) | Scanner callouts only come from scan panels that are open on a desk, with the scan's bell on (**Alert on new entry** in the panel's cog). The scan bell sounds at most once every 1.5 seconds, however many names arrive at once, and each alert also shows a toast you can click to load the symbol. See [guide 8.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scan-types). ### Sounds without words Loading a symbol, a halt (a warning tone) and its resumption, a market-data error, the other intel alerts, a held-back buy from the dilution entry guard, saving Settings, resetting SIM, and opening or closing a window each have a short tone and no voice. Nothing plays while the launch splash is up, and fills and closes restored just after a mode switch are not announced, so a restart or a switch never replays old trades. ## What can go wrong - **No sound at all.** Check **Enable audio** and the volume in Settings > Audio, then your system output device. See [guide 13.14](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-no-sound). - **Tape sound is silent but callouts work.** **Sound effects** is off, or the tape sound is off in the Level 2 cog. - **A callout was skipped.** Another voice was still speaking. The toast and the orders panel always have the full story. ## Questions **Can I turn off the voice but keep the sounds?** Yes. Turn Voice callouts off in Settings > Audio. Every event that has a voice plays its sound effect instead. **Can I change what the voice says?** No. The callouts are fixed recordings, kept short so they finish before the next event. **Why did I not hear the stop-out?** Either the voice was busy with another callout, which drops the newer one, or audio was off. The red toast and the closed trade in the orders panel always show it. **Does Scalpel announce scanner alerts for scans I have closed?** No. Only scan panels open on a desk announce, and only while that scan's bell is on. **Is tape sound part of the callouts?** No. Tape sound is set in the Level 2 panel's cog and plays the focused desk's prints as notes. It does need Enable audio and Sound effects on in Settings > Audio. --- # 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. --- # Settings: Connection > Every option on Scalpel's Connection tab: the IBKR host and port, the IBKR scanner's filters and data recording, with defaults and when to change them. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-connection Guide 11.1, Settings reference. Intermediate, 8 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The Connection tab decides how Scalpel reaches Interactive Brokers: **Host** `127.0.0.1` and **Port** `7497` by default, which must match the API socket port in TWS or IB Gateway. It also holds the IBKR scanner's switch and filters (by default $0.10 to $100, up 10% or more, 30 names, stocks only) and **Data recording**, which is off by default. Click **Apply** and the changes take effect at once, with no restart. Open **Settings** from the header (or press `Ctrl`+`,`, `Cmd`+`,` on a Mac). Connection is the first tab. It has three blocks: the link to TWS or IB Gateway (1), the IBKR scanner that feeds every scan panel (2), and the market-data recorder (3). *Screenshot: The Connection tab at its defaults: the TWS link (1), the IBKR scanner and its filters (2), and Data recording, switched off (3).* ## IBKR TWS (stocks: market data + orders) Scalpel has no data feed or order route of its own. Everything, from the Level 2 book to your fills, goes through the API socket that TWS or IB Gateway opens on your computer. These three settings point Scalpel at it. | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Enabled** | Turns the link on or off. Off parks the connection: Scalpel stops retrying, the status bar's **IBKR** pill reads **Off**, and the connection banner is hidden. No data, no orders. | On | On or off | Turn it off when you run Scalpel without TWS on purpose (reviewing Analytics in the evening), so it stops trying to connect. Clicking the IBKR pill in the status bar does the same. | | **Host** | The computer TWS or IB Gateway runs on. | `127.0.0.1` | An IP address or host name | Almost never. Keep `127.0.0.1` rather than `localhost`: TWS does not accept the IPv6 address `localhost` can resolve to. | | **Port** | The API socket port Scalpel connects to. It must be the same number as in TWS (**Configure > API > Settings > Socket port**) or IB Gateway. | `7497` | 1 to 65535 | When TWS or IB Gateway uses another port. A blank or 0 port greys out **Apply** until you fix it. | The settings note reads: "Scalpel starts on 7497 for TWS and 4001 for IB Gateway. Host/port changes reconnect on Apply (no restart)." When you change the host or port and click **Apply**, a **Reconnecting to IB** toast appears and the link drops and comes back on the new address. Positions and app-monitored stops stay as they are. ### Which port to use Interactive Brokers' programs each suggest a different socket port, depending on the program and on whether you log in to your live or paper account: | Program | Live login | Paper login | |---|---|---| | TWS | 7496 | 7497 | | IB Gateway | 4001 | 4002 | Whatever the program shows in its API settings is the number to type here. You do not need IBKR's paper login to practise: Scalpel's own [SIM mode](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim) is a paper account that fills against the live book. **Tip.** You rarely need to type a port at all. While the link is down, a banner under the header checks TWS on 7497 and 7496 and IB Gateway on 4001 and 4002, says which one is running, and offers **Use port N** or **Use** the other program in one click. A program on any other port is not detected: type that port here. See [guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers). ## IBKR scanner (market scans over TWS) This is the list every scan panel works from. There is no separate scanner service to pay for: it runs on the Interactive Brokers market data you already have. It runs Interactive Brokers' own market scanner on your TWS connection: top gainers, 3 minute volume spikes, halts, hot by volume and gappers, merged into one list, pre-market included. IBKR refreshes the scans about every 30 seconds; the prices, change and ranking on the panel are live, tick by tick. If you switch it off, every scan panel says "IBKR scanner is off". | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Enabled** | Runs the scanner. Turning it on also turns on the scan engine, so the panels come alive. | On | On or off | Off only if you never use scan desks and want the market-data lines for something else. | | **Price min** | The cheapest stock the list keeps, in dollars. | `0.1` ($0.10) | 0 or more, decimals allowed | Raise it to `1` or `2` to drop sub-dollar names if you do not trade them. | | **Price max** | The most expensive stock the list keeps. | `100` ($100) | At least Price min (a lower number is raised to it) | Lower it to `20` for a classic small-cap momentum band. | | **Min change %** | How far a stock must be up on the day, against yesterday's close, pre-market included. The scans are long only, so this is always "up at least". | `10` | 0 or more, decimals allowed | Raise it (20 or 30) on busy days to see only the strongest movers; lower it on quiet days. | | **Min volume** | Shares traded today, pre-market included. Drops names that show a big move on a few hundred shares. | Empty (no limit) | A whole number of shares, or empty for no limit | Set `100000` or more if thin, untradeable names keep crowding the list. | | **List size** | The most names the list holds. Each name uses one IBKR market-data line. | `30` | 1 to 100 | Lower it if you run short of market-data lines (desks need them too); raise it on a wide-open morning. | | **Max shares out (M)** | A cap on shares outstanding, in millions. IBKR does not allow float as a scan filter, so this is the closest stand-in. | Empty (no limit) | Millions, decimals allowed (`7.5` is 7.5 million), or empty | Leave it empty unless you need it: names IBKR has no share count for are dropped, and those are often the fresh small caps that run. | | **Stocks only (no ETFs)** | Leaves out ETFs, so a leveraged single-stock fund does not double up its underlying on the list. ADRs stay in, since many small-cap runners are ADRs. | On | On or off | Turn it off only if you trade ETFs. | Scanner changes apply live: the next refresh uses the new filters. **Note.** Intel (borrow, dilution, catalysts) follows at most 40 symbols in all: the ones you hold first, then your desks, then the scanner's list. With a long list, the names at the bottom get no intel chips. See [guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel). ### A worked filter A small-cap momentum trader who only wants $1 to $20 stocks that are up 20% on real volume would set **Price min** `1`, **Price max** `20`, **Min change %** `20`, **Min volume** `200000` and leave **List size** at `30`. The list then holds at most 30 names and uses 30 market-data lines. Interactive Brokers accounts usually start with 100 lines, so that leaves room for your desks. Setting the filters up step by step is in [guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner). ## Data recording (sessions saved to disk) | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Enabled** | Writes every session's market data, scans and fills to the `recordings` folder for the replay tools, plus a liquidity log, and opens up to twelve extra TWS connections to capture the IBKR scanner's list. | Off | On or off | Leave it off. It uses disk space (tens of megabytes a day) and TWS connections most traders never need. It does not change anything about your trading. | It applies live, with no restart. A new file starts each UTC day. ## Applying changes - Click **Apply** or press `Enter` to save and put the changes into effect: a new host or port reconnects at once, and scanner filters apply live. **Cancel**, the close button or `Esc` throws them away. - A number field you leave empty keeps its previous value, except **Min volume** and **Max shares out (M)**, where empty means no limit. ## What can go wrong - **The IBKR pill says Disconnected.** TWS or IB Gateway is not running, its API is off, or the port here does not match. The banner under the header says which. See [Scalpel says Disconnected](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected) and [TWS is running but not accepting the connection](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-not-accepting-connection). - **Every scan panel says the scanner is off or waiting.** The scanner is switched off here, or TWS is not connected yet. See [guide 13: scanner off](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-scanner-off). - **The scanner shows "No matches".** Nothing passes your filters right now. Lower **Min change %** or **Min volume**, or clear **Max shares out (M)**. ## Questions **What port should Scalpel use for TWS?** The one in TWS under Configure > API > Settings > Socket port. TWS suggests 7496 for a live login and 7497 for a paper login; IB Gateway suggests 4001 and 4002. Scalpel starts on 7497, and the banner offers to switch when it finds TWS or IB Gateway on one of the others. **Do I need to restart Scalpel after changing the port?** No. Click Apply and Scalpel reconnects to the new host and port at once, with a Reconnecting to IB toast. **Why does the scanner have no float filter?** Interactive Brokers does not allow float as an API scan filter. Max shares out (M) is the closest cap. Shares outstanding is never below the float, so a small number is a sure low float. **Does data recording send my data anywhere?** No. It writes files to the recordings folder on your own computer, for the replay tools. It is off by default. **How many symbols can the IBKR scanner list hold?** Up to 100, set by List size (30 by default). Each name uses one of your IBKR market-data lines. --- # Settings: Trading > Every option on Scalpel's Trading tab: SIM or LIVE, header P&L, buy and sell offsets and extended-hours fills for entries, with defaults and examples. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-trading Guide 11.2, Settings reference. Intermediate, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The Trading tab holds SIM or LIVE, where the header's LIVE P&L comes from, and how far your marketable limits reach: buys go out at the ask plus **Buy offset (c)** and bid exits at the bid minus **Sell offset (c)**, 10 cents each by default. **Extended-hours fills** is on, so LIVE entries can fill pre-market and after-hours; exits can always fill outside regular hours. Orders use IBKR SMART routing. 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**. *Screenshot: The Trading tab at its defaults: SIM, the broker's P&L in the header, 10 cent offsets and extended-hours fills on.* ## Every option | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Mode** | SIM practises against the live book with a paper account; LIVE sends real orders to your IBKR account. | SIM | SIM or LIVE | Switch here or with the **MODE** picker in the header: both switch the running session as soon as you apply. | | **Header P&L (LIVE)** | Whose profit and loss the header's DAILY P&L and UNREAL P&L show in LIVE. **Broker (IBKR)** is the whole account, including anything you trade in TWS. **Scalpel only** counts only the trades Scalpel placed. | Broker (IBKR) | Broker (IBKR) or Scalpel only | Pick **Scalpel only** if you also trade or hold longer-term positions in TWS and want the header to show just your scalping. SIM always shows the SIM ledger. | | **Buy offset (c)** | How many cents above the ask your buy limit goes. The order fills at the best prices available up to that limit. | `10` | 0 to 9999, whole cents | Raise it on fast, thin stocks where 10c does not fill; lower it on slow, liquid ones to cap slippage. | | **Sell offset (c)** | How many cents under the bid a bid exit goes: **Sell full**, **Sell half** and **Sell quarter** (`Ctrl`+`Z`, `X`, `C`, and the **Full**, **1/2**, **1/4** buttons). | `10` | 0 to 9999, whole cents | Raise it if your exits keep leaving shares behind in a fast drop. | | **Extended-hours fills** | Lets LIVE entries fill outside the regular session, in the pre-market and after-hours. Exits (stops, targets, sells and **Flatten All**) can always fill outside regular hours, whatever this says. | On | On or off | Leave it on if you trade the pre-market. Turn it off only if you want LIVE buys held for the 09:30 open; your exits are not affected. SIM ignores it. | **This can cost you money.** Changing **Mode** to LIVE and clicking **Apply** (or pressing `Enter`) switches the running session straight away, exactly like the header's **MODE** picker: a toast and a "LIVE mode activated" callout, and the red **LIVE ORDERS** badge appears. From then on your keys send real orders. See [guide 6.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/go-live). **Note.** There is no route setting: every LIVE order goes to Interactive Brokers with SMART routing, which picks the venue with the best price. That is what most active traders want. 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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/long-only)). 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 / bid | Offset | Buy limit | Bid exit limit | |---|---|---|---| | 5.71 / 5.69 | 10c (default) | 5.81 | 5.59 | | 5.71 / 5.69 | 3c | 5.74 | 5.66 | | 12.40 / 12.36 | 25c | 12.65 | 12.11 | - **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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work). - 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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/entries-and-fills). **Tip.** The **Offset** steppers on the order bar change these same two settings, 10 cents per click (0 is the least). They are saved and apply on every desk, so a wide offset you set for one wild stock stays until you set it back. ## 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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-not-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](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scale-out-and-flatten). - **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. --- # Settings: Stops > Every option on Scalpel's Stops tab: ATR multiples and period, stop floors, take-profit R, the Risk (Cents) stop and trailing, with defaults and ranges. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-stops Guide 11.3, Settings reference. Intermediate, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The Stops tab sets where Scalpel puts your stop, safety net and target on every entry. By default the working stop is 1.5 x the 1-minute ATR (14 bars), the catastrophe net 3 x ATR, and the take-profit 2R above entry, with floors of 20c and 50c. It also holds the Risk (Cents) stop (30c) and the trailing stop: what it follows, and the R at which breakeven and trailing start by themselves (both off by default). Scalpel's stops are app-monitored: they are not resting orders at Interactive Brokers. Scalpel watches the price and sends a marketable exit when it trades through, so they only work while Scalpel is running and connected. [Guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work) explains the model; this page is the reference for every number behind it. *Screenshot: The Stops tab as it opens: the ATR model and take profit, the cent floors, and the Risk (Cents) stop.* ## Why Scalpel watches your stops itself Scalpel is built first for the pre-market, and before the open US exchanges accept limit orders only. A plain stop order turns into a market order when it triggers, so it cannot protect you before 09:30. A stop-limit can be jumped: in a thin, fast pre-market book the price gaps through your limit and the order sits there unfilled while the stock keeps falling. And holding a mental stop while you also read Level 2 and the tape is exactly when traders freeze. So Scalpel watches every trade itself. When price trades through your stop, it sends a marketable limit sell: in LIVE, 5 cents under the last trade, always flagged for extended hours so it is accepted pre-market (whatever **Extended-hours fills** on the [Trading tab](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-trading) says: that setting only affects entries). If price keeps falling past the limit, or the exit 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. Your stop never shows on the book. The trade-off: Scalpel must be running and connected, and no exit is guaranteed. A fast drop can fill well below the stop. The full story is in [guide 5.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-stops). ## Stops sized to ATR volatility ATR (average true range) is how far a stock typically moves in one candle. Sizing the stop to it puts a jumpy stock's stop wider and a calm stock's tighter, so normal noise does not stop you out. This stop also sizes the **Risk (ATR)** buy presets: shares = risk / stop distance. | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Stop = ATR x** | Your working stop (the scalp stop that should fill) sits this many ATRs under your entry. | `1.5` | A decimal, for example `1.25` | Lower it (1 to 1.25) to cut losers faster; raise it (2) if normal wiggles keep stopping you out. | | **Catastrophe x** | The catastrophe net, a wider crash stop under the working stop, sits this many ATRs under your entry. It is not drawn on the chart. | `3` | A decimal, wider than the stop | Rarely. Keep it about twice the stop multiple. | | **ATR timeframe** | Which candles the ATR is measured on. | `1m` | `10s`, `1m`, `5m` | `10s` for very tight scalps; `5m` for slower holds and wider stops. | | **ATR period** | How many candles the ATR averages. | `14` | 1 to 999 | Lower (7) to react faster to a stock waking up; higher (20) for a steadier stop. | | **Take profit (R)** | An app-monitored target this many R above entry, where R is your stop distance. | `2` | A decimal; `0` turns it off | Set `1.5` or `3` to match how you take profits; `0` if you always exit by hand. | The settings note reads: "Take profit is an app-monitored target at N x R (the stop distance) above entry; 0 disables it. Drag it on the chart, and drag the +TP handle on the position to add one." ## Stop floors (cents) | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Stop floor (c)** | The working stop is never tighter than this, and it is the stop used before the stock has candle history. | `20` | Whole cents | Lower it if you trade $20 to $50 stocks with very tight stops. | | **Catastrophe floor (c)** | The same minimum for the catastrophe net. Always at least 1c wider than the stop floor. | `50` | Whole cents | Rarely. | The note reads: "Floors apply only until candle history loads, or if ATR resolves tighter." Two guard rails sit on top: on stocks under $20 the floors shrink to 1% of the price (2.5% for the catastrophe net), so a 20c floor never swamps a $3 stock, and no stop sits more than 40% under the price. An ATR wider than 5% of the price per candle is treated as bad data and the floors are used. ### Worked examples | Stock | 1m ATR | Working stop | Catastrophe net | Take profit (2R) | |---|---|---|---|---| | $5.00 | 12c | 1.5 x 12c = **18c** (floor capped at 5c) | 3 x 12c = **36c** | 36c above entry | | $40.00 | 8c | 12c, raised to the **20c** floor | 24c, raised to the **50c** floor | 40c above entry | | $5.00, no history yet | none | floor, capped at 1% = **5c** | **12.5c** | 10c above entry | ## Risk (Cents) sizing | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Stop (c)** | With the **Risk (Cents)** method, every entry's stop sits exactly this many cents under the fill, and each buy button sizes to its risk: shares = risk / stop. | `30` | 1 to 9999 | Set it to the stop you use most. Nudge it per stock with the **Stop** stepper on the order bar (5c a click), which changes this same setting. | The note's example: "A $1000 button with a 30c stop buys 3,333 shares." The catastrophe net keeps the same ratio as the ATR stops: at the defaults (3 / 1.5) it sits twice the stop under the fill, 60c for a 30c stop. The full walkthrough is [guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk). ## Trailing stop A trailing stop follows the price up and never moves down. You turn it on per position with the **Trail** button or `Shift`+`T`, or let it start by itself. *Screenshot: Scrolled down to Trailing stop, with the Trail by list open.* | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Trail by** | What the stop follows. **Same as my stop**: each new high pulls the stop up to the distance you entered with (a 30c stop trails 30c behind the high). **Cents**: a fixed distance behind the high. **Percent**: a percent behind the high, so it widens as the price climbs. **1-min candle lows**: each time a 1-minute candle closes, the stop moves up to just under its low. | Same as my stop | The four modes | **1-min candle lows** gives a runner room and gets you out on the first lower low. **Cents** for a tighter leash than your entry stop. | | **Distance (c)** | The trail distance, shown only with **Cents**. | `20` | 1 or more | Match the stock's normal pullback size. | | **Distance (%)** | The trail distance, shown only with **Percent**. | `3` | 0.1 to 50 | 2 to 5% suits most small-cap runners. | | **Breakeven at (R)** | Once you are up this many R, the stop moves to your entry by itself, once. | `0` (off) | 0 or more, decimals allowed | `1` is common: once a trade is 1R in your favour, it cannot become a loser (before slippage). | | **Start trailing at (R)** | Once you are up this many R, trailing turns on by itself. | `0` (off) | 0 or more, decimals allowed | `1.5` or `2` lets a winner run without you pressing Trail. | R is always the stop distance you entered with, so a later trade on another stock never changes how this one trails. The **Trail** button, the trail hotkey and **B** for breakeven work at any time, whatever these say. If you turn trailing off on a position, it stays off: **Start trailing at (R)** does not switch it back on. A stop only ever moves up, so **B** never pulls down a stop that trailing has already lifted above your entry. More in [guide 5.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/breakeven-and-trailing-stops). *Screenshot: Trail by Cents shows a Distance (c) field. Here: 20c behind the high, breakeven at 1R, trailing from 1.5R.* ## When changes take effect Click **Apply** or press `Enter`. Stop, catastrophe and take-profit distances apply to your next entry; a position you already hold keeps its levels (drag them on the chart to change them, [guide 5.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/drag-stops-and-targets)). Trailing changes apply to open positions from the next price tick. Adding shares to a position keeps your stop where it is; breakeven then means your new average price. ## What can go wrong - **The stop-out cost more than 1R.** The stop fires a marketable exit when price trades through it; in a fast drop or a halt it fills below the level. A wider catastrophe net does not prevent that. Size for it ([guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)). - **Stops are tiny on a fresh symbol.** Before candle history loads, the floor (capped at 1% of the price) is used. Wait a few seconds after loading a symbol before you enter. - **Scalpel was closed.** Nothing watches the stop. Keep Scalpel running and connected while you hold a position. ## Questions **What is the default stop in Scalpel?** 1.5 x the 1-minute ATR over 14 candles, never tighter than 20 cents (or 1% of the price on stocks under $20). Risk (Cents) entries use a fixed 30 cents instead. **What is the catastrophe net?** A second, wider stop under the working stop, 3 x ATR by default with a 50 cent floor. If the working stop's exit somehow does not clear the position, the net is there to get you out. It is not drawn on the chart. **How do I turn off the take-profit?** Set Take profit (R) to 0 and click Apply. You can still add a target to a position by dragging the +TP handle up from the entry line. **Do the stops work if Scalpel is closed?** No. They are app-monitored, not orders resting at Interactive Brokers, so they only work while Scalpel is running and connected. **Does changing these settings move my open stop?** No. Stop and target distances apply to your next entry. Trailing settings apply to open positions straight away. --- # Settings: Risk > Every option on Scalpel's Risk tab: SIM balance and slippage, the commission plan, fat-finger, position and daily loss caps, auto-flatten and SIM reset. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-risk Guide 11.4, Settings reference. Intermediate, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The Risk tab holds your SIM account (a $25,000 starting balance, no slippage, IBKR Pro Tiered commissions by default) and the kill-switch caps that block orders: a $250,000 fat-finger cap per order, a $250,000 cap per position, and a $1,000 daily loss limit that locks new entries when it is hit. Auto-flatten is off by default. Set the caps to fit your own account before you trade LIVE. The caps sit in front of every buy, in SIM and LIVE. They never shrink an order: an order that breaks one is refused with a toast saying which. Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) and pick **Risk**. *Screenshot: The Risk tab at its defaults: the SIM account, its commission plan, the kill-switch caps and Reset SIM account.* ## SIM account | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **SIM start ($)** | The cash a fresh SIM account starts with, and what **Reset SIM account** puts it back to. SIM is a cash account: a buy bigger than your free SIM cash is refused. | `25000` | Whole dollars | Set it to the size of the account you will trade LIVE, so your SIM habits fit your real buying power. | | **SIM slippage (c)** | Makes SIM fills worse by this many cents a share: buys fill higher, sells lower. `0` fills at the book price. | `0` | 0 to 99 cents | `1` or `2` gives a more honest paper P&L on thin, fast stocks. | The note reads: "SIM slippage makes fills pessimistic by N cents per share (buys higher, sells lower). 0 = frictionless fills at the book price." ## SIM commission (per-share) SIM estimates the fee on every fill so your paper P&L is net of costs. LIVE always uses the commission Interactive Brokers reports. | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Commission plan** | Fills in the three numbers below for your IBKR plan. Shows **Custom** when they match no plan. | IBKR Pro Tiered | IBKR Pro Tiered, IBKR Pro Fixed, IBKR Lite, Custom | Pick the plan your IBKR account is on. | | **Comm $/share** | Dollars per share. | `0.0035` | A decimal | Only on **Custom**. | | **Comm min ($)** | The least an order is charged. | `0.35` | A decimal | Only on **Custom**. | | **Comm cap (% of trade)** | The most an order is charged, as a percent of its value. `0` removes the cap. | `1` | A decimal | Only on **Custom**. | The fee per fill is the larger of per-share x shares and the minimum, capped at the percent of the trade's value: | Plan | Per share | Minimum | Cap | Exchange and clearing fees added | |---|---|---|---|---| | IBKR Pro Tiered (default) | $0.0035 | $0.35 | 1% | Yes | | IBKR Pro Fixed | $0.005 | $1.00 | 1% | No (included in the price) | | IBKR Lite | $0 | $0 | none | No | | Custom | yours | yours | yours | Yes | On Tiered and Custom, SIM adds the fees IBKR passes through: $0.003 a share on fills that take liquidity (0.3% of the value under $1) and $0.0002 a share clearing on every fill. A 1,000-share scalp at $4 on Tiered costs $3.50 in commission plus $3.20 in fees each way. Which plan suits you is in [guide 6.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/commissions). *Screenshot: The Commission plan list. Picking a plan fills in the three numbers for you.* **Note.** If you are on 1.12.4 or earlier, update: those versions rounded **Comm $/share** to two decimals, so applying Settings saved $0 a share and showed the plan as **Custom**. ## Kill-switch caps | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Fat-finger ($)** | Refuses any single buy whose dollar value is over this: "Order exceeds the fat-finger cap". Catches a wrong preset or a stray zero. | `250000` | Whole dollars | Set it a little above your biggest normal order, for example $20,000 on a $25,000 account. | | **Max position ($)** | Refuses a buy that would take your position in one symbol past this value: "Position would exceed the max". Adds to an existing position count. | `250000` | Whole dollars | Set it to the most you ever want in one stock. | | **Daily loss ($)** | When the day's realized plus unrealized P&L falls to minus this, a **RISK LOCK** banner appears and new entries are blocked. Exits, stops and Flatten All still work. The day runs from New York midnight, in SIM and LIVE, and counts trades closed before a restart. | `1000` | Whole dollars; `0` turns it off | Set it to the loss that ends your day, often 2 to 3 times your normal risk per trade. | | **Auto-flatten on daily loss** | When the daily loss trips, also sells every open position on every desk at once (in LIVE crossing about 1% through the price). | Off | On or off | Turn it on if you would rather be taken out than decide in the moment. | The banner's **Resume trading** button lifts the lock; switching between SIM and LIVE lifts it too. After a resume, the lock comes back only if the day's loss grows by another quarter of the limit (with a $1,000 limit, $250 deeper than where you resumed), or on a new day. The full walkthrough is in [guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit), and the caps in [guide 7.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps). **This can cost you money.** A cap set to `0` blocks every order except the daily loss, where 0 means off. And the defaults of $250,000 are far above most accounts: on a real account, set the fat-finger and position caps to numbers you could actually lose a slice of in a fast stock. The caps are a seatbelt, not a strategy. Fast small-cap momentum trading carries a significant risk of loss and is very difficult, and most people who try it lose money. A daily loss limit you respect, and small fixed risk per trade, are what let you keep learning. ### A worked setup A trader with a $25,000 account who risks $100 a trade might set **Fat-finger ($)** `15000`, **Max position ($)** `20000`, **Daily loss ($)** `300` and turn on **Auto-flatten on daily loss**. A Risk (Cents) $100 entry at a 10c stop on a $9 stock asks for 1,000 shares, $9,000: allowed. The same at a 5c stop asks for 2,000 shares, $18,000: over the fat-finger cap, so it is refused rather than shrunk. More in [guide 14: settings for a small account](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/small-account-setup). ## Reset SIM account **Reset SIM account** wipes the SIM ledger: cash back to the **SIM start ($)** shown on the tab, positions, orders and closed trades cleared, and any SIM risk lock lifted. It asks once: the first click turns the button into **Confirm reset to $25000**, the second resets. It never touches LIVE: pressed while LIVE is showing, it resets only the SIM account and your LIVE positions and orders stay on screen. *Screenshot: After the first click, the button asks you to confirm the balance it will reset to.* **Tip.** To reset to a new balance, type it into **SIM start ($)** first: the confirm button shows the new figure, the reset uses it, and the new balance is saved for next time. ## What can go wrong - **"Insufficient buying power".** SIM is a cash account: the order is bigger than your free SIM cash. Raise **SIM start ($)** and reset, or use a smaller preset. - **An order is refused by a cap.** The toast names the cap. Raise it here, or use a smaller size. See [A LIVE order was rejected](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-rejected) if the refusal came from IBKR instead. - **The daily loss tripped on an open trade.** It counts unrealized P&L, so a deep open loser can trip it before you sell. - **The lock came back after Resume trading.** The day's loss grew by another quarter of the limit after you resumed. That is the limit doing its job: stop for the day. Changes apply to the running session when you click **Apply** or press `Enter`. ## Questions **What is a fat-finger cap?** A limit on the dollar value of a single order. Scalpel refuses any buy over it, so a wrong preset or an extra zero cannot send a huge order. The default is $250,000; set it close to your largest normal order. **Does the daily loss limit close my positions?** Only with Auto-flatten on daily loss switched on. Otherwise it blocks new entries and leaves your positions, stops and exits working. **How do I unlock trading after the daily loss limit?** Click Resume trading on the RISK LOCK banner. Switching between SIM and LIVE also lifts it. **Are SIM commissions the same as IBKR's?** They follow the plan you pick here: IBKR Pro Tiered by default, with exchange and clearing fees added, or Fixed or Lite. LIVE always books the commission IBKR reports. **Can I reset my SIM account?** Yes. Click Reset SIM account, then click it again to confirm. Cash goes back to SIM start and every SIM position and trade is cleared. --- # Settings: Sizing > Scalpel's Sizing tab: the four buy presets on Shift+1 to Shift+4, each a share count, dollar clip or dollar risk, with the default ladder and examples. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-sizing Guide 11.5, Settings reference. Intermediate, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The Sizing tab sets your four buy presets, fired by `Shift`+`1` to `Shift`+`4` and the four buy buttons. Each preset is a kind and a number: a share count (Shares), a dollar clip (Notional), or a dollar risk sized off your stop (Risk (ATR), Risk (Low), Risk (Cents)). The defaults are 100, 250, 500 and 1,000 shares. Your presets are the sizes you trade. With a risk kind, Scalpel works out the shares the instant you press, from the live ask and the stop, and rounds down so you never risk more than the number. Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) and pick **Sizing**. *Screenshot: The Sizing tab at its defaults: four Shares presets, 100, 250, 500 and 1,000.* ## The options Each of the four rows has the same three parts: | Part | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | |---|---|---|---| | **Shift+1** to **Shift+4** | Which buy key and button the row drives. Rebind the keys on the [Hotkeys tab](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-hotkeys). | Shift+1 to Shift+4 | Fixed labels | | **Kind** (the dropdown) | How the number becomes a share count (table below). | Shares | Shares, Notional, Risk (ATR), Risk (Low), Risk (Cents) | | **Value** | The number, in the unit shown after it: **shares**, **$ / clip** or **$ risk**. | 100, 250, 500, 1000 | Whole numbers up to 9,999,999 | *Screenshot: The kind list on Shift+1: five ways to size a buy.* ## The five kinds | Kind | The value is | Shares bought | Stop used | Best for | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Shares** | A share count | Exactly that many | ATR stop ([Stops tab](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-stops)) | Simple, fixed clips on stocks in one price range | | **Notional** | Dollars per clip | Dollars / ask, rounded down | ATR stop | The same dollar exposure on a $2 and a $20 stock | | **Risk (ATR)** | Dollars of risk | Risk / ATR stop distance | 1.5 x ATR by default | Fixed risk with a stop that fits the stock's volatility | | **Risk (Low)** | Dollars of risk | Risk / distance to the stop | Just under the lowest low of the last 20 one-minute bars | Fixed risk with a chart-based stop | | **Risk (Cents)** | Dollars of risk | Risk / Risk (Cents) stop | Exactly N cents under the fill (30c by default) | The simplest fixed risk: you choose the stop | ### Worked examples at a 5.71 ask | Preset | Shares | Dollars in the trade | Loss at the stop | |---|---|---|---| | Shares 500 | 500 | $2,855 | depends on the ATR stop | | Notional 5000 | 875 | $4,996 | depends on the ATR stop | | Risk (ATR) 100, ATR stop 18c | 555 | $3,169 | $99.90 | | Risk (Cents) 100, 30c stop | 333 | $1,901 | $99.90 | Fast small-cap scalping carries a significant risk of loss and is very difficult; most people who try it lose money. Small, fixed risk per trade is what keeps a learning curve survivable, so start with the smallest risk preset you can and size up only after weeks of consistent results in SIM. A risk preset can ask for a lot of shares when the stop is tight. Your [fat-finger and position caps](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-risk) still apply, and they refuse an oversized order rather than shrink it. ## A mixed ladder The presets do not have to share a kind. Some traders keep a share starter, a dollar clip for adds, and two fixed-risk keys: *Screenshot: A mixed ladder: 200 shares on Shift+1, a $5,000 clip on Shift+2, and $50 and $100 of risk on Risk (Cents).* **Note.** The method dropdown on the order bar sets all four presets to one kind. A preset with no value for that kind gets its default: $2,500, $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000 for Notional, and $25, $50, $100 and $200 for the risk kinds. Changing the kind here keeps the number you typed: 500 shares becomes $500 of risk, so check the value after you switch. Click **Apply** or press `Enter` to save. The buy buttons and the size line above each one update at once. The full guide to choosing sizes is [guide 4.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/sizing-presets), and fixed-risk trading is [guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk). ## What can go wrong - **"Order size resolves to zero shares".** The value is 0, or a Notional clip is smaller than one share's price. - **The order is refused by a cap.** A tight stop on a risk preset asked for more than your fat-finger or max-position cap. Widen the stop or lower the risk. - **A buy is refused with a halt toast.** Buys are blocked while the stock is halted: it reopens with an auction gap, so no entry may queue for it. Exits still work. - **A buy is held with a warning.** That is the [dilution entry guard](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/dilution-entry-guard), not sizing: press the same buy again within 4 seconds to send it. ## Questions **How many buy presets does Scalpel have?** Four, on Shift+1 to Shift+4 and the four buy buttons under each chart. Each can be a different kind. **What is the difference between Notional and Risk?** Notional fixes the dollars you put in: $5,000 buys $5,000 of stock. Risk fixes the dollars you can lose: $100 of risk with a 20 cent stop buys 500 shares, whatever the price. **Why did a risk preset buy fewer shares than I worked out?** Scalpel rounds down to whole shares so the risk never goes over the value. $100 at a 30 cent stop is 333.3 shares, which becomes 333. **Can I use decimals in a preset?** No. Values are whole numbers: shares, or whole dollars for clips and risk. --- # Settings: Appearance > Scalpel's Appearance tab: the five themes, stop and target returns in R or percent, UI scale from 70% to 125% with its shortcuts, and zebra stripes. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-appearance Guide 11.6, Settings reference. Intermediate, 3 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The Appearance tab changes how Scalpel looks, never how it trades: the theme (Dracula by default, or Dark, Light, Nord and Ferra), whether stop, target and position returns read in R or in percent, the UI scale from 70% to 125% (100% by default, also `Ctrl`+`-`, `Ctrl`+`=` and `Ctrl`+`0`), and zebra stripes on the scanner tables. Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) and pick **Appearance**. Changes show when you click **Apply** or press `Enter`. *Screenshot: The Appearance tab at its defaults: Dracula, returns in R, 100% scale, zebra stripes on.* ## Every option | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Theme** | The colour scheme of the cockpit. It changes nothing about your orders. | Dracula | Dark, Light, Dracula, Nord, Ferra | **Light** for a bright room; **Dark** or **Nord** if you prefer less colour. Pick what you can read for hours. | | **Stops / TP returns** | How the chips on the chart's stop and target lines, the position badge and the orders table express a result. **Return (R)** is a multiple of your risk; **Percent (%)** is the move from your entry. | Return (R) | Return (R) or Percent (%) | Stay on R if you size by risk: "+2.0R" says more about a trade than "+12.0%". Percent suits share-count traders who think in moves. | | **UI scale** | Zooms the whole cockpit, text and panels together, in 5% steps. | 100% | 70% to 125% | Lower it to fit more desks on one screen; raise it on a high-resolution monitor or if the text is small. | | **Zebra stripes** | Shades every other row in the scanner tables so your eye can follow a row across. | On | On or off | Turn it off for a flatter look. | The notes read: "How stop, take-profit and position returns read on the chart chips and the orders table: R-multiples or percent of entry." and "Zooms the whole cockpit. Ctrl+/- steps by 5%; Ctrl+0 resets to 100%." ### R or percent: the same trade both ways A 30c stop on a 5.00 entry, with the target at 2R: | Line | Return (R) | Percent (%) | |---|---|---| | Stop at 4.70 | -1.0R | -6.0% | | Target at 5.60 | +2.0R | +12.0% | R is explained in [guide 5.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/r-multiples). ## The themes *Screenshot: The Theme list: five schemes, Dracula by default.* Every theme is built to be read for hours. Body text, muted labels, prices and the buy and sell colours all keep at least a 4.5:1 contrast against the panels (the WCAG AA level for normal text). Filled buttons and tags pick dark or white text, whichever reads better on their colour, so a bright green buy button gets dark text and a deep one gets white. **Light** has its own set of data colours rather than the dark themes' bright ones on a white panel: deeper greens, reds, gold and cyan for prices and reads, and pale green and red fills behind dark text on the tape. Pick the theme that suits your room and your eyes; none of them changes what the colours mean. ## Zoom from the keyboard You do not need this tab to zoom. `Ctrl`+`=` zooms in and `Ctrl`+`-` zooms out by 5%, and `Ctrl`+`0` goes back to 100%, at any time, even while a field has focus. On a Mac, use `Cmd`. The scale is saved and is the same on every screen. Laying desks out across monitors is in [guide 2.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/multi-monitor-setup). ## Questions **How do I make Scalpel's text bigger?** Press Ctrl and = (Cmd and = on a Mac) to zoom in 5% at a time, up to 125%, or set UI scale on the Appearance tab. Ctrl and 0 goes back to 100%. **Can I show stop and target returns in percent?** Yes. Set Stops / TP returns to Percent (%) on the Appearance tab. The chart chips, the position badge and the orders table then show the move from your entry. **Does the theme or zoom change anything about my orders?** No. Appearance settings only change how the cockpit looks. Sizes, stops and caps are on the Sizing, Stops and Risk tabs. **Is there a light theme?** Yes, Light, with deeper data colours so prices and reads stay sharp on a white panel. The others are Dark, Dracula (the default), Nord and Ferra. --- # Settings: Audio > Scalpel's Audio tab: the master switch, sound effects, voice callouts and volume, what each one mutes, and where tape sound is switched on instead. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-audio Guide 11.7, Settings reference. Intermediate, 3 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The Audio tab has four controls: **Enable audio** (the master switch), **Sound effects**, **Voice callouts** and **Volume** (80% by default, in 5% steps). All three switches are on by default. Switching off Enable audio silences everything, tape sound included. Tape sound itself is switched on in the Level 2 panel's cog, not here. Scalpel talks so you can keep your eyes on the book: "Filled", "Out, in profit", "Stopped out". Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) and pick **Audio**. *Screenshot: The Audio tab at its defaults: everything on, volume 80%.* ## Every option | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Enable audio** | The master switch. Off silences callouts, sound effects and tape sound. | On | On or off | Off when you need silence, for a call or a screen recording. | | **Sound effects** | Short sounds: order sent, fills, rejections, alerts, the settings-saved chime. Tape sound also needs this on. | On | On or off | Off if you want words only (and no tape sound). | | **Voice callouts** | Spoken confirmations: entries, fills per preset, scale-outs, "Out, in profit" or "Out, at a loss", stop-outs, take-profits, breakeven, trailing, rejections, connection changes, SIM and LIVE switches, the risk lock, session times, the bull trap and thin bid exit warnings, and scanner alerts. | On | On or off | Off if you prefer sounds only. An event that has both a voice and a sound plays the sound instead. | | **Volume** | How loud callouts and sound effects play. | 80% | 0% to 100%, in 5% steps | Set it against your music or news. 0% silences everything, tape sound included. | The note reads: "Sound effects and voice can be muted independently. Master mutes both." ## How the callouts behave - **Voice wins over sound.** When an event has both a callout and a sound effect, only the voice plays while voice is on. Turn voice off and you hear the sound instead, never both. - **No talking over each other.** A callout that arrives while another is speaking is dropped, so two callouts never garble. The full list of what Scalpel says is in [guide 10.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/voice-callouts). - **Scanner announcements** only come from scan panels that are open on a desk; mute a panel with its bell. - **Apply plays a chime**, using the new settings, so you hear at once whether sound is on. ## Tape sound is somewhere else Tape sound, inspired by Aggr.trade, plays the focused desk's prints as notes, buys high in the right ear and sells low in the left, so you can hear the flow while your eyes stay on the book. It has its own switch, volume and thresholds in the Level 2 panel's cog, under the tape sound settings. It plays only while **Enable audio** and **Sound effects** are both on here, but this tab's **Volume** does not set its level: the cog's volume does. See [guide 3.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/tape-sound). **Tip.** Want the tape but not the chatter? Leave **Enable audio** and **Sound effects** on, switch **Voice callouts** off, and turn tape sound on in the Level 2 cog. ## What can go wrong - **Nothing plays.** Check **Enable audio**, then **Volume** above 0%, then your computer's own output device. Audio plays on Windows and macOS. See [No callouts or tape sound](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-no-sound). - **A callout was skipped.** Another was still speaking. That is by design. ## Questions **How do I turn off Scalpel's voice?** Untick Voice callouts on the Audio tab and click Apply. Sound effects keep playing, and events that have both play the sound instead. **Why can't I hear the tape sound?** Tape sound is switched on in the Level 2 panel's cog, and it also needs Enable audio and Sound effects on in Settings > Audio. A Volume of 0% here silences it too. **Does Volume change the tape sound?** No. The tape has its own volume in the Level 2 cog. Only 0% here, or switching off Enable audio or Sound effects, silences it. **Can two callouts play at once?** No. A new callout is dropped while one is speaking, so they never overlap. --- # Settings: Hotkeys > Scalpel's Hotkeys tab: every trading action and its default key, how to rebind one by pressing a new chord, and the fixed keys such as Esc and Enter. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-hotkeys Guide 11.8, Settings reference. Intermediate, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The Hotkeys tab lists Scalpel's 13 rebindable trading actions with their keys: `Shift`+`1` to `4` buy, `Ctrl`+`Z` sells the whole position at the bid, `B` moves the stop to breakeven, and so on. To rebind one, click its key, press the new combination and click **Apply**. `Esc` (flatten everything) and `Enter` are fixed and cannot be rebound. Trading keys only fire when no text field has focus, so typing a symbol never places an order. Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) and pick **Hotkeys**. *Screenshot: The Hotkeys tab at its defaults: every rebindable action in two columns, its key on the right.* ## Every action and its default key | Action | Default key | What it does for your trading | |---|---|---| | **Buy preset 1** | `Shift`+`1` | Buys with preset 1 from the [Sizing tab](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-sizing), as a marketable limit. | | **Buy preset 2** | `Shift`+`2` | Buys with preset 2. | | **Buy preset 3** | `Shift`+`3` | Buys with preset 3. | | **Buy preset 4** | `Shift`+`4` | Buys with preset 4. | | **Sell full (bid)** | `Ctrl`+`Z` | Sells the whole position at the bid, less your sell offset. | | **Sell half (bid)** | `Ctrl`+`X` | Sells half at the bid. | | **Sell quarter (bid)** | `Ctrl`+`C` | Sells a quarter at the bid. | | **Sell half (ask)** | `Ctrl`+`A` | Offers half at the ask and waits for a buyer. | | **Sell half (mid)** | `Ctrl`+`S` | Offers half at the mid. | | **Stop to breakeven** | `B` | Moves the working stop to your entry. | | **Toggle trailing stop** | `Shift`+`T` | Turns trailing on or off for the position ([Stops tab](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-stops) sets how it trails). | | **Cancel all orders** | `Ctrl`+`Q` (`Shift`+`Q` on a Mac) | Cancels working orders on the focused desk. | | **Toggle cheatsheet** | `?` (`Shift`+`/`) | Shows every key on screen. | Every trading key acts on the focused desk. On a Mac, Ctrl is Cmd throughout, except **Cancel all orders**, which is `Shift`+`Q` because `Cmd`+`Q` quits a Mac app; a Cmd+Q binding from an older version moves to Shift+Q by itself. Entries and exits are blocked while the market is closed (overnight, weekends and holidays); breakeven, trailing, cancel and **Flatten All** (`Esc`) still work. Buys are also blocked while the stock is halted. Working through a whole trade from the keyboard is in [guide 14: trade without touching the mouse](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/keyboard-only-workflow). ## Rebind a key ### 1. Click the key you want to change Its button lights up and reads **Press a key**. Click it again to back out. *Screenshot: Buy preset 2 waiting for its new key.* ### 2. Press the new combination A letter, digit or punctuation key, on its own or with `Ctrl` (`Cmd` on a Mac), `Shift` or both. The button shows it, for example **Ctrl+Shift+B**. If another action had that combination, it loses it and shows **Unbound**: give it a new key too. ### 3. Click Apply Or press `Enter`. The new keys work at once and are saved. **Cancel** or `Esc` throws the changes away. ## Keys you cannot rebind | Key | What it does | |---|---| | `Esc` | Closes whatever is open first: the cheatsheet, Settings, a panel's settings, or the symbol suggestion list. With nothing open, it **flattens every position on every desk**, like the header's Flatten All. | | `Enter` | Applies Settings when it is open, exactly like **Apply**; otherwise loads the highlighted symbol. | | `Ctrl`+`,` | Opens and closes Settings. | | `Ctrl`+`-`, `Ctrl`+`=`, `Ctrl`+`0` | Zoom out, zoom in, back to 100%. | | `Left`, `Right`, `Tab` | Move the focus between desks. | | `Up`, `Down` | Move through the symbol suggestions. | Arrow keys, function keys, Space and Alt combinations cannot be bound: a hotkey is always a character key, with Ctrl and Shift as the only modifiers. **This can cost you money.** `Esc` flattens every position on every desk when nothing is open. Do not bind a trading action to a key you might reach for when you mean to close a menu, and know that a second `Esc` after closing a window is a flatten. ## What can go wrong - **A key does nothing.** A text field has focus (click a chart or press `Tab`; after you pick a symbol the cursor leaves the box by itself), the market is closed, the stock is halted (buys only), or the action shows **Unbound** here. - **A key does the wrong thing.** Another action took it when you rebound. Check this tab for **Unbound** rows. - **Ctrl+C sells instead of copying.** It is the default for Sell quarter. Rebind it if you copy and paste a lot while trading. ## Questions **How do I change a hotkey in Scalpel?** Open Settings > Hotkeys, click the key next to the action, press the new combination, and click Apply. **Can I use a single letter as a hotkey?** Yes. Stop to breakeven is B by default. Trading keys never fire while a text field has focus, so typing a symbol is safe. **What does Esc do in Scalpel?** It closes whatever is open first. With nothing open, it flattens every position on every desk. It cannot be rebound. **Can I bind the same key to two actions?** No. Binding a key takes it away from the action that had it, which then shows Unbound. **Do Mac hotkeys use Ctrl or Cmd?** Cmd. Every Ctrl shortcut in Scalpel is Cmd on a Mac, except Cancel all orders, which is Shift+Q because Cmd+Q quits the app. --- # Settings: Intel > Scalpel's Intel tab: source status, the SEC contact email, the optional OpenAI key, catalyst alerts, the dilution entry guard and news history days. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-intel Guide 11.9, Settings reference. Intermediate, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The Intel tab switches on Scalpel's borrow, dilution and catalyst reads, shows whether each free source is working, and holds the one thing you must set: an **SEC contact email**, without which filings, dilution and shares outstanding stay off. An OpenAI key is optional. Strong catalyst alerts and the dilution entry guard (30 minutes) are on by default, and 3 days of news history load at start. Intel answers three questions the tape cannot: can shorts still add (borrow), is the company about to sell stock into your move (dilution), and why is it moving (catalysts). It follows your positions, your desks and the IBKR scanner's list, up to 40 symbols. Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) and pick **Intel**. *Screenshot: The Intel tab as it opens: the switch, the live status of each source, and the SEC contact email.* ## Intel and its sources | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Enabled** | Runs the intel service: the INTEL chips on scan panels, the intel strip under a desk's header, the SQZ dilution cut, the chart's warrant and offering lines, the alerts and the entry guard. | On | On or off | Leave it on. Off removes every read and the guard. | Under the switch, five status lines say what is working right now: | Line | What you might see | What it means | |---|---|---| | SEC filings | **live**, **waiting for sec.gov**, or **off until a contact email is set below** | Dilution reads, shares outstanding and filing alerts need this one live. | | News | The provider codes on your IBKR account, or **waiting for IBKR** | Catalysts come from these. They are the providers your account already has. | | IBKR borrow file | **loaded** with the file's date and time, or **loading** | The borrow fee comes from IBKR's stock-loan file, fetched every 15 minutes. | | OpenAI | **no key, keyword grading only**, **on**, or **key rejected, keyword grading until it changes** | Whether headlines are graded by OpenAI or by the built-in keyword grader. | | Watching N symbols | A count, at most 40 | Held symbols come first, then your desks, then the scanner's list. | The note reads: "Borrow comes from IBKR's shortable ticks and stock-loan file, the Reg SHO list and FINRA short volume; dilution from SEC EDGAR; catalysts from the news providers on your IBKR account. All free." ## SEC EDGAR | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Contact email** | The contact the SEC requires in every request. Without it: no filings, no dilution read, no shares outstanding (so no **SHS OUT**, market cap or **SHORT** percent on scan panels), and no warrant or offering lines. Borrow and catalysts still work. | Empty | A real email address | Set it once, on day one. | The note reads: "The SEC requires a real contact in every request and refuses anonymous ones. It is sent only to sec.gov, in the User-Agent header." It goes nowhere else, not to scalpeltrade.com and not to OpenAI. ## OpenAI (optional) *Screenshot: Scrolled down: the optional OpenAI key, then the alerts and the entry guard.* | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **API key** | Your own OpenAI key. With it, headlines are graded by OpenAI and financing filings are read for their prices. The `OPENAI_API_KEY` environment variable also works. | Empty | An OpenAI API key | Add one if you want sharper catalyst grades and the chart's warrant and offering lines. | | **Grade headlines** | Grades each headline's kind and strength with OpenAI ("billed on input only, a few cents a day"). Without a key, or with this off, the keyword grader runs. | On | On or off | Off to stop the per-headline cost and keep keyword grading. | | **Extract filing terms** | Reads each financing filing once for its warrant, offering and conversion prices, and caches them. These draw the orange dashed lines on the chart where new sellers can appear. | On | On or off | Off if you do not want the lines or the cost. | Without a key, intel still works: the keyword grader runs and no warrant or offering lines are drawn. The lines also have their own switch in each chart's cog. See [guide 9.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/warrant-and-offering-lines). ## Alerts and guard | Option | What it does for your trading | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Strong catalyst alerts** | A toast and a chime when a watched symbol gets new news graded strong or explosive. | On | On or off | Off if it is too chatty on a busy morning. Financing alerts on a symbol you hold always fire, whatever this says. | | **Dilution entry guard** | Holds back the first buy press on a symbol with a financing filing or offering headline in the last **Guard minutes**, with a warning toast. Press the same buy again within 4 seconds to send it. | On | On or off | Leave it on: it is one extra key press between you and buying into an offering. | | **Guard minutes** | How long after the filing or headline the guard stays armed. | `30` | 1 to 1440 | Longer (120) if you want a full morning of caution after an overnight offering. | | **News history days** | How many days of headlines load for a symbol when it is first watched. Applies on the next start. | `3` | 1 to 30 | Raise it to see older news on a stock that ran last week. | The guard note reads: "The guard holds back a buy on a symbol with a financing filing or offering headline in the last N minutes; press the same buy again within 4 seconds to send it. Financing filings on a symbol you hold always alert." The guard is explained in [guide 9.7](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/dilution-entry-guard). Every change here except **News history days** applies when you click **Apply**, with no restart. The first-time setup is [guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel). ## What can go wrong - **SEC filings: off until a contact email is set.** Type your email in **Contact email** and click **Apply**. See [Intel shows nothing or SEC filings are off](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-intel-off). - **OpenAI: key rejected.** The key is wrong, revoked or out of credit. Scalpel keeps using the keyword grader until you change it. - **News: waiting for IBKR.** TWS is not connected yet, or your account has no news providers through the API. ## Questions **Why does Scalpel need my email for SEC filings?** The SEC requires a real contact in the User-Agent of every request to EDGAR and refuses anonymous ones. Scalpel sends it only to sec.gov. **Do I need an OpenAI key?** No. Without one, a keyword grader rates headlines and everything else works. A key adds sharper headline grading and the warrant and offering price lines on the chart. **What does the dilution entry guard do?** For 30 minutes after a financing filing or offering headline on a symbol, the first press of a buy key is held back with a warning. Press the same buy again within 4 seconds to send it. **Does intel cost anything?** The data is free: IBKR's own borrow and news, SEC EDGAR, Nasdaq and FINRA. The only cost is optional: an OpenAI key is billed by OpenAI, a few cents a day. **How many symbols does intel follow?** Up to 40: the ones you hold first, then the symbols on your desks, then the IBKR scanner's list. --- # Settings: About > Scalpel's About tab: your version and build, licence status and managing computers, the update channel, automatic downloads, checking and going back. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-about Guide 11.10, Settings reference. Intermediate, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The About tab shows your Scalpel version and build, your licence status with a **Manage licence and computers** button, and the update controls: the channel (Stable by default, or Beta for early builds), **Download updates automatically** (on), the updater's status, **Check for updates**, and **Go back** to the previous version when it is still kept. The credits for the charts, fonts and broker library are at the bottom. This is the tab to open when support asks which version you run, or when you want an update now. Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) and pick **About**. *Screenshot: The About tab: the version and build, the licence, and Updates. Demo data.* ## Scalpel The first line is your version and build, for example **v1.12.6 (4f2c9a1)**: the version number, then the code revision it was built from. Quote both when you ask for help in [Discord](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/discord-support). The note under it reads: "Market data and orders go through your own TWS or IB Gateway; nothing leaves your machine except the optional intel lookups you switch on." ## Licence | Item | What it tells you | What to do with it | |---|---|---| | Status line | **Licensed** with the last four characters of your key, then how many of your licence's computers it is active on, for example **Active on 1 of 2 computers.** If Scalpel could not reach scalpeltrade.com, it says it checked offline and how long it can keep running before it must reach the site. | Nothing while it says Licensed. If it counts down an offline period, check your internet connection. | | **Manage licence and computers** | Opens your account page at scalpeltrade.com in the browser, where you see your key and free up a computer. | Use it before you move to a new computer. | Scalpel checks the licence when it starts and every 12 hours, and keeps running on its last check for up to 72 hours offline. A licence problem never interrupts a session. See [guide 1.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/activate-licence) and [guide 12.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/move-licence-new-computer). ## Help Four buttons open help in your browser: **Guides** (these pages), **Troubleshooting** (fixes for common problems), **Help on Discord** and **Email support**. The same links, plus getting started, the hotkey cheatsheet and what is new, are in the **Help** menu in the header. Every Settings tab also has a guide link at the top of the window that opens that tab's page here. ## Updates | Option | What it does | Default | Allowed values | When to change it | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Channel** | Which releases you get. **Stable** is for everyone; **Beta (early builds)** gets new versions first. | Stable | Stable, Beta (early builds) | Beta only if you want new features early and can live with the odd rough edge. See [guide 12.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/beta-channel). | | **Download updates automatically** | Downloads a new version in the background as soon as it is found. Off: the status bar says an update is available and it downloads when you click. | On | On or off | Off on a slow or metered connection. | The note reads: "Scalpel checks for a new version when it starts and every 30 minutes. It never installs on its own while you trade: you choose when to restart, or let it install when you quit." The first check comes within a minute of starting, then every 30 minutes. Under it, the status line says where the updater is, for example: - **Scalpel 1.12.6 is up to date (checked 12 minutes ago).** - **Downloading version 1.12.7 (40%).** - **Version 1.12.7 is ready. It installs when you restart Scalpel.** - **The last update failed:** and the reason. **Check for updates** checks now. **Go back to 1.12.5** appears when the previous version is still kept: it restores it and restarts Scalpel. Both restarts are refused while you have an open position, a working order or a live stop, because Scalpel watches your stops and that stops while it restarts. Close them first, or choose to update when you quit. More in [guide 12.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/updates). **Careful.** An update or a go-back restarts Scalpel, and app-monitored stops are not watched while it is closed. Scalpel will not restart for either while anything is open; do not force-close it mid-trade to get round that. ## Credits Scrolled down, the tab credits the open-source work Scalpel is built on: TradingView's free, open-source Lightweight Charts library for the desk charts (no TradingView subscription needed), JetBrains Mono and Chakra Petch fonts, Lucide icons, and the rust-ibapi broker library. It also states that Interactive Brokers, TWS and IB Gateway are trademarks of Interactive Brokers LLC and that Scalpel is independent software, not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers. The full list is in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md next to the application. *Screenshot: Scrolled down: the credits for the charts, fonts and icons, and the broker library.* ## What can go wrong - **"Updates are off in this build."** A development build does not update itself; release builds from scalpeltrade.com do. - **The status says the last update failed.** See [An update did not install, or Scalpel went back a version](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-update-failed). - **The licence line says no licence key is on this computer.** Activate it again from your account page; see [Licence: machine limit reached](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-licence-machine-limit) if it says the limit is reached. ## Questions **How do I check my Scalpel version?** Open Settings > About. The first line is the version and build, for example v1.12.6 (4f2c9a1). **How do I update Scalpel now?** Open Settings > About and click Check for updates. When the status says the version is ready, restart Scalpel, or let it install when you quit. **Can I go back to the previous version?** Yes, while it is still kept: Settings > About shows Go back to that version. It restarts Scalpel, so close your positions and orders first. **How often does Scalpel check for updates?** When it starts, then every 30 minutes while it runs. Click Check for updates on Settings > About to check now. **Will Scalpel restart for an update while I am in a trade?** No. It refuses while you have an open position, a working order or a live stop, and offers to install when you quit instead. --- # Move your licence to a new computer > Free a computer on your scalpeltrade.com account and activate Scalpel on the new one. How the two-computer limit and the monthly reset allowance work. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/move-licence-new-computer Guide 12.1, Licence, updates and account. Beginner, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Quit Scalpel on the old computer, sign in at scalpeltrade.com/account and click **Free this machine** next to it, then start Scalpel on the new computer and paste your licence key. One licence covers two computers at a time, and you can free up to 3 computers in any 30 days. Your licence is tied to computers, not to you: each one that runs Scalpel takes one of the licence's two slots. Moving to a new computer means giving a slot back and letting the new computer take it. It takes two minutes and you never need the old computer to do it, so a dead laptop is no problem. **Before you start:** - Your Scalpel account email: you sign in with a link sent to it. - Scalpel installed on the new computer ([guide 1.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/install-scalpel-windows) for Windows, [guide 1.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/install-scalpel-mac) for a Mac). - Be flat on the old computer. Its stops are watched by Scalpel itself, so closing it while you hold a position leaves that position unprotected ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). ## How the two-computer limit works | Rule | What it means for you | |---|---| | **Two computers at a time** | A home PC and a laptop, or a trading PC and a backup. A third computer is refused until you free one. | | **Free up to 3 in any 30 days** | Generous for real moves, and stops a key being passed around. A fourth free inside 30 days is refused: ask support. | | **The same computer keeps its slot** | Reinstalling or updating Scalpel on the same computer never uses a second slot. | | **A rebuilt computer is a new one** | Reinstalling Windows or macOS gives the computer a new identity, so it takes a new slot. Free the old entry, which usually has the same name. | | **Freeing is instant** | No waiting period: the slot is free the moment you click. | Scalpel identifies a computer by a scrambled code made from its system id, never by your files or hardware details. The account page shows each computer by its name (for example **TRADING-PC**), when it last checked in, and which version it ran. ## Move your licence ### 1. Quit Scalpel on the old computer Flatten any position first, then close Scalpel (the window's close button, or **System** > **Shut down**). If the old computer is lost or broken, skip this step. **Careful.** Scalpel keeps your key saved and checks the licence when it starts and every 12 hours. If the old computer opens Scalpel again while a slot is free, it quietly takes that slot back. Quit it before you free it, and activate the new computer straight away. ### 2. Sign in to your account Go to **scalpeltrade.com/account**, or click **Manage licence and computers** in Scalpel's **Settings** > **About**. Type your email and click **Email me a sign-in link**. The link works once and expires in 15 minutes. ### 3. Free the old computer Your **Lifetime licence** panel shows your key and **Machines 2 of 2** (1). Find the old computer by its name and **Last seen** time, and click **Free this machine** (2). The page says "Machine freed" and the count drops to 1 of 2. *Screenshot: The account page with both slots in use (1). Each computer has its own Free this machine button (2). Demo data.* Not sure which is which? The one you are moving away from is usually the one with the older **Last seen**. On Windows the name is the computer name in **Settings** > **System** > **About**; on a Mac it is the name in **System Settings** > **General** > **About**. ### 4. Copy your key Click **Copy key** next to the key on the same page. It looks like **SCLP-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX**. It is also in your purchase email. ### 5. Activate the new computer Start Scalpel on the new computer. The **Activate Scalpel** screen appears instead of the cockpit. Paste the key and click **Activate** (or press `Enter`). The cockpit opens, and the account page now lists the new computer. *Screenshot: The licence screen on the new computer, key pasted. The line at the bottom names this computer as the account page will show it. Demo data.* ### 6. Check it in Settings > About Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) and pick **About**. The **Licence** line reads **Licensed** with the last four characters of your key, then "Active on 1 of 2 computers." (or 2 of 2 if your other computer is also active). See [guide 11.10](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-about). ## Bring your settings with you The licence moves, but your settings stay on the old computer until you copy them. Your presets, hotkeys, desk layout and every Settings tab are in one file; your Analytics history is in a folder of its own. | What | Windows | Mac | |---|---|---| | Settings, presets, hotkeys, layout | `%APPDATA%\scalpel\config\scalpel.toml` | `~/Library/Application Support/scalpel/scalpel.toml` | | Analytics journal (SIM and LIVE) | `%APPDATA%\scalpel\data\journal` | `~/Library/Application Support/scalpel/journal` | Copy them across before you first start Scalpel on the new computer (or quit it, copy, and start it again). Paste `%APPDATA%\scalpel` into the File Explorer address bar to open the folder on Windows. Re-check **Settings** > **Connection**: the new computer may run TWS or IB Gateway on a different port ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). ## What can go wrong - **"This licence is already active on 2 machines."** The new computer got there before a slot was free. Free one on the account page, then click **Try again** on the licence screen. Your key is kept, so you do not need to paste it again. More in [guide 13.8](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-licence-machine-limit). *Screenshot: With both slots taken, the new computer shows this screen. Free a computer on the account page, then click Try again. Demo data.* - **"You can free 3 machines every 30 days. Contact support if you need more."** You have hit the moving limit. Ask on [Discord](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/discord-support) or email hello@scalpeltrade.com and say why; real moves are not a problem. - **The old computer came back.** If you opened Scalpel on it after freeing it, it has taken the slot again. Free it again, quit Scalpel there, and to stop it for good delete `licence.json` from its data folder (`%APPDATA%\scalpel\data` on Windows), so it asks for a key next time. - **"Scalpel can't reach scalpeltrade.com to check your licence."** The first activation must reach the site. Check the new computer's internet connection and firewall ([guide 13.9](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-licence-offline)). ## Questions **How many computers can I use Scalpel on?** Two at a time on one licence. You can free a computer from your account page and activate another, up to 3 frees in any 30 days. **Do I need the old computer to move my licence?** No. You free it from scalpeltrade.com/account in any browser, so a lost, sold or broken computer is no problem. **Does reinstalling Scalpel use another slot?** No. The same computer always gets the same slot back. Reinstalling Windows or macOS does count as a new computer, so free the old entry afterwards. **Can I run Scalpel on two computers at the same time?** Yes, both slots can be active together. Each one needs its own TWS or IB Gateway login, and Interactive Brokers allows one trading session per username, so see guide 13.3 before you run both at once. **What happens if I free the computer I am trading on?** Nothing mid-session. Scalpel never locks you out during a session: it shows a banner and asks for the key at the next start. It also takes the slot back at its next check if one is free. --- # Updates: how Scalpel updates itself > Scalpel downloads updates in the background and installs only when you choose: Update ready, What's new, restart or install on quit, and going back. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/updates Guide 12.2, Licence, updates and account. Beginner, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel checks scalpeltrade.com for a new version when it starts and every 30 minutes while it runs, downloads it in the background, and shows **Update ready** in the status bar. Click it to read what is new, then choose **Restart and update** or **Update when I quit**. It never installs on its own, and it will not restart while you have a position, a working order or a live stop. Updates are built around one rule: nothing changes under you during a session. There is no pop-up, no forced restart and no install in the middle of a trade. You see one quiet pill and one toast, and you decide when. Every update is included in your licence. **Before you start:** - A licensed copy of Scalpel ([guide 1.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/activate-licence)). - On Windows, Scalpel in a folder you own, such as your desktop or Documents (not Program Files). On a Mac, Scalpel in **Applications**. ## What happens, step by step | When | What Scalpel does | What you see | |---|---|---| | About 20 seconds after it starts, then every 30 minutes | Asks scalpeltrade.com whether there is a newer version on your channel | Nothing, unless there is one | | A newer version exists | Downloads it in the background and checks its signature and checksum | The pill counts **Downloading 1.13.0: 42%** | | Download checked | Places the new version next to the running one, untouched until you choose | **Update ready: 1.13.0** in the status bar, and one toast | | You choose to install | Swaps the versions and restarts, or waits until you quit | **Scalpel updated from 1.12.6 to 1.13.0** after the restart | You never need to restart Scalpel to find an update: a running copy hears about a new version within half an hour, and **Check for updates** in Settings > About checks at once. Each release is signed with Scalpel's own release key. Scalpel refuses a download whose signature or checksum does not match, so a damaged or tampered file is never installed. ## Install an update ### 1. Spot the pill When the download is ready, the status bar along the bottom shows **Update ready: 1.13.0** in blue (1), and a toast says "Scalpel 1.13.0 is ready. It installs when you restart." Keep trading: nothing has changed yet. *Screenshot: The pill sits on the right of the status bar, next to your version (1). Demo data.* ### 2. Read what is new Click the pill. **What's new in 1.13.0** lists the changes in plain words. If you skipped some versions, it shows the notes of each one in between, newest first. Long notes scroll inside the card, so the buttons always stay in view. *Screenshot: What's new, flat and ready to restart: Restart and update, Update when I quit, and Skip this version. Example release notes.* ### 3. Choose when to install - **Restart and update**: Scalpel saves everything, closes, swaps in the new version and starts again in a few seconds. It reconnects to TWS or IB Gateway by itself. - **Update when I quit**: the pill changes to **Update 1.13.0 installs when you quit**. The update goes in when you close Scalpel, and the next start is the new version. Use this mid-session. - **Skip this version**: the pill goes away until a newer version comes out. **Check for updates** in Settings > About still offers it if you change your mind. ### 4. Confirm the new version After the restart a toast reads **Scalpel updated from 1.12.6 to 1.13.0**. The status bar and **Settings** > **About** show the new version and build, for example **v1.13.0 (8b1e2d4)**. ## The trading guard **Restart and update** is greyed out while Scalpel has an open position (in either mode, or anything open on your IBKR account), a working order, or a live stop. Your stops are watched by Scalpel itself, not held at Interactive Brokers, so they stop being watched while it restarts ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). The window says why: *Screenshot: With a position open, Restart and update is disabled and the reason is shown. Update when I quit is always available. Example release notes.* Flatten and cancel, then restart, or pick **Update when I quit** and carry on. ## Updates in Settings > About Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) > **About**. The **Updates** block has everything: *Screenshot: Settings > About, Updates outlined: the channel, automatic download, the status line, Check for updates and Go back. Demo data.* | Control | What it does | Default | |---|---|---| | **Channel** | **Stable** for everyone, or **Beta (early builds)** for new versions first ([guide 12.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/beta-channel)) | Stable | | **Download updates automatically** | Off: the pill says **Update available: 1.13.0**, and the download starts when you click **Download** in What's new | On | | Status line | "Scalpel 1.12.6 is up to date (checked 12 minutes ago).", "Downloading version 1.13.0 (42%).", "Version 1.13.0 is ready. It installs when you restart Scalpel." or why the last update failed | | | **Check for updates** | Checks now; a toast says "Scalpel 1.12.6 is up to date" if there is nothing new | | | **Go back to 1.12.5** | Restores the version you had before the last update, then restarts. Shown only while that copy is kept | | Channel and automatic download are saved when you click **Apply**. ## Going back a version After an update, Scalpel keeps the previous version until the next one. If something about the new version gets in your way, click **Go back to 1.12.5** in Settings > About. The same trading guard applies: flatten first. Scalpel restarts on the old version and skips the one you left, so it is not offered again automatically. Your settings carry over both ways. Scalpel also protects you from a version that will not start: if a new version fails to come up twice, the third start puts the previous version back by itself and says "Version 1.13.0 did not start, so Scalpel went back to 1.12.6". The failure is reported so it gets fixed. ## Urgent updates A release that fixes a bug that can affect your orders is marked critical. Its pill turns amber with an alert icon, the toast is amber, and the notes open with "This update fixes a problem that can affect your orders. Install it before your next session." If your version is ever below the minimum supported one, a banner under the header says "This version of Scalpel has a problem that affects your orders. Update before you trade." with **See the update**. Neither blocks a session in progress. *Screenshot: A critical update: the pill turns amber. Demo data.* ## What can go wrong - **The update fails or keeps waiting.** Usually Scalpel cannot write to its own folder (Program Files, a read-only drive) or, on a Mac, is running from the disk image or Downloads. The status line says so. Move Scalpel and start it from there, or download the new version from your account page. See [guide 13.11](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-update-failed). - **Restart and update is grey.** The trading guard: something is open. Close it, or use **Update when I quit**. - **"Could not check for updates. Try again later."** scalpeltrade.com could not be reached. Scalpel keeps working; it tries again at the next check. Release notes for every stable version are on the [changelog](https://scalpeltrade.com/changelog). New releases are also announced in the [Discord](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/discord-support). ## Questions **Does Scalpel update itself while I am trading?** No. It downloads in the background but only installs when you click Restart and update, or when you quit after choosing Update when I quit. Restart and update is blocked while you have a position, a working order or a live stop. **Are updates free?** Yes. Every update is included in the one-off licence. **How often does Scalpel check for updates?** About 20 seconds after it starts, then every 30 minutes while it runs, and at once whenever you click Check for updates in Settings > About. You never need to restart it to find an update. **Can I go back to the previous version?** Yes, while it is kept: Settings > About > Go back to (version). Scalpel keeps the version you had before the last update until the next one installs. **Do I lose my settings when I update?** No. Settings, presets, hotkeys, layouts, the SIM account and your journal all carry over, and an older version can still read them if you go back. **Can I turn updates off?** You can turn off automatic downloads in Settings > About, so nothing downloads until you click Download. Scalpel still checks, so you hear about urgent fixes. --- # Try new features early: the beta channel > Switch Scalpel to the Beta channel to get new builds before everyone else, what to expect from a beta, and how to go back to Stable when you want to. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/beta-channel Guide 12.3, Licence, updates and account. Intermediate, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Open **Settings** > **About**, set **Channel** to **Beta (early builds)** and click **Apply**. Scalpel then offers beta versions (named like 1.13.0-beta.1) as well as stable ones, through the same Update ready pill. To go back, set the channel to **Stable**: you move back onto stable as soon as a stable release passes the beta you are on, or right away with **Go back** while the stable copy is still kept. The beta channel gets new versions first. In return you are the first to meet their rough edges. A beta becomes the next stable version once it has run on beta without order, position or price-display problems, so beta testers are the people who make stable safe. **Before you start:** - Updates working on your computer ([guide 12.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/updates)). - A [Discord](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/discord-support) account, so you can report what you find. ## Should you use beta? | Beta suits you if | Stay on stable if | |---|---| | You want new features days or weeks early | You trade LIVE size and want the fewest surprises | | You test in SIM before you trade LIVE each morning | You do not have time to check a new build before the open | | You are happy to report a bug with steps and a log | You run Scalpel on one computer with no fallback | **This can cost you money.** A beta can have a bug that affects orders or stops. That is what the beta channel is there to catch. If you trade real money on beta, check each new beta in SIM first, keep your size small until you trust it, and know how to go back a version (below). A good habit: run beta on one computer and stable on the other. Your licence covers two ([guide 12.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/move-licence-new-computer)). ## Switch to beta ### 1. Open Settings > About Press `Ctrl`+`,` (`Cmd`+`,` on a Mac) and pick **About**. ### 2. Pick the beta channel Under **Updates**, open **Channel** (1) and choose **Beta (early builds)**. Click **Apply**. *Screenshot: The Channel list (1): Stable, or Beta (early builds). Demo data.* ### 3. Check for a beta now Click **Check for updates**. If a beta newer than your version is out, Scalpel downloads it and the status bar shows **Update ready: 1.13.0-beta.1**. Otherwise Scalpel keeps checking every 30 minutes while it runs, so the next beta reaches you without a restart. *Screenshot: A beta offered through the normal pill. Demo data.* ### 4. Install it when you are flat Click the pill, read **What's new**, and choose **Restart and update** or **Update when I quit**. The same trading guard as stable applies: no restart with a position, a working order or a live stop open. ## What you get on beta - **Beta versions and stable ones.** The beta channel offers the newest of both. If a stable fix comes out above your beta, you get it too. - **Version names with a beta number.** 1.13.0-beta.1, then 1.13.0-beta.2, then the final 1.13.0 on stable. Settings > About and the status bar show the exact build, for example **v1.13.0-beta.2 (c41f0a9)**. - **Notes in the app.** Each beta's notes are in its What's new window and in the Discord announcement. The [changelog](https://scalpeltrade.com/changelog) on the site lists stable releases only. - **Betas at any time.** Betas go out when they are ready, so a new one can appear mid-week. Install it after the close, never just before the open. ## Go back to stable Set **Channel** to **Stable** and click **Apply**. What happens next depends on the version you are on: | Your situation | What to do | |---|---| | You can wait for the final release | Nothing. When the stable version comes out (1.13.0 is newer than any 1.13.0 beta), Scalpel offers it, and from then on you only get stable. | | You need stable today, and you updated straight from stable to this beta | Settings > About > **Go back to 1.12.6**. Scalpel restarts on the stable version it kept. | | You need stable today, and the kept copy is another beta | Download the current stable version from your [account page](https://scalpeltrade.com/account) and replace Scalpel with it. Settings, presets and your journal carry over. | Going back never loses settings: a newer version never changes your settings in a way an older one cannot read. ## Report what you find Post in the [Discord](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/discord-support) with the exact build from Settings > About, what you did, what you expected and what happened, and the log file (`%APPDATA%\scalpel\data\logs\scalpel.log` on Windows, `~/Library/Application Support/scalpel/logs/scalpel.log` on a Mac). A report with steps gets a fix into the next beta. ## Questions **Is the beta channel free?** Yes. Every licence can switch between Stable and Beta at any time in Settings > About. **Is beta safe for live trading?** Less safe than stable: a beta can carry a bug that affects orders or stops, which is what the beta channel is for. Check each beta in SIM first and keep size small, or keep LIVE on a computer that stays on stable. **How do I leave the beta channel?** Set Channel to Stable in Settings > About and click Apply. You get the next stable release that is newer than your beta, or you can go back right away with Go back to (version) if the kept copy is stable. **How often do betas come out?** When they are ready, not on a fixed schedule. Install a new one after the close and check it in SIM before you trade. **Will I get stable fixes while I am on beta?** Yes. The beta channel is offered the newest version of either kind, so a stable release above your beta reaches you too. --- # Refunds, invoices and billing > What a Scalpel licence costs, how VAT and sales tax are added, where your receipt and invoice are, and how the 7-day refund guarantee works. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/refunds-and-billing Guide 12.4, Licence, updates and account. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel is $299 (US dollars), paid once, plus VAT or sales tax where it applies, which Stripe adds at checkout from your billing address. Your receipts are on your account page at scalpeltrade.com/account, and your licence key is emailed to you. If Scalpel is not for you, email hello@scalpeltrade.com within 7 days of buying and you get the full amount back, tax included. One price, no subscription, every update included. This page covers what you pay, where the paperwork is, and how the 7-day refund works. ## What you pay | Item | Amount | |---|---| | Lifetime licence, two computers, every update | **$299** once | | Through a referral link | **$269.10** (10% off, shown before you pay; see [guide 12.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/referral-program)) | | VAT or sales tax | Added at checkout where it applies, worked out by Stripe from your billing address | | Subscription | None | What Scalpel does not charge for matters as much: there is no paid data feed, no charting subscription and no separate scanner service to buy. Quotes, Level 2, the tape, the charts and IBKR's own scanner all come through your Interactive Brokers connection, and intel uses free public sources (SEC EDGAR, FINRA, Nasdaq). You pay Interactive Brokers for your market data as usual ([guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). The only optional extra is your own OpenAI key for headline grading, a few cents a day. There is no free trial: Scalpel needs a licence key to open. The 7-day refund is there instead, and SIM lets you practise without risking money from your first minute ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). ## How buying works 1. On the [pricing page](https://scalpeltrade.com/pricing), click **Get Scalpel**. Sign in with your email (the same form creates your account): your licence lives in that account. 2. Click **Buy for $299**. Stripe's secure checkout opens. Scalpel never sees or stores your card details. 3. Enter your billing address. Stripe shows the tax for your country or state before you pay. 4. Tick the terms box. It says you agree to the Terms and ask for immediate access to the download, which ends the 14-day right to cancel a digital purchase under UK law; the 7-day refund guarantee still applies. 5. Pay. You land on your account page with "Payment received. Thank you." Your key is there, and a copy is on its way to your inbox. The price is in US dollars. If your card is in another currency, your bank converts it at its own rate and may add a fee. ## Your receipts and invoice Three places hold the record of your purchase: - **Your purchase email** has the key and the amounts: "Scalpel lifetime licence: $299.00 + tax $59.80. Total paid: $358.80" (for 20% VAT). - **Your account page** lists every purchase under **Receipts**, with the date, subtotal, tax, total and a status: **Paid**, **Refunded** or **Disputed**. - **Stripe** creates an invoice for every purchase. *Screenshot: The Receipts panel at the bottom of scalpeltrade.com/account. Demo data: 20% VAT on $299.* The seller on every receipt is QUITE RIGHT LIMITED, a company registered in England and Wales. Need an invoice with your business details, or a copy of the Stripe invoice? Email hello@scalpeltrade.com from the address you bought with. ## The 7-day refund ### 1. Write within 7 days Email hello@scalpeltrade.com from the address you bought with, or reply to your purchase email, within 7 days of your purchase. You do not need to give a reason. ### 2. Get the full amount back The whole amount you paid, tax included, goes back to your original payment method through Stripe. It usually reaches you in 5 to 10 business days, depending on your bank. Your receipt then shows **Refunded**. ### 3. Your licence ends A refunded licence is revoked. Scalpel stops accepting it the next time it checks in (at start, and every 12 hours), or when its 72-hour offline period runs out. It never cuts you off in the middle of a session: you see a banner and the licence screen at the next start. The Customer role in the Discord is removed. **Tip.** Use the 7 days. Install, connect to TWS or IB Gateway, and spend a few sessions in SIM with your own hotkeys and sizes ([guide 1.7](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/first-session-in-sim)). That tells you far more than any video. If something does not work, ask in the [Discord](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/discord-support) first: most setup problems take minutes to fix. ## After 7 days Purchases are final after 7 days. Your rights under UK consumer law still apply at any time: if Scalpel is faulty or not as described, it gets put right. The full wording is in the [refund policy](https://scalpeltrade.com/legal/refunds) and the [terms](https://scalpeltrade.com/legal/terms). **Chargebacks:** please email before you dispute a payment with your bank. A disputed payment shows **Disputed** on your receipts, and a lost dispute revokes the licence. ## Questions **How much does Scalpel cost?** $299 once, plus VAT or sales tax where it applies. It is a lifetime licence for two computers with every update. There is no subscription. **Is there a free trial?** No. Scalpel needs a licence key to open. Instead you get a 7-day refund: email within 7 days of buying and you get the full amount back, tax included. **Why was I charged VAT or sales tax?** The $299 price excludes tax. Stripe adds the VAT or sales tax due in your country or state, worked out from the billing address you enter at checkout, and shows it before you pay. **Where is my invoice?** Your receipts are on scalpeltrade.com/account and in your purchase email. For an invoice with your business details, email hello@scalpeltrade.com from the address you bought with. **How long does a refund take?** The refund goes back through Stripe to your original payment method. Banks usually take 5 to 10 business days to show it. **Do I need to pay for market data on top?** Only what Interactive Brokers charges you for market data, as with any IBKR platform. Scalpel needs no third-party data feed, charting subscription or scanner service. --- # Earn with the referral program > Choose your own referral code, share your link, give buyers a discount and get paid through Stripe. How commission, the holding period and currencies work. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/referral-program Guide 12.5, Licence, updates and account. Beginner, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Sign in at scalpeltrade.com, open **Refer a trader** and click **Get my referral link**. Anyone who buys within 60 days of clicking your link gets 10% off ($269.10 instead of $299) and you earn 30% of what they paid before tax, $80.73 a sale. Commissions are held for 30 days to cover refunds, then paid to your bank through Stripe. The referral program pays traders who send other traders to Scalpel. You do not need to own Scalpel to join, and it takes a minute to set up. The rates on this page are the current defaults; your referrals page always shows the ones that apply to you. **Before you start:** - A scalpeltrade.com account (sign in with your email at [/login](https://scalpeltrade.com/login)). - For payouts: a bank account in the UK, the EU or EEA, the US, Canada or Switzerland. ## How the money works | | Amount | Notes | |---|---|---| | Buyer pays | $269.10 + tax | 10% off the $299 price, shown on the pricing page and at checkout | | Your commission | **30%** of the price before tax | $80.73 on a $269.10 sale; tax is never part of it | | Held for | **30 days** | Covers the 7-day refund window and card disputes | | Paid | Automatically, within a day of the hold ending | Through Stripe to your bank | | Link window | **60 days** from the click | The buyer must accept cookies for the click to count | A buyer who signs up for an account while your link is remembered stays yours even if they buy later. You never earn on your own purchase, and your own code gives you no discount. ## Set it up ### 1. Get your link Sign in, go to your [account page](https://scalpeltrade.com/account) and click **Refer a trader** (top right). Click **Get my referral link**. You get a link straight away, with a short random code: `https://scalpeltrade.com/?ref=K7M2QX`. ### 2. Choose your own code Under **Your link**, type the code you want in **Your code** (1) and click **Save code**. A code is 4 to 24 letters, numbers or single hyphens, starting and ending with a letter or number. Capitals do not matter: JIMMY420 and jimmy420 are the same code. The page confirms "Your code is now JIMMY420." *Screenshot: Your link, ready to copy, and the code box (1). Demo data.* **Careful.** Changing your code breaks every link with the old one. People who already signed up through you stay yours, but anyone who clicks an old link afterwards is not counted. Pick a code you will keep. ### 3. Set up payouts In the **Payouts** panel, pick **Country of your bank account** and click **Set up payouts**. Stripe opens and asks for your identity and bank details; Scalpel never sees them. When you come back the badge reads **Ready**. If Stripe still needs something, the page says "Payout setup is not finished" and offers **Continue payout setup**. Commissions you earn before payouts are ready are kept and paid once setup is finished. ### 4. Share the link Copy it with **Copy link** and share it where traders talk. Any page works: `scalpeltrade.com/guides?ref=JIMMY420` lands a reader on the guides with your code attached, which is handy when you answer a question with a guide. ### 5. Watch the numbers The page counts **Clicks**, **Sales**, money **Held** and money **Paid**, then lists each commission with its **Sale date**, **Amount**, **Rate**, **Payable from** date and **Status**. *Screenshot: Three referred sales: two held until their payable date, one paid. Demo data.* ## Commission statuses | Status | Meaning | |---|---| | **Held** | Waiting out the 30-day hold. Paid automatically on or after its **Payable from** date. | | **Paid** | Sent to your Stripe account. **Open payout dashboard** shows the transfer and when it reaches your bank. | | **Void** | The buyer was refunded before the commission was paid, so it was cancelled. | | **Reversed** | The buyer was refunded or won a card dispute after the commission was paid, so it was taken back. If your Stripe balance cannot cover it, it comes off your next payout. | ## Currencies Commissions are worked out and shown in US dollars, because the sale was in dollars. Each one is paid out of the sale itself, in the currency Stripe settled that sale in, at the rate Stripe used for it (rounded down to the cent). Stripe then pays your bank in your bank's currency. The exact amounts that reach you are in your payout dashboard. ## Share it honestly The best referrals come from showing what you actually use. A few rules keep it fair for everyone, and the terms enforce them: - **No performance claims.** Do not promise profits or post "I made $X with Scalpel" as a reason to buy. Scalpel is a tool; momentum scalping is hard, carries a real risk of loss, and most people who try it lose money. Say so if you recommend it. - **Describe it as it is.** Long-only US stocks, built for the pre-market, stops watched by the app, no auto trader, no free trial (there is a 7-day refund). - **No spam, no posing as us.** Codes cannot contain words like scalpel, support, official, free or discount ("That code is reserved. Try another."). Bidding on the Scalpel name in search ads is not allowed. Referrers who spam or mislead buyers are suspended, and the page then says "Your referral account is suspended. Contact hello@scalpeltrade.com." ## Questions **Do I need to own Scalpel to refer?** No. Anyone with a scalpeltrade.com account can get a referral link and earn commission. **How much do I earn per referral?** 30% of the price the buyer paid before tax. With the 10% referral discount that is $80.73 on a $269.10 sale. **When do I get paid?** Each commission is held for 30 days to cover refunds and disputes, then paid automatically through Stripe to your bank once your payouts are set up. **How long does my link last?** A click counts for 60 days, as long as the buyer accepts cookies on the site. A buyer who creates an account in that time stays yours. **Which countries can receive payouts?** Banks in the UK, the EU and EEA, the US, Canada and Switzerland, through Stripe Connect. **What happens if my buyer asks for a refund?** The commission is cancelled if it has not been paid yet, or taken back if it has. That is why commissions are held for 30 days. --- # Get help on Discord > Link your Discord on scalpeltrade.com to get the Customer role and the support channels, then ask with your version and the exact message you saw. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/discord-support Guide 12.6, Licence, updates and account. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel support runs on Discord. Sign in at scalpeltrade.com/account, click **Connect Discord** in the **Support Discord** panel and approve it in Discord: you join the server with the **Customer** role, which opens the customer channels. Post your question with your Scalpel version from **Settings** > **About** and the exact message you saw, and keep anything private (your key, payments, account numbers) out of public channels. The Discord is where customers get help, report bugs, and hear about new releases first. It is for licence holders, and linking takes a minute. **Before you start:** - An active Scalpel licence on your scalpeltrade.com account. - A Discord account (free, at discord.com). ## Join the server ### 1. Open your account page Sign in at [scalpeltrade.com/account](https://scalpeltrade.com/account). The **Support Discord** panel sits next to **Download** once your licence is active. ### 2. Click Connect Discord Click **Connect Discord** (1). Discord opens and asks you to approve two things: that Scalpel can see your Discord username, and that it can add you to the server. Click **Authorize**. *Screenshot: Before linking, Connect Discord (1). After, the panel shows your Discord name and Relink Discord (2). Demo data.* ### 3. Back on your account page You come back to scalpeltrade.com with "Discord linked. You are in the server with the Customer role." Scalpel's server is now in your Discord, and the panel reads **Linked as** your name. If you were already in the server, you simply get the Customer role. ### 4. Find your way around Open the server in Discord and read the channel list from the top. Release announcements are posted there when a new version goes live, with what changed. Ask questions in the customer channels, which only the Customer role can see. Linked the wrong Discord account? Click **Relink Discord** and approve it with the right one. ## Ask a question that gets answered fast Most answers come back quicker when the first message has everything. Copy this into your post: | Include | Where to find it | |---|---| | Scalpel version and build | **Settings** > **About**, first line, for example **v1.12.6 (4f2c9a1)** | | Windows or Mac | Windows 10 or 11, or the Mac model | | TWS or IB Gateway | And the port in **Settings** > **Connection** | | SIM or LIVE | The **MODE** in the header | | The exact message | The toast, banner or status bar text, word for word | | What you did, what you expected, what happened | In that order | | A screenshot | Crop or blur your account number and balances first | | The log, for bugs | `%APPDATA%\scalpel\data\logs\scalpel.log` on Windows, `~/Library/Application Support/scalpel/logs/scalpel.log` on a Mac | Many problems have a page already: search the [guides](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides) or start with [guide 13.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected) for connection trouble. **This can cost you money.** Never post your licence key, your IBKR account number, passwords or two-factor codes in Discord. Nobody from Scalpel will ask for your Interactive Brokers password, ever. For anything about your licence, payment or account, ask the team privately or email hello@scalpeltrade.com from the address you bought with. ## What the Discord is not It is support for the software, not trading advice. Nothing posted there by the team or other members is a recommendation to buy or sell anything. Momentum scalping is fast and difficult and carries a significant risk of loss; practise in SIM and keep your risk small ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim), [guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)). See the [risk disclosure](https://scalpeltrade.com/legal/risk). ## If linking fails | Message on your account page | What to do | |---|---| | "Discord linking failed. Try again, or email hello@scalpeltrade.com." | Click **Connect Discord** again. If it fails twice, email with your Discord username. | | "Discord linking was cancelled." | You closed or declined the Discord window. Click **Connect Discord** and approve it. | | "The support Discord is for licence holders." | The account you are signed in to has no active licence. Sign in with the email you bought with. | A refunded licence loses the Customer role ([guide 12.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/refunds-and-billing)). Leaving the server yourself does not affect your licence; click **Relink Discord** to come back. ## Questions **How do I get support for Scalpel?** Link your Discord on scalpeltrade.com/account with Connect Discord, then ask in the customer channels. You can also email hello@scalpeltrade.com. **Why can I not see the support channels?** They need the Customer role, which you get by linking from your account page. Click Relink Discord if you joined with a different Discord account. **Is the Discord free?** Yes, for every licence holder, for as long as the licence is active. **What should I include when I report a bug?** Your version and build from Settings > About, Windows or Mac, TWS or IB Gateway, SIM or LIVE, the exact message, what you did and what happened, and the log file scalpel.log. **Can I get trading advice in the Discord?** No. The Discord supports the software. Nothing posted there is a recommendation to buy or sell. --- # Scalpel says Disconnected: fix the IBKR connection > Scalpel cannot reach TWS or IB Gateway? Check the program is running and logged in, the API is on and the port matches, and use the banner's fix. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected Guide 13.1, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel reaches Interactive Brokers only through TWS or IB Gateway running and logged in on the same computer, with the API switched on and its socket port matching **Settings** > **Connection** > **Port**. While the link is down, a banner under the header says which program it found (TWS on 7497 or 7496, IB Gateway on 4001 or 4002) and offers a one-click fix: **Use port 7496**, **Use IB Gateway** or **Start TWS**. The **IBKR** pill at the bottom left of the status bar shows the link. Anything other than **Connected** means no quotes, no Level 2 and no orders. *Screenshot: The IBKR pill's four states. Click it to switch the link off or on. Demo data.* The text after **Disconnected:** is the reason your computer gave. On Windows, "No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it" means nothing is listening on that port: the program is closed, still logging in, or on another port. ## Check these first ### 1. Log in to TWS or IB Gateway Start TWS or IB Gateway on this computer and finish logging in, including the two-factor approval on your phone. The API only opens once the login is complete. ### 2. Turn the API on In TWS: **Configure** > **API** > **Settings** > **Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients**. In IB Gateway: **Configure** > **Settings** > **API**. Every screen is in [guide 1.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/enable-tws-api). ### 3. Match the port The **Socket port** there must equal **Port** in Scalpel's **Settings** > **Connection**. Scalpel starts on 7497 for TWS and 4001 for IB Gateway. Change either side, then click **Apply**: Scalpel reconnects without a restart. ### 4. Make sure the pill is not Off **Off** (grey) means you switched the link off. Click the pill, or tick **Enabled** next to **IBKR TWS** in Settings > Connection. While it is off, Scalpel does not retry and shows no banner. Then read the banner under the header. It is checked every 5 seconds while the link is down, and only when **Host** is this computer (127.0.0.1). ## Neither TWS nor IB Gateway is running on this machine. Start one and log in; Scalpel connects by itself. Nothing answers on 7497, 7496, 4001 or 4002. If Scalpel finds TWS or IB Gateway installed in its usual place, the banner offers **Start TWS** or **Start IB Gateway**. Click one, log in, and Scalpel connects by itself ("Starting TWS: log in, then Scalpel connects"). *Screenshot: Nothing running: the banner offers to start what is installed, and the pill reads Disconnected. Demo data.* If TWS is running and logged in but you still see this, its API is off or uses a port outside the four standard ones. Turn the API on, or type its port into Settings > Connection. ## TWS is not answering on port 7497, but it is running on port 7496. The most common one. Interactive Brokers sets TWS to port 7496 for a live login and 7497 for a paper login; Scalpel starts on 7497. Click **Use port 7496** (1): Scalpel saves the port and connects ("Connecting to TWS on port 7496"). Or change TWS's socket port to 7497. *Screenshot: One click switches Scalpel to the port TWS is really using (1). Demo data.* The same happens for IB Gateway on 4001 (live) and 4002 (paper). ## TWS is not answering on port 7497, but IB Gateway is running on port 4001. You run the other program. Click **Use IB Gateway** (or **Use TWS**) to switch. *Screenshot: The other program is up: switch to it. Demo data.* With a custom port the banner reads "Nothing answers on port 7500, but IB Gateway is running on port 4001." and offers the same switch. ## TWS is running on port 7497 but is not accepting the connection. The port is open but the API refuses Scalpel. See [guide 13.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-not-accepting-connection). ## Disconnected mid-session: IB connection lost An amber toast **IB connection lost** and a spoken alert mean the link dropped while you were trading: TWS or IB Gateway closed, restarted (both restart once a day unless you set auto-restart), or another login took the session ([guide 13.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-tws-signed-out)). Scalpel retries by itself, every few seconds and at least every 20, and picks your LIVE positions back up from Interactive Brokers when it reconnects. **This can cost you money.** While the link is down, Scalpel gets no prices, so it cannot see your stop being hit, and it cannot send orders. Your LIVE position is still open at Interactive Brokers. If you cannot reconnect quickly, manage it in TWS or the IBKR app. See [guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work). ## Disconnected: TWS refused the connection (client id in use?), retrying TWS turned the connection away. Usually a second copy of Scalpel is open, another API program on this computer uses the same client ids, or Scalpel restarted a moment ago and TWS has not released the old connection yet. Close the other copy or program; otherwise wait a minute, and Scalpel retries by itself. ## Questions **Why does Scalpel say Disconnected when TWS is open?** TWS must be fully logged in with Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients ticked, and its socket port must match Settings > Connection > Port. Live TWS uses 7496 by default and Scalpel starts on 7497: click Use port 7496 on the banner. **Which port does Scalpel use?** 7497 for TWS and 4001 for IB Gateway at first. Interactive Brokers' defaults are TWS 7496 live and 7497 paper, IB Gateway 4001 live and 4002 paper. Scalpel checks all four and offers to switch. **Can Scalpel connect to TWS on another computer?** Scalpel is built to run next to TWS or IB Gateway on the same computer, and the banner's checks only work for 127.0.0.1. **Do my stops work while Scalpel is disconnected?** No. Stops are watched by Scalpel and need live prices. The position stays open at Interactive Brokers, so manage it in TWS if the link does not come back. --- # TWS is running but not accepting the connection > The banner says TWS or IB Gateway is running but not accepting the connection: enable the API socket, allow Scalpel or trust 127.0.0.1, and reconnect. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-not-accepting-connection Guide 13.2, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The banner means TWS or IB Gateway is up on the port Scalpel uses, but its API is refusing the connection. In TWS open **Configure** > **API** > **Settings** (in IB Gateway, **Configure** > **Settings** > **API**), tick **Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients**, add **127.0.0.1** to **Trusted IPs**, click **OK**, and accept the connection if TWS asks. Scalpel retries by itself and connects within seconds. Scalpel found the program (the port answered) but the handshake that follows never completed. That is almost always a setting or a question waiting inside TWS, not a network problem. ## TWS is running on port 7497 but is not accepting the connection. In Configure > API > Settings, enable the API socket and allow Scalpel when it asks. With IB Gateway the banner reads "IB Gateway is running on port 4001 but is not accepting the connection. In Configure > Settings > API, enable the API socket and allow Scalpel when it asks." The status bar pill keeps reading **Disconnected** while Scalpel retries. *Screenshot: The program answered on the port, but refused the API connection. Demo data.* ## Fix it ### 1. Look for a waiting question in TWS Switch to TWS or IB Gateway and look for a small window asking whether to accept an incoming API connection. It can open behind other windows. Accept it. Scalpel opens several connections (quotes, depth, orders, scanner), so it may ask more than once. ### 2. Enable the API socket Open the API settings: in TWS, **Configure** (the gear, or **File** > **Global Configuration**) > **API** > **Settings**; in IB Gateway, **Configure** > **Settings** > **API** > **Settings**. Tick **Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients** (1). *Screenshot: Simplified TWS API settings: Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients (1), Read-Only API off (2), the socket port (3), and 127.0.0.1 as a trusted IP (4). Not the real TWS window.* ### 3. Trust this computer Under **Trusted IPs**, click **Create** and add **127.0.0.1** (4). TWS then stops asking every time Scalpel connects. Leave **Allow connections from localhost only** ticked: Scalpel runs on the same computer. ### 4. Untick Read-Only API **Read-Only API** (2) does not stop the connection, but it makes TWS refuse every order Scalpel sends in LIVE. Untick it now so you do not meet it mid-trade ([guide 13.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-rejected)). ### 5. Click OK and wait a few seconds Click **OK** (or **Apply** and **OK**). Scalpel retries by itself; the pill turns green and reads **Connected**. No restart of Scalpel is needed. ## Still not accepting? - **Another copy of Scalpel is open,** or another program uses Scalpel's API client ids. Close it. The status bar may read "Disconnected: TWS refused the connection (client id in use?), retrying". - **IB Gateway or TWS has just logged in** and is still loading. Give it 30 seconds. - **A dialog is open in TWS**, such as a message after login. Close it; TWS can hold API connections until it is dismissed. - **The port belongs to something else.** The banner checks only that the port answers. If you changed TWS's port, make sure no other program uses the same number. - **Restart TWS or IB Gateway** after changing API settings if nothing else works. Scalpel reconnects by itself when it comes back. For the full TWS and IB Gateway setup, see [guide 1.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/enable-tws-api). For other banner messages, see [guide 13.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected). ## Questions **Where is Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients?** In TWS: Configure (or File > Global Configuration) > API > Settings. In IB Gateway: Configure > Settings > API > Settings. **Why does TWS keep asking me to accept the connection?** Because 127.0.0.1 is not a trusted IP. Add it under Trusted IPs in the API settings and TWS stops asking. **Should Read-Only API be on or off?** Off, if you want to place LIVE orders from Scalpel. With it on, Scalpel connects and shows data but every order is refused. **Do I need to restart Scalpel after changing TWS settings?** No. Scalpel retries the connection on its own every few seconds. --- # TWS signs out when IB Gateway starts > Interactive Brokers allows one trading session per username, so TWS and IB Gateway sign each other out. Three ways to run Scalpel, and a second username. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-tws-signed-out Guide 13.3, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Interactive Brokers allows one trading session per username. TWS, IB Gateway and IBKR Desktop all count, so logging in to IB Gateway signs TWS out, and the other way round. Run only one of them for Scalpel (IB Gateway alone is the lightest), run Scalpel alongside TWS, or add a second username in Client Portal so each program has its own login. This is an Interactive Brokers rule, not a Scalpel setting, and no setting in TWS or Scalpel gets around it. The fix is to choose how you want to run. ## Why TWS signs out A username can hold one live trading session. When a second program logs in with the same username, Interactive Brokers asks whether to take over the session and then closes the first one. TWS shows that it has been logged out; Scalpel loses its connection if it was using that program. | Counts as a session | Does not | |---|---| | TWS | Client Portal (the website) | | IB Gateway | | | IBKR Desktop | | The IBKR mobile app can also compete with your desktop login for market data. If quotes stop on your desktop while you use the app, log out of the app. ## What Scalpel shows Scalpel was using the program that just lost the session, so you hear **IB connection lost**, the IBKR pill turns red, and the banner points at whatever is still running. If IB Gateway took the session, the banner offers to use it: *Screenshot: TWS was signed out by an IB Gateway login: Scalpel offers to switch to IB Gateway. Demo data.* Clicking **Use IB Gateway** connects Scalpel to the program that now holds the session. Your LIVE positions are picked back up from Interactive Brokers when it reconnects. ## Pick one of three setups | Setup | How | Good for | Cost | |---|---|---|---| | **Scalpel instead of TWS** | Run IB Gateway only, logged in. Scalpel on 4001 (live) or 4002 (paper). | The lightest setup. Scalpel is your only trading screen. | Nothing extra | | **Scalpel alongside TWS** | Run TWS only, with the API enabled. Scalpel on TWS's port (7496 live or 7497 paper by default). | Keeping TWS's own screens and windows open next to Scalpel. | Nothing extra | | **Both fully open** | A second username: TWS logs in with one, IB Gateway with the other for Scalpel. | Running TWS and IB Gateway at the same time. | Market data is billed per username, so the second one needs its own subscriptions | Both TWS and IB Gateway restart once a day and ask for a fresh login unless you set auto-restart in their settings, and both need your two-factor approval at login. IB Gateway has no trading screens, but it still needs you to log in. ## Add a second username ### 1. Open Users and Access Rights Log in to Client Portal on the Interactive Brokers website and open **Settings** > **Users and Access Rights**. ### 2. Add a user for yourself Add a new user with trading access to the same account, following Interactive Brokers' steps. It needs its own two-factor setup. ### 3. Subscribe its market data Market data subscriptions belong to a username, not the account. Give the second username the subscriptions Scalpel needs: live quotes and Level 2 depth for the exchanges you trade ([guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). ### 4. Log each program in with its own username TWS with your usual username, IB Gateway with the new one. Point Scalpel at IB Gateway's port in **Settings** > **Connection** ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). **Note.** Running Scalpel on two computers? The same rule applies: each computer's TWS or IB Gateway needs its own username, or one will sign the other out. ## Questions **Why does TWS log out when I start IB Gateway?** Interactive Brokers allows one trading session per username, and TWS, IB Gateway and IBKR Desktop each count as one. The newer login takes the session. **Can I run TWS and IB Gateway at the same time?** Only with two usernames on your account, one per program. Market data is billed per username, so the second needs its own subscriptions. **Does Scalpel need IB Gateway, or is TWS enough?** Either works. IB Gateway is lighter. TWS lets you keep its own screens open. Point Scalpel at the port of the one you run. **Does Client Portal sign out TWS?** No. The Client Portal website is separate and keeps working alongside TWS or IB Gateway. --- # Delayed data, NO DATA or STALE, or Depth unavailable > A desk shows DELAYED, NO DATA or STALE, or a Depth unavailable toast: which market data subscription or IBKR limit causes each one and how to fix it. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-delayed-data Guide 13.4, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** All of Scalpel's market data comes from your own Interactive Brokers connection, so these messages point at your IBKR subscriptions or limits. **DELAYED** means IBKR is sending 15-minute delayed prices because that username has no live subscription for the stock's exchange. **NO DATA** means nothing has arrived since the symbol loaded, and **STALE** means no tick for 12 seconds or more. **Depth unavailable** means IBKR refused the Level 2 book, most often because the account's 3 depth books are already in use. Scalpel uses no third-party data feed: quotes, Level 2, the tape and the charts all come through TWS or IB Gateway. When a desk looks wrong, the badge in its header says which part is missing. ## The badges The badge sits after the session label (**PRE**, **RTH**, **AFTER** or **CLOSED**) in the desk header. A live, healthy desk shows no badge. *Screenshot: DELAYED in amber, NO DATA and STALE in grey. Demo data.* | Badge | What it means for your trade | Usual cause | |---|---|---| | **DELAYED** | Prices are about 15 minutes old. Do not trade off them. | No live subscription for that exchange on this username | | **NO DATA** | Nothing has arrived since you loaded the symbol | The link is down, the symbol is wrong, or IBKR refused the data | | **STALE** | No tick for 12 seconds or more | A quiet stock (common in the early pre-market), a halt, or the feed stopped | ## DELAYED IBKR sends delayed prices when the username logged in to TWS or IB Gateway lacks a live market data subscription for the exchange the stock trades on. It is per stock: one desk can be live and another delayed. 1. Log in to Client Portal and open your market data subscriptions (under **Settings**). 2. Add the live US equity bundle and the Level 2 depth you need. [Guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading) lists what a momentum scalper needs. 3. Subscriptions belong to a username. If Scalpel's TWS or IB Gateway logs in with a second username, that username needs its own ([guide 13.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-tws-signed-out)). 4. New subscriptions can take a while to switch on. Then log out of TWS or IB Gateway and back in, and reload the symbol. ## NO DATA - Check the **IBKR** pill in the status bar. Not **Connected**? Start with [guide 13.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected). - Check the symbol: a typo or a stock that does not trade on a major US exchange loads nothing. - Your username may have no subscription at all for that exchange. Open the same symbol in TWS: if TWS shows nothing either, it is a subscription question for Interactive Brokers. ## STALE STALE is not always a fault. A thin pre-market stock can go 12 seconds without a trade or quote change, and a halted stock stops ticking. If every desk goes STALE together, the feed has stopped: - TWS or IB Gateway may have lost its own connection to Interactive Brokers. Check its status bar. - Another login with your username (often the IBKR mobile app) can take the market data from your desktop session. Log out of it. ## Depth unavailable for ABCD A toast that starts **Depth unavailable for** and ends with IBKR's own reason means the desk's Level 2 book was refused. The desk keeps its quote, tape and chart; only the book is empty. *Screenshot: IBKR refused a fourth depth book. The text after the colon is IBKR's own message. Demo data.* | IBKR's reason mentions | Fix | |---|---| | A maximum number of market depth requests | Your account allows a set number of Level 2 books at once (3 for most accounts), and every desk with a symbol asks for one. Run 3 trading desks, close Level 2 windows open in TWS, or ask Interactive Brokers about more depth lines. | | Not subscribed, or no market data permissions | Add the depth subscription for that exchange ([guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). | | A competing session | Log out of the other login using your username, such as the mobile app. | To free a book, clear a desk you are not using, or switch it to **SCAN**: a scan desk gives its data line back ([guide 2.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/arrange-desks)). Then load the symbol again on the desk that had no book: Scalpel asks for depth when a symbol loads, not later. ## Questions **Why does Scalpel show DELAYED data?** Interactive Brokers sends 15-minute delayed prices when your username has no live subscription for that stock's exchange. Add the live subscription in Client Portal, then log in to TWS or IB Gateway again. **Why is Level 2 empty on my fourth desk?** Most IBKR accounts can stream 3 Level 2 books at once. The fourth desk gets a Depth unavailable toast and keeps its quote, tape and chart. Run 3 trading desks or ask IBKR about more depth lines. **What does STALE mean?** No new tick for that symbol in 12 seconds or more. Normal on a quiet pre-market stock or a halt; a problem if every desk goes STALE at once. **Do I need a separate data feed for Scalpel?** No. Everything comes through your IBKR connection. You pay Interactive Brokers for market data as you would for any IBKR platform. --- # A LIVE order was rejected > A LIVE order came back rejected: read IBKR's reason in the toast, then check Read-Only API, trading permissions, buying power and Scalpel's own caps. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-rejected Guide 13.5, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** A rejected order shows as a red toast and a spoken "rejected", and the Orders tab marks it **Rejected**. If the toast reads "ABCD rejected: ... (IB 201)", Interactive Brokers refused it and the text is IBKR's reason: most often Read-Only API switched on in TWS, no trading permission for that stock, buying power, or the pattern day trader rule. Any other wording is Scalpel's own safety check, such as your fat-finger or max-position cap. Nothing was bought or sold by a rejected order, so your position is what it was. Read the toast before you press again: pressing the same key repeats the same refusal. *Screenshot: Two red toasts: one refused by Interactive Brokers, with its reason and code, and one refused by Scalpel's max-position cap. Example IBKR wording: the real text varies.* The toast lasts 7 seconds. The order stays in the desk's **Orders** tab, in red: *Screenshot: The Orders tab: the rejected BUY has no fill and no fee. Demo data.* ## ABCD rejected: (reason) (IB code) Interactive Brokers refused the order and said why. Check these in order: | IBKR's reason is about | Fix | |---|---| | Read-only mode | In TWS **Configure** > **API** > **Settings** (IB Gateway: **Configure** > **Settings** > **API**), untick **Read-Only API** and click **OK** ([guide 1.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/enable-tws-api)) | | Trading permissions | Your account is not set up to trade that stock or exchange. Add the permission in Client Portal, or trade another stock | | Buying power, margin or funds | The order costs more than the account can carry right now. Size down ([guide 4.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/sizing-presets)) | | Pattern day trader or intraday margin | In June 2026 FINRA replaced the pattern day trader rule (the $25,000 minimum and the day-trade count) with intraday margin rules, but brokers may phase the change in until October 2027, so your account may still be on the old rule. IBKR refuses the trade that would break whichever rule applies to you. Check IBKR's current rules for your account ([what changed](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/pdt-rule-interactive-brokers)) | | Price, size or order limits | The price is too far from the market, or the size is over a limit set in TWS's order precautions | | A halt or a trading restriction | The stock is halted or restricted. Wait for it to reopen | Scalpel sends every LIVE order as a limit order: a buy at the ask plus your **Buy offset**, a sell at the price the exit key asks for, such as the bid minus your **Sell offset** (10 cents each by default). Every sell is flagged for extended hours so it is accepted in the pre-market, and so is every buy while **Extended-hours fills** is on (the default; [guide 11.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-trading)). Before the open, US exchanges accept limit orders only, which is why Scalpel never sends a market order. ## ABCD rejected by broker (Inactive) IBKR rejected the order without sending a reason Scalpel could read. Open TWS: its orders window and messages usually say why. The causes are the same as above. ## Scalpel's own checks These are refused before anything reaches Interactive Brokers, in SIM and LIVE alike. The dollar figures are your own caps (the defaults shown here): | Toast | What it means | Fix | |---|---|---| | Order exceeds the fat-finger cap ($250000) | One order is bigger than your fat-finger cap | Size down, or lower or raise the cap in **Settings** > **Risk** ([guide 7.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps)) | | Position would exceed the max ($250000) | This buy would take the position past your max-position cap | Same: size down or change the cap | | Risk locked: Daily loss limit hit (-$1000) | The daily loss limit tripped: new entries are blocked | Stop for the day, or **Resume trading** on the banner ([guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)) | | ABCD is halted: buys are blocked until it resumes | The stock is halted, and a halted stock reopens with a jump | Wait for it to resume. Sells are not blocked | | No long position to sell | The focused desk's symbol has no position | Focus the desk that holds it | | ABCD: no shares to sell | LIVE: Interactive Brokers shows no shares of it left to sell | Scalpel is long-only and never sells more than you hold ([guide 7.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/long-only)). Check the position in TWS | | Order size resolves to zero shares | The preset works out to less than one share (a tiny risk on a wide stop) | Raise the preset or tighten the stop ([guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk)) | | No market data yet, No ask to price against, No book to price the exit | The desk has no quote or book to price the order from | Check the badges and the IBKR pill ([guide 13.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-delayed-data)) | | Order manager was disconnected: order not sent | The link dropped between your key and the broker, so the order was dropped rather than sent at an old price | Wait for **Connected**, check the price again, press again | | Insufficient buying power: order $X exceeds free cash $Y | SIM only: SIM is a cash account | Size down or raise **SIM start ($)** in Settings > Risk | The caps block the whole order; they never shrink it. A sell pressed while another sell is still working is not refused: Scalpel replaces the working sell with one order for what you hold ([guide 13.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-not-filled)). ## Questions **Why was my Interactive Brokers order rejected?** Read the toast: after the symbol it carries IBKR's own reason and code. The usual causes are Read-Only API ticked in TWS, no trading permission for that stock, not enough buying power or margin, or a day-trading restriction. The pattern day trader rule was replaced by intraday margin rules in June 2026, but some accounts stay on it while brokers move over, so check IBKR's current rules for your account. **Where do I turn off Read-Only API?** In TWS: Configure > API > Settings, untick Read-Only API, OK. In IB Gateway: Configure > Settings > API. **Did a rejected order buy or sell anything?** No. A rejected order never reached the market, so your position did not change. **Why did Scalpel refuse my sell?** Scalpel is long-only: it never sells more shares than you hold. If the desk has no position, or Interactive Brokers shows no shares left, the sell is refused. A sell already working is not a reason: Scalpel replaces it with one order for what you hold. --- # An order did not fill, or only part filled > Why a marketable limit can miss or part-fill in a fast book, what happens to the rest in SIM and LIVE, and how to clear a stuck exit or a stop exit. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-not-filled Guide 13.6, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel never sends market orders: every order is a marketable limit, priced a few cents through the market (a buy at the ask plus your 10-cent **Buy offset**). If the price runs past that limit before the order lands, part or all of it waits. In LIVE the rest of a buy keeps working until it fills or you cancel it with `Ctrl`+`Q`. A stop exit that does not fill is re-priced by Scalpel itself, and **Flatten All** (`Esc`) replaces any stuck sell with one order about 1% through the bid. A partial fill is not an error. It is the price of using limits, which is what protects you from a terrible fill in a thin book, and what lets you trade at all before the open. ## Why limits, not market orders Before 09:30 ET, US exchanges accept limit orders only. A market order, or a plain stop that turns into one, cannot trade in the pre-market, which is where momentum scalpers do much of their work. So every Scalpel order carries a limit price, set a little through the market so it normally fills at once: | Order | Limit price (defaults) | |---|---| | Buy keys (`Shift`+`1` to `4`) | The ask plus **Buy offset** (10c) | | Sell full, half, quarter at the bid | The bid minus **Sell offset** (10c) | | Sell half at the ask or the mid | The ask or the mid: in LIVE it waits for a buyer to come to it | | **Flatten All** (`Esc`) in LIVE | About 1% under the bid, to clear in one press | | A stop or take-profit firing in LIVE | 5 cents under the last trade, then about 1% under it if it has to be re-priced | The order fills at the best prices available up to its limit, often better than the limit. It never fills worse. Offsets are in **Settings** > **Trading** ([guide 11.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-trading)). ## An order did not fill, or only part filled The desk's **Orders** tab shows **Partial** in amber for an order that is part filled and still working, with the average fill so far. *Screenshot: A 1,000-share buy, part filled at 5.74 and still working at its limit. Demo data.* **In LIVE**, the unfilled shares stay working at Interactive Brokers at your limit. Your stop is armed on the shares you hold. Then either: - let it work, if the price may come back to your limit; or - press `Ctrl`+`Q` (**Cancel all orders**, `Shift`+`Q` on a Mac) on that desk to cancel what is left. If you sell out instead, you do not need to cancel first: **Sell Full**, **Flatten** and **Flatten All** cancel a working buy on that stock before they sell, so a part-filled buy cannot keep adding shares after you are out. **In SIM**, the buy fills against the displayed book up to your limit. The rest rests at your limit and fills from later prints on the tape, the way a real resting order would. `Ctrl`+`Q`, any sell, or a stop-out cancels it. If nothing at all can fill within the limit, SIM refuses the order with **No liquidity for ABCD** ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). Fills keep missing? Raise the **Buy offset** for fast stocks. A wider offset fills more often and can fill worse; your share count is worked out before the order goes, so the risk stays the same. ## A buy does not fill before the open Check **Settings** > **Trading** > **Extended-hours fills**. It is on by default. Off, Scalpel's LIVE buys are regular-hours only: Interactive Brokers holds them until 09:30. The setting only affects entries: every LIVE sell (stops, targets, scale-outs and Flatten) is always flagged for extended hours, so your exits work in the pre-market either way. If the market is fully closed (overnight or at the weekend), the order bar is greyed out and buys wait for the session ([guide 13.13](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-bar-greyed-out)). ## A sell did not fill A sell at your own price (such as **1/2 Ask** or **Mid**) keeps working at that price until buyers come up to it. You do not have to cancel it to get out: press another sell key, or **Flatten All**, and Scalpel cancels the working sell and sends one order for everything you still hold, at the lower of the two prices. It never sells more shares than you hold. ### 1. Press Flatten All Press `Esc` or click **Flatten All** in the header. In LIVE it prices about 1% under the bid, so the whole position normally clears in one press. It flattens every desk that holds a position, not just this one. ### 2. Check the Orders tab The old sell shows **Cancelled** and the new one **Filled**. Still **Working**? The bid has dropped away: press `Esc` again, or work it in TWS. In SIM, a full exit at the bid that only part fills retries by itself as new bids arrive. ## A stop fired but did not fill Scalpel watches your stop itself. When a trade prints through it, Scalpel sends a sell limit 5 cents under that last trade, flagged for extended hours so it is accepted pre-market. In a fast drop the price can fall through that limit before the order fills. In LIVE, Scalpel keeps working that exit for you: - if the price falls below the exit's limit, or the exit sits unfilled for 5 seconds, Scalpel cancels it and sends a new one under the latest price, about 1% through from the first retry; - each replacement is for the shares you still hold, so a part fill is never sold twice; - after 5 re-prices it stops, leaves the last order working and warns you: "ABCD: exit still not filled after 5 re-prices. Check it in TWS". Press `Esc`, or manage the position in TWS. Take-profit and catastrophe exits are worked the same way. In SIM, a stop-out fills at the price that crossed the stop or the bid, whichever is worse, less your SIM slippage. Why stops work this way, and what that means before the open, is in [guide 5.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-stops) and [guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work). **This can cost you money.** No stop guarantees a fill or a price. A gap or a fast drop can cost more than your planned risk, and an exit can be left unfilled. Size so that two or three times your risk is survivable, and keep a daily loss limit ([guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)). ## Questions **Why did my order only partly fill?** Scalpel sends limit orders priced a few cents through the market. If the price moved past the limit before the order arrived, only the shares available at or better than the limit filled. In LIVE the rest keeps working until it fills or you cancel it with Ctrl+Q. **Does Scalpel use market orders?** No. Pre-market, US exchanges accept limit orders only, so every Scalpel order is a marketable limit. Flatten All in LIVE prices about 1% under the bid so it clears in one press. **How do I cancel the rest of a partial fill?** Focus the desk and press Ctrl+Q (Cancel all orders). It cancels every working order on that desk's symbol. **What happens if I press sell while a sell is already working?** Scalpel cancels the working sell and sends one order for everything you still hold, at the lower of the two prices. It never sells more shares than you hold, so you do not need to cancel first. **Are app stops guaranteed to fill?** No. The exit is a limit 5 cents under the last trade. In LIVE, Scalpel re-prices it up to 5 times, about 1% through, if it does not fill. In a fast drop it can still fill well below your stop, so press Esc or check TWS if you are warned. --- # Scan panels say the IBKR scanner is off or waiting > Scan panels say IBKR scanner is off, Waiting for TWS or No matches: switch the scanner on, connect TWS, or widen its filters. Each fix, step by step. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-scanner-off Guide 13.7, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Every scan panel runs over one list: the IBKR scanner's, built from Interactive Brokers' own market scanner on your TWS connection. **IBKR scanner is off** means it is switched off: tick **Enabled** next to **IBKR scanner** in **Settings** > **Connection**. **Waiting for TWS** means it is on but has no results yet: check the IBKR pill. **No matches** means nothing passes its filters right now: lower **Min change %** or widen the price band. Scalpel has no separate scanner service and no paid scanner subscription: it asks IBKR's own scanner for top gainers, 3-minute volume spikes, halts, hot-by-volume names and gappers, merges them into one list, then ranks that list live. When the list is empty, every scan panel is empty, and the panel says why. *Screenshot: The three empty states of an IBKR scanner panel. Demo data.* ## IBKR scanner is off "Every scan runs over its list. Enable it in Settings under Connection." The IBKR scanner is switched off, so no scan has any symbols to work with. ### 1. Open the Connection tab Click **Open settings** on the panel, or press `Ctrl`+`,` and pick **Connection**. ### 2. Enable the IBKR scanner Tick **Enabled** next to **IBKR scanner (market scans over TWS)** and click **Apply**. It applies live: no restart. *Screenshot: Settings > Connection: the IBKR scanner block and its filters, outlined, with the defaults. Demo data.* ## Waiting for TWS The scanner is on and waiting for its first results. Usually one of: - **TWS or IB Gateway is not connected.** The **IBKR** pill in the status bar must read **Connected**. If not, see [guide 13.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected). - **It has just connected.** IBKR answers within seconds and refreshes its scans about every 30 seconds. Give it a moment. - **IBKR is refusing the scans.** A scan IBKR turns down is tried again every 30 seconds. If the panel never fills while the pill is green, open TWS's own scanner: if that shows nothing either, ask Interactive Brokers about your market data and scanner access. ## No matches "Nothing passes the IBKR scanner's filters right now. They are in Settings under Connection." The scanner is working, but no stock passes its filters. Early in the pre-market few names are up 10% yet, so this is common soon after 04:00 ET. | Filter | Default | Widen it by | |---|---|---| | **Price min** / **Price max** | 0.1 / 100 | Raising Price max, lowering Price min | | **Min change %** | 10 | Lowering it, for example to 5 | | **Min volume** | No limit | Clearing it | | **Max shares out (M)** | No limit | Clearing it: names IBKR has no share count for are dropped when it is set | | **Stocks only (no ETFs)** | On | Leave on unless you trade ETFs | Filters apply live. **List size** (30) is how many names the list holds; each one uses one of your IBKR market data lines, so keep it within your account's allowance. Every filter is explained in [guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner). ## No matches on other scan panels **High of day momentum**, **Running up** and **Setups** panels show a plain "No matches" when the list has names but none passes that scan's own rules right now. That is the scan doing its job on a quiet tape. Their rules are in each panel's cog ([guide 8.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scan-types)). In **LOG** view, "No alerts yet" means nothing has alerted since the panel opened. ## Clicking a row loads nothing Clicking a scanner row loads the stock onto a free trader desk. If none is free, an amber toast says why: - **"No trader desk open: click SCAN on a desk to switch it to TRADER"**: every desk is a scan desk. Click **SCAN** in a desk's header to turn it back into a trader desk ([guide 2.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/arrange-desks)). - **"No free desk: every trader desk holds a position"**: each trader desk is in a trade. Close one, or switch a flat scan desk to **TRADER**. A desk that is the only one showing a position cannot be switched to **SCAN**: the position would be on no desk, with its stop unwatched. Scalpel refuses with "D1 holds a position: close it before switching it to SCAN". ## Questions **Why does the Scalpel scanner say IBKR scanner is off?** The IBKR scanner is switched off in Settings > Connection. Every scan runs over its list, so tick Enabled next to IBKR scanner and click Apply. **Why does the scanner say Waiting for TWS?** It is on but has no results yet: TWS or IB Gateway is not connected, it has only just connected, or IBKR is refusing the scans. Check the IBKR pill in the status bar. **Why is the scanner empty in the pre-market?** Few stocks are up 10% or more early in the pre-market. Lower Min change % in Settings > Connection to see more names. **Do I need a scanner subscription?** No separate service. Scalpel uses Interactive Brokers' own scanner through your TWS or IB Gateway connection. --- # Licence: machine limit reached > Scalpel says your licence is already active on two machines: free one on your scalpeltrade.com account page, then activate the computer you are on. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-licence-machine-limit Guide 13.8, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Each Scalpel licence runs on two computers at once. When a third asks, the licence screen says the licence is already active on 2 machines. Sign in at scalpeltrade.com/account, click **Free this machine** next to a computer you no longer use, then click **Try again** in Scalpel. You can free 3 machines every 30 days. This is not a fault and nothing is wrong with your key. Scalpel counts a computer as soon as it activates, and keeps counting it until you free it on your account page, even if you wiped it or sold it. ## This licence is already active on 2 machines. Free one at scalpeltrade.com/account. That is the exact message, in orange under the title **Scalpel is not licensed on this computer**. The cockpit stays hidden and no order key works until this computer has a licence. If anything is still open from an earlier session, the screen shows it with a **Flatten all** button, so a licence problem never traps you in a position. *Screenshot: The licence screen when both slots are taken: the message (1), **Find my key**, which opens your account page (2), and **Try again** (3). Demo data.* Scalpel keeps your key when this happens, so once a slot is free you only need to click **Try again**. You do not paste the key again. ## Free a machine and activate this one ### 1. Quit Scalpel on the computer you are giving up If the old computer is still running Scalpel, close it first. A running copy checks its licence at every start and every 12 hours, and if a slot is free at that moment it takes it back. ### 2. Open your account page Click **Find my key** (2) on the licence screen, or go to scalpeltrade.com/account and sign in with the email you bought with. ### 3. Find the computer to free The **Lifetime licence** panel lists **Machines 2 of 2**. Each row shows the computer's name (its Windows computer name, or the Mac's name in System Settings), when it was last seen in UTC and the version it ran. The old one is usually the row with the oldest **Last seen** date. *Screenshot: The licence panel on the account page: two machines, each with Free this machine. Simplified. Demo data.* ### 4. Click Free this machine The page confirms: "Machine freed. Quit Scalpel on that computer: if it is still running with a slot free, it takes the slot back at its next check." The panel now reads **Machines 1 of 2**. ### 5. Click Try again in Scalpel Back on the licence screen, click **Try again** (3). Scalpel takes the free slot and opens the cockpit. **Settings > About** then reads, for example, "Licensed (SCLP-\*\*\*\*-\*\*\*\*-\*\*\*\*-W8RB). Active on 2 of 2 computers." ## You can free 3 machines every 30 days. Contact support if you need more. That is the account page's message once you have freed three machines in 30 days. The limit counts per licence. If you are mid-move and hit it, ask on Discord ([guide 12.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/discord-support)) or email hello@scalpeltrade.com with the computer names, and we will sort it out. ## Why a computer you still own counts twice Scalpel tells computers apart by an ID from the operating system (on Windows, the machine GUID Windows creates at install). So: - **Reinstalling Windows or macOS** gives the computer a new ID. It counts as a new machine, and the old entry stays until you free it. The name on both rows may be the same. - **Renaming the computer** does not change the ID. The account page shows the new name after its next check. - **Copying the Scalpel folder** to another computer does not move the licence. The licence belongs to the computer, not the file. For a planned move, free the old computer first: [guide 12.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/move-licence-new-computer) walks through it. ## What can go wrong - **The old computer takes the slot back.** It was still running Scalpel and rechecked before the new one did. Quit it, free it again, then click **Try again** on the new computer straight away. - **The licence screen says the key was not found.** That is a different problem: the key was mistyped or is from another account. Copy it from your account page and paste it again ([guide 1.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/activate-licence)). - **"Scalpel could not read this computer's ID, which the licence is tied to: ..."** Scalpel could not read the operating system's ID, so it cannot tell which slot is this computer. This is rare: it usually means security software or a locked-down work computer blocks the read. Run Scalpel on a computer you control, or ask on Discord with the text after the colon. - **"This licence is no longer active (refunded or disputed)."** The licence was refunded or its payment disputed. Freeing machines does not help; contact support. ## Questions **How many computers can one Scalpel licence use?** Two at a time. Free one on scalpeltrade.com/account to use a third. **Do I need to paste my key again after freeing a machine?** No. Scalpel keeps the key when the machine limit refuses it. Click Try again on the licence screen. **Does freeing a machine stop Scalpel on that computer straight away?** No. A running copy is never locked in the middle of a session. It shows a banner at its next check and asks for a licence at its next start. **How often can I free a machine?** Three times every 30 days per licence. Ask support if you need more. **I reinstalled Windows and now Scalpel says 2 machines. Why?** A reinstall gives the computer a new ID, so the account page shows it twice. Free the older row. --- # Licence: Scalpel cannot reach scalpeltrade.com > Scalpel cannot check your licence: how the 72-hour offline grace keeps you trading, what a firewall or proxy can block, and when to contact support. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-licence-offline Guide 13.9, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel checks your licence with scalpeltrade.com at every start and every 12 hours. If it cannot reach the site, it keeps running on its last good check for 72 hours, so an outage at the open never locks you out. It only stops at the licence screen when it has never checked on this computer, or the 72 hours have run out. Fix the connection to scalpeltrade.com, then click **Try again**. Each good check leaves a signed pass on your computer that is valid for 72 hours from that check. Without the internet, Scalpel verifies that pass offline. Your market data and orders never go through scalpeltrade.com: they go straight to TWS or IB Gateway, so a site outage does not touch your trading. ## Scalpel can't reach scalpeltrade.com to check your licence. Check your connection and try again. You see this on the licence screen when the check failed and there is no valid pass on this computer: usually the very first activation, or a check that failed after the pass was lost. *Screenshot: The licence screen when scalpeltrade.com could not be reached: the message (1) and **Try again** (2). Demo data.* ## Scalpel can't reach scalpeltrade.com and its offline period has ended. Check your connection. This one means the last good check is more than 72 hours old. At launch it shows on the licence screen. If it happens while Scalpel is already running, you get a banner instead, ending "Scalpel keeps running until you quit". Scalpel never locks you out in the middle of a session: the cockpit, your orders and your app-managed stops keep working until you close it. *Screenshot: The mid-session banner under the header. Manage licence opens your account page. Demo data.* ## See how long you have offline Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) and pick **About**. Under **Licence**, a normal check reads "Licensed (SCLP-\*\*\*\*-\*\*\*\*-\*\*\*\*-W8RB)." An offline one adds how long is left: *Screenshot: Settings, About: the licence checked offline, with two days left to reach scalpeltrade.com. Demo data.* ## Fix the connection ### 1. Open scalpeltrade.com in a browser on the same computer If the page does not load, the computer has no internet or something blocks the site. Fix that first. If it loads, the block is specific to the app: carry on. ### 2. Allow Scalpel through your firewall or security software Scalpel talks to scalpeltrade.com over HTTPS (port 443). A firewall rule, an antivirus "web shield" that inspects HTTPS, a work proxy or a VPN that blocks unknown apps can all stop the check. Allow the Scalpel program, or try once with the VPN off. ### 3. Check the computer's date and time The 72-hour pass is checked against your computer's clock. A clock that is days out can make a good pass look expired. Set the time automatically in Windows (Settings > Time and language) or macOS (System Settings > General > Date and time). ### 4. Click Try again On the licence screen, click **Try again**. A good check unlocks the cockpit and renews the pass for another 72 hours. **Tip.** Going somewhere with no internet? Start Scalpel once while you are online. That check gives you 72 hours of offline use from that moment. ## What can go wrong - **The site itself is down.** Rare, and the 72-hour pass covers it. If you are at the licence screen anyway, check our Discord for a status note ([guide 12.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/discord-support)). - **A different message on the same screen.** "This licence is already active on 2 machines" is the machine limit ([guide 13.8](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-licence-machine-limit)). "That licence key was not found" means the key is wrong: copy it from your account page ([guide 1.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/activate-licence)). - **"The licence server sent a token this build can't verify. Update Scalpel."** Your copy is too old for the server. Download the current version from scalpeltrade.com/download. ## Questions **How long can Scalpel run without internet?** 72 hours from its last successful licence check. Every start and every 12 hours online renews it. **Will Scalpel lock me out in the middle of a trade?** No. A licence problem found while Scalpel is running only shows a banner. It is enforced at the next start, and the licence screen still offers Flatten all if anything is open. **Does my trading go through scalpeltrade.com?** No. Market data and orders go between Scalpel and your own TWS or IB Gateway. scalpeltrade.com only checks the licence and offers updates. **Which address does the licence check use?** https://scalpeltrade.com over port 443. Allow it in your firewall, proxy or security software. --- # Windows protected your PC: installing Scalpel > Windows SmartScreen shows Windows protected your PC the first time you open Scalpel. Why it appears, how to check the download, and how to run it. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-smartscreen Guide 13.10, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel for Windows is a portable exe that is not signed with a paid Microsoft certificate, so the first time you open it, Windows SmartScreen says "Windows protected your PC". Check the file came from scalpeltrade.com/download, then click **More info** and **Run anyway**. You only see this on the first run of a downloaded file: in-app updates are signed and verified by Scalpel itself and do not trigger it. SmartScreen warns about any program it has not seen many times before from a known, signed publisher. A small trading tool that ships every couple of weeks never builds that reputation, so the warning appears for everyone. It does not mean Windows found anything wrong with the file. ## Windows protected your PC The full text reads "Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk." There is only a **Don't run** button until you click **More info**. *Screenshot: SmartScreen before and after **More info** (1): the app name, "Unknown publisher" and **Run anyway** (2). Simplified.* ## Check the download is genuine, then run it ### 1. Make sure it came from scalpeltrade.com Scalpel is only ever published at **scalpeltrade.com/download** (and the Download panel of your account page, which serves the same file). Never run a copy sent in a chat, posted on a forum or offered by another site. If you are not sure where your file came from, delete it and download it again. ### 2. Check the name and size The file is **Scalpel-windows-x64.exe**. The download page lists the current version and its size in millions of bytes, for example 28.4 MB. Right-click your file, choose **Properties**, and read the exact byte count in brackets after **Size**: 28,412,160 bytes is 28.4 million, a match. (The figure before the brackets is in Windows' own units and reads lower, so compare the bytes.) In the SmartScreen prompt, after **More info** (1), the **App** line shows the same file name. ### 3. Click More info, then Run anyway Click **More info** (1), check the **App** line, then click **Run anyway** (2). Scalpel opens to the licence screen ([guide 1.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/activate-licence)). Windows normally does not ask again for this copy of the file. ### 4. Keep the exe where you want it There is no installer. Keep **Scalpel-windows-x64.exe** in a folder you own, such as your desktop or a Scalpel folder in Documents, so the updater can replace it later. Not in Program Files: Scalpel cannot update itself there. Settings, logs and the SIM ledger live in %APPDATA%\scalpel, not next to the exe. Full setup: [guide 1.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/install-scalpel-windows). ## Why updates never show the warning After the first install, Scalpel updates itself ([guide 12.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/updates)). Every release is signed with our own offline Ed25519 release key, and before installing, Scalpel checks that signature against a key built into the app, plus the file's exact size and SHA-256 checksum. A file that fails any check is deleted and never runs. Because the app writes the update itself, Windows does not mark it as downloaded from the internet, so SmartScreen does not look at it. That signature is the real proof of origin for updates: even a compromised download server could not ship you a file the app would accept. ## What can go wrong - **There is no Run anyway button.** On Windows 11, **Smart App Control** can be on. It blocks unsigned apps outright, with no option to run them. That is a Windows security setting (Windows Security, App and browser control); read Microsoft's notes before you change it, or ask us on Discord ([guide 12.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/discord-support)). - **Your work computer blocks it.** Company-managed PCs often allow only approved software. Ask your IT team; there is no way around that from Scalpel. - **Microsoft Defender quarantines the file.** An unsigned app that downloads and replaces exes can occasionally trip antivirus heuristics. Download it again from scalpeltrade.com/download, and tell us on Discord with the version number so we can report the false positive to Microsoft. ## Questions **Is it safe to click Run anyway for Scalpel?** Yes, for a file you downloaded from scalpeltrade.com/download. The warning is about the missing paid certificate, not about anything Windows found in the file. Do not run copies from anywhere else. **Why is Scalpel not code signed?** A Windows code signing certificate is a recurring cost. Scalpel instead signs its updates with its own Ed25519 key, which the app checks before installing anything. **Will I see the warning after every update?** No. Only the first run of a file downloaded in a browser. In-app updates are verified by Scalpel and do not trigger SmartScreen. **How do I know my download is genuine?** It came from scalpeltrade.com/download, it is named Scalpel-windows-x64.exe, and its size in bytes matches the size on the download page. --- # An update did not install, or Scalpel went back a version > Why an update can wait, fail or roll back: the trading guard, a folder Scalpel cannot write, a failed start. How to check, retry or go back. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-update-failed Guide 13.11, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel never installs an update on its own while you trade. **Restart and update** stays grey while you have an open position, a working order or a live stop: close them or choose **Update when I quit**. If the update failed, click the orange **Update ... failed** pill in the status bar to read why; the usual cause is a folder Scalpel cannot write to. If a new version does not start twice, Scalpel puts the old one back by itself. Updates download in the background, are checked against Scalpel's own release signature, and wait next to the app until you restart ([guide 12.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/updates)). Here is every message the updater can show. ## You have an open position. Close it first The full line reads: "You have an open position. Close it first: Scalpel watches your stops and moves your trailing stops, and that stops while it restarts. Or choose Update when I quit." It names whatever is open: positions (in either mode, or anything on your IBKR account), working orders, or live stops, and says "Close them first" when more than one thing is open. This is a safety guard, not an error. Your stops are watched by Scalpel, not resting at the broker ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)), so during a restart nothing would watch them. *Screenshot: What's new with an update ready and a position open: Restart and update is grey, Update when I quit is available. Demo data.* Two ways forward: - **Update when I quit.** The pill changes to "Update 1.12.6 installs when you quit". Trade on; the new version installs as Scalpel closes and runs next time. - **Close out, then restart.** Once you are flat with nothing working, **Restart and update** turns on. Scalpel restarts in a few seconds and reconnects to TWS by itself. ## Update 1.12.6 failed An orange pill in the status bar. Click it: the **What's new** card shows the reason after "The last update failed:". **Settings > About** shows the same line. Scalpel tries again at its next check (every 30 minutes while it runs), or straight away when you click **Check for updates**. You do not need to restart Scalpel for it to find an update. *Screenshot: The failed pill (1) and the reason in What's new. Demo data.* | The reason says | What it means | Fix | |---|---|---| | Scalpel cannot write to its own folder. Move it to a folder you own (your desktop, for example, or Applications on a Mac), or download the new version from scalpeltrade.com. | The exe sits somewhere Windows protects, such as Program Files, or a read-only or synced folder. Scalpel needs to place the new copy beside itself. | Quit Scalpel, move the exe to your desktop or a folder in Documents, and open it from there. | | macOS is running Scalpel from a temporary copy. Move Scalpel to Applications and open it from there to get updates. | You opened Scalpel straight from the disk image or Downloads. | Drag Scalpel into Applications and open it from there. | | Could not reach the update server | No internet, or a firewall or proxy blocks scalpeltrade.com. | Same checks as [guide 13.9](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-licence-offline), then **Check for updates**. | | The downloaded file does not match the release (size or checksum) | The download was cut short or altered on the way. Scalpel deleted it. | Click **Check for updates** to download it again. | | The release signature is invalid | The file was not signed with Scalpel's release key. It was refused and never ran. | Do not work around it. Tell us on Discord ([guide 12.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/discord-support)). | ## Could not check for updates. Try again later. A toast after you click **Check for updates** when scalpeltrade.com could not be reached. Background checks that fail stay silent and simply try again 30 minutes later. Check your connection as in [guide 13.9](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-licence-offline). ## The update could not be installed A red toast after **Restart and update** (or "Update 1.12.6 could not be installed" while the new copy was being placed). Something held the files: most often antivirus scanning the new exe, or a second copy of Scalpel still running from the same folder. Nothing changed: you are still on the version you had. Close any other copy, wait a minute and try again. ## Version 1.12.6 did not start, so Scalpel went back to 1.12.5 A new version proves itself by running for 60 seconds with the window up. If it fails twice, the third start swaps the previous version back, relaunches it and shows this toast. Scalpel reports the failure to us and skips that version, so it is not offered again on its own. Your settings, SIM ledger and journal are untouched. *Screenshot: The toast after an automatic rollback. Demo data.* Wait for the next version, or tell us on Discord what happened when it tried to start. ## Go back to the previous version yourself If an update starts but you want the old version back, open **Settings > About**. Under **Updates**, **Go back to 1.12.5** appears while the previous copy is still kept (until the next update replaces it). It has the same guard as restarting: be flat first. If the copy has gone, a red toast says "Could not go back: No previous version is kept on this computer". Stay on the version you have, or ask on Discord if it gives you trouble. *Screenshot: Settings, About, Updates: Check for updates and Go back. Demo data.* Going back skips the newer version. **Check for updates** offers it again when you are ready. ## This version of Scalpel has a problem that affects your orders. Update before you trade. A banner at launch when your version is below the minimum we support, because it has a bug that matters for your orders. Click **See the update**, then install it before you trade. ## Still stuck: replace the exe by hand Quit Scalpel, download the current version from scalpeltrade.com/download, and put it in place of the old exe (same folder, same name, or a new folder you own). Your settings stay in %APPDATA%\scalpel. If something still fails, send us scalpel.log from %APPDATA%\scalpel\data\logs on Discord. ## Questions **Why is Restart and update greyed out?** You have an open position, a working order or a live stop. Scalpel watches your stops itself, so it will not restart while they need watching. Close them, or choose Update when I quit. **Where should the Scalpel exe live on Windows?** In a folder you own, such as your desktop or Documents. Not Program Files, where Scalpel cannot write its update. **Why did Scalpel go back a version on its own?** The new version failed to start twice, so the third start restored the previous one. The failure is reported to us and that version is skipped. **Do I lose my settings if I replace the exe by hand?** No. Settings, the SIM ledger, the journal and the log are in %APPDATA%\scalpel, not next to the exe. --- # The chart or app window is blank > A blank chart or window in Scalpel: WebView2 on Windows and the built-in chart fallback, graphics drivers, UI scale, and what to send support. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-charts-blank Guide 13.12, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** A chart that says **No candles** has no data yet: check the IBKR connection and your market data. A chart area that stays empty with no text is a display problem: on Windows the charts run in Microsoft Edge WebView2, and if that cannot start, Scalpel switches to its built-in chart and says "Chart engine unavailable, using the native chart". A whole window that stays black or blank points at the graphics driver. On Windows, each desk's chart is drawn with TradingView's free, open-source Lightweight Charts library, in a small WebView2 window that Scalpel places over the chart pane. You need no TradingView account or subscription. On a Mac, and whenever WebView2 is unavailable, Scalpel draws the chart itself. Both show the same candles, VWAP and your stop and target lines. First, work out which of three problems you have. ## No candles The words **No candles** in the middle of the chart pane mean Scalpel has no bars for this symbol and timeframe yet. The chart itself is fine. *Screenshot: A chart pane with nothing to draw. The order bar's size lines read - for the same reason. Demo data.* - **Check the IBKR pill** in the status bar. Anything but **Connected** means no data: see [guide 13.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected). - **Check the desk's badge.** **NO DATA**, **DELAYED** or **STALE** point at market data permissions: see [guide 13.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-delayed-data). - **Try another timeframe.** Click **1m**, then back. A fresh symbol's history takes a moment to arrive. - **Check the symbol.** A mistyped or delisted ticker has no bars. Reload it from the symbol box ([guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)). ## Chart engine unavailable, using the native chart This orange toast appears once, top right, when WebView2 could not start. Scalpel switches every desk to its built-in chart for the rest of the session, so you keep trading with a working chart: candles, VWAP, your stop and target lines, all there. *Screenshot: The built-in chart taking over, with the toast. Demo data.* To get the WebView2 charts back: ### 1. Install or repair the WebView2 Runtime WebView2 is part of Windows 11 and comes with Windows 10 updates, but it can be missing or damaged. Download the **Evergreen WebView2 Runtime** from Microsoft's WebView2 page and run it. In Windows Settings, **Apps > Installed apps**, it is listed as **Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime**; if it is there, choose **Modify** then **Repair**. ### 2. Clear Scalpel's chart cache Quit Scalpel and delete the folder **%APPDATA%\scalpel\data\webview2**. It only holds the chart window's browser cache; Scalpel creates it again on the next start. Your settings are not in it. ### 3. Restart Scalpel Scalpel tries WebView2 again at every start. No toast means the WebView2 charts are back. ## The chart area is empty, with no text and no toast The WebView2 window started but cannot be seen. The usual cause is a **WGPU_BACKEND** environment variable set on your computer, often by another program or an old troubleshooting step. Scalpel draws its own window with DirectX 12 (or OpenGL as a fallback) so the chart windows show above it; a Vulkan setting hides them. Check in Windows: search for **Edit environment variables for your account**, look for **WGPU_BACKEND**, delete it, and restart Scalpel. **Tip.** You can always choose the built-in chart instead: add an environment variable named **SCALPEL_NATIVE_CHART** with the value **1** and restart Scalpel. Delete it to go back to the WebView2 charts. If the chart sits in the wrong place after you change **UI scale** in **Settings > Appearance** or move the window to a monitor with a different Windows display scale, press `Ctrl`+`0` to reset the UI scale to 100%, and restart Scalpel if it stays wrong. ## The whole window is black or blank Scalpel draws its interface on the graphics card. A window that never draws at all usually means an old or broken graphics driver. - **Update the graphics driver** from your PC maker or the chip maker (Intel, AMD or NVIDIA), then restart Windows. - **Remote desktop and virtual machines** may have no usable graphics acceleration. Run Scalpel on the physical computer. - **Send us the log.** If it still fails, post **%APPDATA%\scalpel\data\logs\scalpel.log** on Discord ([guide 12.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/discord-support)) with your Windows version and graphics card. ## Questions **Why does my Scalpel chart say No candles?** There is no chart data for that symbol and timeframe yet, usually because TWS is not connected or the symbol has no live market data on your account. **Do I need a TradingView subscription for Scalpel's charts?** No. The charts use TradingView's free, open-source Lightweight Charts library, built into Scalpel. No TradingView account is involved. **Is the built-in chart worse for trading?** It draws the same candles, VWAP and your stop and target lines. It is the chart Scalpel always uses on a Mac. **What is WebView2?** Microsoft's component for showing web content inside Windows apps. Scalpel uses it to draw the desk charts on Windows. --- # The order bar is greyed out > The order bar greys out only when the US market is fully closed; pre-market and after-hours trade normally. Which hotkeys still work, and extended hours. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-bar-greyed-out Guide 13.13, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** The whole order bar turns grey only when the US market is fully closed: before 04:00 ET, after 20:00 ET, at weekends and on market holidays. Pre-market (04:00 to 09:30 ET) and after-hours (16:00 to 20:00 ET) trade normally, because Scalpel is built pre-market first. While it is closed, buy and sell keys show "Market closed - orders disabled", but **B**, `Shift`+`T` and `Ctrl`+`Q` still work. Scalpel blocks new entries and exits outside every session because there is no real market to trade against then: no liquidity for a LIVE order, and nothing honest for SIM to fill against. It reads the session from your computer's clock, converted to New York time, with the NYSE holiday and half-day calendar built in. ## Market closed - orders disabled The orange toast you get when you press a buy or sell key with the market closed. The header clock shows **Closed** (or **Weekend**, or **Holiday**) under the Eastern time, and each desk's badge reads **CLOSED** in grey. *Screenshot: After 20:00 ET: the header reads **Closed** (1), the desk badge **CLOSED** (2), and every order bar button is grey (3). Demo data.* ## When the order bar works | Session (New York time) | Order bar | Header says | |---|---|---| | 04:00 to 09:30, pre-market | Works | Pre-market | | 09:30 to 16:00, regular hours | Works | Regular hours | | 16:00 to 20:00, after-hours | Works | After-hours | | 20:00 to 04:00, weekends, holidays | Grey | Closed, Weekend or Holiday | On a half day (the day after Thanksgiving, and July 3 and Christmas Eve when they fall on a weekday), regular hours end at 13:00 and after-hours at 17:00, and the header says **Half day**. ## What still works while it is closed - **Stop to breakeven** (`B`), **Toggle trailing stop** (`Shift`+`T`) and **Cancel all orders** (`Ctrl`+`Q`, `Shift`+`Q` on a Mac) from the keyboard. Their buttons are grey with the rest, but the keys go through. - **Flatten All** (the header button, or `Esc` with nothing open) is never blocked: getting out must always be possible. It still sends, and the toast says what happens next: - in LIVE, "Flatten all sent. The market is closed: IBKR may hold the sells until pre-market opens at 4:00 ET". Check the **Orders** tab, and TWS, before you walk away; - in SIM, "Flatten all sent. The market is closed: SIM fills at the last prices it saw". - Settings, the symbol box, scan panels and charts all work as normal. ## Grey for another reason - **No symbol on the desk.** An empty desk greys its order bar at any hour. Load a symbol ([guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)). - **Only the sell row is grey.** That is normal when you hold nothing on this desk: **Full**, **1/2**, **1/4**, **1/2 Ask**, **1/2 Mid**, **B/E** and **Trail** need a position. Scalpel is long only, so there is nothing to sell until you buy ([guide 4.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/order-bar)). - **The wrong clock.** The session comes from your computer's time. If the header's ET clock is wrong, set Windows or macOS to set the time automatically. Your time zone does not matter; the time itself must be right. - **The licence screen is up.** Without a valid licence the cockpit is hidden and no key trades ([guide 13.8](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-licence-machine-limit)). ## Pre-market: Extended-hours fills is for entries The order bar works pre-market. Your LIVE buys fill there only while **Settings > Trading > Extended-hours fills** is on, which is the default ([guide 11.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-trading)). Off, IBKR holds LIVE buys until 09:30. Exits do not depend on it: every LIVE sell, including the exit Scalpel sends when a stop is hit, is always flagged for extended hours. Scalpel's stops are watched by the app rather than resting at IBKR for exactly this reason: before the open, exchanges take limit orders only, so a plain stop order cannot protect you. When price trades through your stop, Scalpel sends a marketable limit sell 5 cents under the last trade, so it needs to be running and connected. A fast drop can still fill below your stop, or leave the exit unfilled. The full story is in [guide 5.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-stops); see also [guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work) and [guide 4.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/entries-and-fills). ## Questions **Why are all my order buttons grey in Scalpel?** The US market is fully closed: before 04:00 ET, after 20:00 ET, a weekend or a holiday. Pre-market and after-hours trade normally. **Can I trade pre-market with Scalpel?** Yes. Scalpel is built for the pre-market from 04:00 ET. Keep Extended-hours fills on in Settings > Trading so LIVE buys fill before the open. Sells and stop exits are always sent for extended hours. **Can I place an order tonight to fill at the open?** No. Scalpel sends marketable limit orders while you watch; it does not queue orders for a later session. **Which keys work when the market is closed?** B (stop to breakeven), Shift+T (trailing stop), Ctrl+Q (cancel all orders, Shift+Q on a Mac) and Esc for Flatten All. Buy and sell keys are blocked. **Does SIM work when the market is closed?** Not for new trades: SIM fills against the live book, so it follows the same sessions as LIVE. Flatten All still closes SIM positions, at the last prices it saw. --- # No callouts or tape sound > No voice, sound effects or tape sound: check the Audio tab's switches, the tape sound switch in the Level 2 cog, volumes and your output device. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-no-sound Guide 13.14, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Open **Settings > Audio** and check that **Enable audio**, **Sound effects** and **Voice callouts** are ticked and **Volume** is above 0%, then click **Apply**: you should hear a chime. Tape sound is separate: it is off by default and is switched on per Level 2 panel, in its cog under **Time and sales > Tape sound**. If the chime is silent too, Scalpel is playing to a different output device: restart it after you plug in headphones. Sound is a big part of Scalpel: it says "Filled", "Stopped out" and "Out, in profit" so you can keep your eyes on the book, and the tape sound, inspired by Aggr.trade, lets you hear the buying and selling. Work down this page in order: each step rules out one cause. ## Check the Audio tab ### 1. Open Settings > Audio Press `Ctrl`+`,` (`Cmd`+`,` on a Mac) and pick **Audio**. *Screenshot: Settings, Audio: the four things to check. Shown at the defaults: everything on, volume 80%.* ### 2. Tick all three switches and set the volume - **Enable audio** is the master switch: off silences callouts, sound effects and tape sound. - **Sound effects** covers the short sounds, and tape sound needs it too. - **Voice callouts** covers the spoken words. - **Volume** at 0% silences everything, tape sound included. The default is 80%. ### 3. Click Apply and listen **Apply** plays a short chime with the new settings (it needs **Sound effects** on). If you hear it, Scalpel's sound works, and any silence elsewhere is one of the cases below. ## Still silent: the output device Scalpel opens your computer's default sound output **when it starts** and keeps it for the session. So: - **Plugged in headphones or a headset after starting Scalpel?** Its sound still goes to the old device. Quit and restart Scalpel. - **Changed the default output** in Windows (Settings > System > Sound) or macOS (System Settings > Sound)? Restart Scalpel to follow it. - **No output device at all at startup** (a monitor's speakers asleep, a USB headset unplugged) means Scalpel has no sound for that session. Connect it and restart. - **Muted in the Windows volume mixer?** Open **Volume mixer** and check Scalpel's own slider. ## No tape sound Tape sound plays a tone for each print on the tape: buys high and on the right, sells low and on the left, bigger prints longer and louder. It is **off by default**. ### 1. Open the Level 2 cog Click the cog in the **LEVEL 2** panel's title bar. The **Level 2 settings** window opens. ### 2. Tick Tape sound under Time and sales *Screenshot: The Level 2 cog, Time and sales section: Tape sound ticked, and its settings at their defaults.* ### 3. Check its own settings **Sound volume** (default 60) is tape sound's own level. **Sound min value ($)** (default $1,000) is a noise gate: prints worth less than that make no sound. On a $2 stock that is 500 shares, so a quiet tape of 100-share prints stays silent. Lower it to hear more. Then the reasons tape sound can still be quiet: - **Only the focused desk plays.** Click the desk you want to hear (or move focus with `Left` and `Right`). The others stay silent so four tapes never play at once. - **It needs Sound effects.** Untick **Sound effects** on the Audio tab and the tape goes quiet too. - **Prints between the bid and ask are silent.** Only trades at the bid (sells) or at the ask (buys) have a side to play. - **Nothing is printing.** No live data, no sound. Check the desk's badge ([guide 13.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-delayed-data)). - **A fresh symbol starts silent.** The prints already on the tape when you load a symbol are taken in quietly; new ones play. ## Some callouts are missing - **Voice wins over sound.** When an event has both a callout and a sound effect, only the voice plays. Untick **Voice callouts** and you hear the sound instead. - **Callouts never talk over each other.** A callout that arrives while another is still speaking is dropped. In a fast burst you hear the first. - **Scanner announcements** only come from scan panels that are open on a desk with their bell on ([guide 10.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/alerts-and-toasts)). The full list of what Scalpel says is in [guide 10.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/voice-callouts), and tape sound in depth is [guide 3.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/tape-sound). ## Questions **Why can't I hear Scalpel's voice callouts?** Check Settings > Audio: Enable audio and Voice callouts ticked, Volume above 0%. If Apply's chime is silent too, restart Scalpel so it picks up your current sound output. **Why is tape sound silent?** It is off by default. Tick Tape sound in the Level 2 cog under Time and sales, focus that desk, keep Sound effects on, and lower Sound min value if prints are small. **Does the master Volume change the tape sound level?** Tape sound has its own Sound volume in the Level 2 cog. The master switch and Volume at 0% still silence it. **I plugged in headphones and Scalpel went silent. Why?** Scalpel keeps the sound output it opened at startup. Restart it to use the headphones. --- # Intel shows nothing or SEC filings are off > Intel chips, shares outstanding or the dilution read are empty: set the SEC contact email, check the Intel tab's source status and the 40-symbol limit. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-intel-off Guide 13.15, Troubleshooting. Beginner, 4 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Intel's SEC filings, dilution reads and shares outstanding stay off until you type a real contact email in **Settings > Intel > Contact email**: the SEC refuses anonymous requests. The status lines at the top of the Intel tab say which source is off or waiting. Intel also follows at most 40 symbols, in this order: what you hold, then your desks, then the IBKR scanner's list. Intel is built entirely on what you already have and on free public sources: the news and borrow data on your IBKR account, SEC EDGAR, FINRA and Nasdaq. There is no data subscription to buy. That also means each source has its own reason to be quiet, and the Intel tab tells you which. ## Read the status lines Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) and pick **Intel**. Under **Intel (borrow, dilution, catalysts)**, five lines show each source as it is right now. *Screenshot: The Intel tab before the SEC contact is set: the status lines (1) and the empty **Contact email** (2). Demo data.* When everything runs, they read like this: *Screenshot: The same lines with every source running. Demo data.* ## SEC filings: off until a contact email is set below The most common one. Without SEC data there are no filings, no dilution chip or read, no warrant or offering lines, and no shares outstanding (the **SHS OUT** column and market cap in scan panels stay empty). ### 1. Type your email in Contact email Under **SEC EDGAR**, type a real address you read, such as your own email. It needs an @ and a dot; a placeholder like `you@example.com` is not accepted by the SEC. It is sent only to sec.gov, in each request's header, as the SEC's fair-access rules ask. ### 2. Click Apply The line changes to **SEC filings: waiting for sec.gov**, then **SEC filings: live** once the first request answers. Dilution reads then fill in as each symbol's filing history loads. ## SEC filings: waiting for sec.gov The email is set but sec.gov has not answered yet. If it stays like this for minutes, sec.gov is unreachable from your computer (a firewall, proxy or VPN), or it is refusing the requests. Check that the email is a real one and that https://www.sec.gov opens in your browser. ## News: waiting for IBKR Headlines come from the news providers on your IBKR account, through TWS. This line waits until TWS is connected ([guide 13.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected)). Once connected it lists the providers, for example **News: Dow Jones**. If it stays empty while connected, your account has no API news providers turned on: check your news subscriptions in IBKR's Client Portal. ## IBKR borrow file: loading The shortable-shares and fee file comes from IBKR's public FTP server (ftp2.interactivebrokers.com). If it never loads, a firewall is blocking FTP. Borrow reads still work from IBKR's live shortable data; the file adds the borrow fee and the shares available. ## OpenAI: key rejected, keyword grading until it changes An OpenAI key is optional and the only paid extra, a few cents a day. Without one, **OpenAI: no key, keyword grading only** is normal: headlines are graded by keywords, and no warrant or offering prices are pulled from filings. "Key rejected" means OpenAI refused the key: paste a working one under **OpenAI (optional) > API key**. Details in [guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel). ## Watching 40 symbols Intel follows at most 40 symbols, picked in this order: 1. Every symbol you hold, in SIM or on your IBKR account. 2. The symbols on your desks. 3. The IBKR scanner's list, from the top, until 40 is reached. So a name far down a long scanner list may have no chips. Load it on a desk and it moves up the order. A desk that has shown no quote for 15 minutes stops counting. ## Intel shows nothing for one stock - **The strip under the desk header only shows when there is something to say.** A stock with no fresh news, no dilution risk and no borrow read has no strip. That is a result, not a fault ([guide 9.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/intel-chips)). - **The master switch is off.** Tick **Enabled** next to **Intel (borrow, dilution, catalysts)**. - **The stock is new to Intel.** History loads when a symbol is first watched; **News history days** (default 3) sets how far back headlines go, and changes to it apply at the next start. ## Questions **Why are SHS OUT and the dilution read empty in Scalpel?** SEC filings are off until you set a real contact email in Settings > Intel. The SEC refuses requests without one. **Who sees my SEC contact email?** Only sec.gov. Scalpel sends it in the header of its SEC requests and nowhere else. **Do I need to pay for any data for Intel?** No. Intel uses your IBKR account's news and borrow data plus free SEC, FINRA and Nasdaq sources. An OpenAI key is optional. **How many symbols does Intel follow?** Up to 40: what you hold first, then your desks, then the IBKR scanner's list. **Why does News say waiting for IBKR?** Headlines come through TWS. Connect TWS or IB Gateway and the line lists your news providers. --- # 40 Scalpel tips for faster, safer scalping > Forty practical Scalpel tips on desks, keys, sizing, stops, the scanner and intel, each linked to its full guide. Small habits that save seconds and money. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/tips Guide 14.1, Tips and tricks. Intermediate, 7 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Forty small habits that make Scalpel faster and safer: size every button by dollar risk, read the size line before you press, keep every held symbol on a desk, know that `Esc` flattens everything, let the voice confirm your keys, set the scanner to your criteria, read the intel chips before you buy, practise new habits in SIM, and review your hours in Analytics. Each tip links to the guide that explains it in full. None of these tips makes trading easy. Fast small-cap scalping carries a significant risk of loss and is very difficult, and many people who try it lose money. What these habits do is remove the avoidable mistakes: the wrong key, the oversized clip, the stop nobody was watching. ## Desks and layout 1. **Give each desk its own colour.** The swatch in a desk's header has eight colours; a coloured desk is easier to find when a toast or callout names its symbol ([guide 2.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/arrange-desks)). 2. **Double-click a grip to even out the desks.** Drag the grip between two desks to resize them; double-click any grip to make every desk the same width again ([guide 2.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/arrange-desks)). 3. **Use the + rail on a wide screen.** Four desks show by default; the **+** rail on the right adds a fifth and a sixth ([guide 2.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/multi-monitor-setup)). 4. **Copy a good layout to every desk.** **Apply-to-all** in a desk's header copies its panel layout to all the others ([guide 2.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/panel-settings)). 5. **Free a locked desk by loading the symbol elsewhere.** A desk holding a position will not change symbol. Load the same symbol on another desk first, and the first one is free ([guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)). 6. **Believe the badges.** **DELAYED** means delayed data, **NO DATA** means nothing has arrived, and **STALE** means no tick for 12 seconds. Do not trade a desk showing one ([guide 2.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/desk-status-badges)). ## Keys 7. **Press `?` for the cheatsheet.** It shows your live keymap, with each buy key's preset size ([guide 4.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/hotkeys)). 8. **Pick, then trade.** Once you pick a symbol, the cursor leaves the symbol box, so your keys trade straight away. While you are still typing in a symbol box, keys type text and never trade; clicking a desk hands them back ([guide 14.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/keyboard-only-workflow)). 9. **Know what `Esc` does.** It closes an open window or the suggestion list first. With nothing open, it flattens every position on every desk ([guide 4.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scale-out-and-flatten)). 10. **Watch the outline.** Keys act on the focused desk. Move it with `Left`, `Right` and `Tab` ([guide 14.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/keyboard-only-workflow)). 11. **Stop keys work with the market closed.** `B`, `Shift`+`T`, `Ctrl`+`Q` (`Shift`+`Q` on a Mac) and **Flatten All** still work when the order bar is grey ([guide 13.13](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-bar-greyed-out)). 12. **Put the keys where your hand is.** Click a row in **Settings > Hotkeys** and press the new chord ([guide 11.8](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/settings-hotkeys)). *Screenshot: The cheatsheet on the default Windows keys (a Mac shows Shift+Q for Cancel all orders): press ? any time.* ## Sizing and orders 13. **Size by dollar risk.** With **Risk (Cents)**, each button is the dollars you lose at the stop, whatever the stock costs ([guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk)). 14. **Read the size line before you press.** The dollar figure above each buy button is what that press would put on, live ([guide 4.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/order-bar)). 15. **Reset the Stop stepper after a wide trade.** It changes the saved Risk (Cents) stop for every desk, not just this trade ([guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk)). 16. **The order bar's method sets all four presets.** Changing it changes every button to that kind ([guide 4.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/sizing-presets)). 17. **Cancel what is left of a partial.** A buy that outran the book keeps working at its limit; `Ctrl`+`Q` cancels the rest. **Sell full** and **Flatten** cancel it for you before they sell ([guide 4.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/entries-and-fills)). 18. **Sell into strength.** `Ctrl`+`A` offers half at the ask during a spike; in LIVE it waits for a buyer ([guide 4.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scale-out-and-flatten)). 19. **Know your two full exits.** In LIVE, **Flatten All** prices about 1% through the bid to clear in one press; **Sell full** keeps your sell offset. Neither is refused by a sell that is already working: Scalpel replaces it ([guide 4.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scale-out-and-flatten)). ## Stops and targets 20. **Drag levels on the chart.** Grab the stop or target line, or its tag on the price axis; double-click a line to put it back ([guide 5.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/drag-stops-and-targets)). 21. **Add a target by dragging.** No take-profit? Drag the green **+ TP** handle up from the entry line ([guide 5.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/drag-stops-and-targets)). 22. **Automate breakeven and trailing.** **Breakeven at (R)** and **Start trailing at (R)** in Settings > Stops do `B` and `Shift`+`T` for you ([guide 5.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/breakeven-and-trailing-stops)). 23. **Trail a runner by candle lows.** **1-min candle lows** gives it room and gets you out on the first lower low ([guide 5.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/breakeven-and-trailing-stops)). 24. **Keep Scalpel running while you hold.** Stops are watched by the app, which is what lets them work in the pre-market. If Scalpel closes or disconnects, nothing is watching ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). 25. **Keep every held symbol on a desk.** A position on no desk has no price to watch, so its stop does nothing ([guide 6.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/go-live)). ## Reading the market 26. **An iceberg is not a floor.** The layers icon means a hidden order is refilling at that price. Replayed, those levels broke more often than ordinary ones ([guide 3.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/iceberg-orders)). 27. **Respect the gold read.** An ask-heavy book, coloured gold, is the one read that held up in replay: price tended to stay capped ([guide 3.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-line-and-read-bar)). 28. **Hear the flow.** Tape sound, inspired by Aggr.trade, plays buys high in the right ear and sells low in the left, so a block trade sounds like one ([guide 3.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/tape-sound)). ## Scanner 29. **Set the scanner to your criteria.** Scalpel follows the small-cap momentum style taught by Ross Cameron of Warrior Trading; its usual criteria map to **Price min** 2, **Price max** 20 and **Min change %** 10 in Settings > Connection. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by him or Warrior Trading ([guide 14.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/momentum-method), [guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)). 30. **Click to load.** A scanner row or a scanner toast loads the symbol on a free desk; the small squares on a row send it to a particular desk ([guide 8.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scanner-panels)). 31. **Only open panels talk.** Scan alerts come only from panels open on a desk with their bell on ([guide 8.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scan-types)). 32. **SHS OUT is never below the float.** IBKR does not supply float, so Scalpel shows shares outstanding from SEC filings: a small number is a sure low float ([guide 8.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/shares-out-short-interest-squeeze)). 33. **Gappers starts at 09:30.** Before the open, top gainers and volume spikes do the work ([guide 8.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-scanning)). ## Intel 34. **Set the SEC contact email.** Without it, filings, the dilution read and SHS OUT stay off. All of it is free: no paid data feed needed ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)). 35. **Hover a chip.** Each card says what it means for your trade first, then the facts ([guide 9.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/intel-chips)). 36. **Let the guard ask twice.** After a financing filing or offering headline, the first buy press is held back; press the same buy within 4 seconds to send it ([guide 9.7](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/dilution-entry-guard)). ## SIM, LIVE and review 37. **Reset SIM when you want a clean slate.** SIM's DAILY P&L and daily loss limit start again at New York midnight on their own; a reset also puts the balance back. Your Analytics journal survives it ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). 38. **Check the badge, not your memory.** The header's MODE picker and Mode in Settings > Trading both switch at once. Real orders go out only while the red **LIVE ORDERS** badge shows ([guide 6.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/go-live)). 39. **Review your hours weekly.** **NET P&L BY HOUR (ET)** in Analytics shows which part of the morning pays you ([guide 6.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/analytics)). 40. **Turn the voice off, keep the sounds.** With Voice callouts off, every event plays its tone instead ([guide 10.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/voice-callouts)). ## Questions **What is the single most important Scalpel habit?** Size every trade by a fixed dollar risk and honour the stop. Risk (Cents) presets and Scalpel's app-monitored stops make that the default, as long as Scalpel stays running and connected. **How do I avoid flattening by accident with Esc?** Know the order: Esc closes an open window or the symbol list first, and flattens only when nothing is open. Press it once to close a list, and do not press it again unless you mean to go flat. **Where do I start if I am new to Scalpel?** Install, connect and practise in SIM with guides 1.1 to 1.7, then follow the one-week SIM plan in guide 14.5. --- # A pre-market routine with Scalpel > A step-by-step routine from 04:00 ET to the open: connect, scan for gappers, check dilution and borrow, load your desks and set your risk before the bell. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-routine Guide 14.2, Tips and tricks. Intermediate, 6 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Log in to TWS or IB Gateway and start Scalpel before 04:00 ET, check MODE and your risk settings, then let the IBKR scanner find the gappers as the pre-market opens. Shortlist names with a real catalyst and no fresh dilution, load two to four onto trader desks, and trade small while the book is thin. Stop when your plan or your daily loss limit says so, not when the bell rings. Scalpel is built first for the pre-market, 04:00 to 09:30 ET, when small caps with news can move 30% before most people are at their desks. That window rewards preparation: the scanner, the intel and your desks should be ready before the first gapper prints. This routine is a starting point; adjust the times to your own day. The method behind it is small-cap momentum, in the style taught by Ross Cameron of Warrior Trading: stocks gapping up on news, with low float and heavy relative volume, traded with hotkeys off Level 2 and the tape, with a small fixed risk and a daily loss limit. [Guide 14.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/momentum-method) explains the method and how Scalpel maps to it. Scalpel is independent software and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ross Cameron or Warrior Trading. Trading this way carries a significant risk of loss and is very difficult; many people who try it lose money. **Before you start:** - Scalpel connected and the IBKR scanner on ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers), [guide 8.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)). - Intel set up with your SEC contact email ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)). - Your keys and sizes practised in SIM ([guide 14.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/first-week-in-sim)). ## The routine ### 1. 03:45: log in and start Scalpel Start TWS or IB Gateway and log in (approve the two-factor prompt on your phone), then start Scalpel. Check the **IBKR** pill in the status bar reads **Connected**. Both IBKR programs need a fresh login every day unless you set up their auto-restart. Check **MODE** in the header: **SIM** while you are practising, **LIVE** only with the red **LIVE ORDERS** badge showing and your mind made up ([guide 6.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/go-live)). **DAILY P&L** and the daily loss limit count from New York midnight in both modes, so the day starts clean on its own ([guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)). *Screenshot: The clock in the header just after 04:00: the session reads Pre-market with an amber dot. Demo data.* ### 2. Set today's risk before you see a chart Open **Settings > Risk** and decide the day's numbers while you are calm: **Daily loss ($)** (and **Auto-flatten on daily loss** if you want the exit forced), **Fat-finger ($)** and **Max position ($)**. Then **Settings > Sizing** for your four buy presets; a fixed dollar risk per button keeps every trade the same size of loss ([guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk)). Check **Extended-hours fills** is on in **Settings > Trading**: pre-market buys need it. Your exits do not: every LIVE sell, stop exits included, is always sent for extended hours. *Screenshot: Settings, Risk with a small account's numbers: the daily loss limit, the caps and auto-flatten set before the session.* ### 3. 04:00: let the scanner find the gappers At 04:00 the voice says "Pre-market is open. Good luck!" Put one empty desk on **SCAN** (the toggle in its header; a desk that is the only one showing a position stays a trader desk) with an **IBKR scanner** panel; add **High-of-day momentum** and **Running up** panels if you have the room ([guide 8.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-scanning)). The IBKR scanner runs five of IBKR's own scans at once (top gainers, 3 minute volume spikes, halts, hot by volume and gappers) and merges them into one live list, ranked by percent change. **Gappers** stays empty until 09:30; **Top gainers** counts the pre-market move from the start. To match the momentum criteria, set **Settings > Connection > IBKR scanner** to **Price min** 2, **Price max** 20 and **Min change %** 10 (the default). ### 4. 06:00: check the overnight filings SEC EDGAR holds most filings submitted after 17:30 ET until the next morning, so an offering priced last night often reaches you as a 424B filing around 06:00. Scalpel watches the live filings feed every 5 seconds from 06:00 ET. Glance at the **INTEL** column for red chips like **Selling 21h** and **Warrants near** on anything you like ([guide 9.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/check-dilution)). ### 5. Shortlist two to four names For each name near the top of the list, read across the row: | What you want | Where it shows in Scalpel | |---|---| | A price of roughly $2 to $20 | **PRICE**, kept in range by the scanner's **Price min** and **Price max** | | Up 10% or more | **CHG%** and the rank | | Volume about 5x normal or more | **RVOL** (relative volume, against IBKR's 90-day average) | | A real reason to move | A catalyst chip such as **FDA 4m** or **Deal 2h**; hover it for the headline ([guide 9.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/catalyst-grading)) | | A small supply of shares | **SHS OUT** (shares outstanding from SEC filings; IBKR does not provide [float](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#float)) | | Nobody about to sell stock into you | No red dilution chips ([guide 9.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/intel-chips)) | | Shorts who may have to buy | **SQZ** and the borrow chips ([guide 8.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/shares-out-short-interest-squeeze)) | Fewer, better names beat a screen full of tickers. ### 6. Load your names on trader desks Click a scanner row to load it onto a desk, or use the small squares on the row to send it to a particular desk. A scanner toast can be clicked to load the symbol too. On each desk, note the pre-market high and where price sits against [VWAP](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#vwap) (anchored at 04:00, so pre-market volume counts). ### 7. Trade small while the book is thin Pre-market books are thin and spreads are wide. Your marketable limit only fills inside its offset, a 1,000-share clip can walk the asks, and a stop-out can slip. Use your smallest risk preset, watch the [Level 2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#level-2) and the tape, and let the stop do its job: Scalpel's app-monitored stops are built for this session, where stop orders at the broker cannot work ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). ### 8. 07:00 to 09:30: second wave and the open At 07:00 the voice calls "Mid-morning open." Volume usually builds through the pre-market; new names and setups keep calling out from your scan panels. Before 09:30, decide what you hold into the open. At 09:30 you hear "The market is open. Good luck out there!" and the **Gappers** scan starts filling. ### 9. Stop on plan, then review Stop when you hit your daily goal, your daily loss limit or your trade count, whichever comes first. Then open **Analytics** and look at **NET P&L BY HOUR (ET)** under **Breakdowns**: over a few weeks it shows which part of the morning actually pays you ([guide 6.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/analytics)). ## What can go wrong - **The scan panels say "Waiting for TWS".** Scalpel is not connected yet; check the IBKR pill ([guide 13.7](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-scanner-off)). - **No Level 2 before the open.** Your market-data subscriptions decide what you get, and IBKR limits how many books you can stream at once ([guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). - **An order sat unfilled.** Pre-market buys need **Extended-hours fills** on, and a marketable limit fills only within its offset on a thin book ([guide 13.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-not-filled)). - **TWS logged you out mid-morning.** One username, one trading session: logging in elsewhere signs Scalpel's connection out ([guide 13.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-tws-signed-out)). ## Questions **What time does the pre-market start in Scalpel?** 04:00 ET. The header's clock shows Pre-market from then until 09:30 ET, the voice announces it, and orders are allowed from 04:00. **Does the IBKR scanner work in the pre-market?** Yes. Top gainers, volume spikes, halts and hot by volume all run from 04:00. Only the gappers scan, which compares the open to the previous close, is empty until 09:30. **Why does Scalpel show shares outstanding instead of float?** Interactive Brokers does not provide float through its API, and Scalpel uses no paid data feeds. Shares outstanding from SEC filings is never below the float, so a small number is a sure low float. **Do stops work in the pre-market?** Yes. Scalpel watches the stop itself and sends a marketable limit sell flagged for extended hours, which exchanges accept before the open. Scalpel must be running and connected. **How many stocks should I watch pre-market?** Few. Two to four trader desks you can actually read beat a long list. The scan desk keeps watching the rest and calls out new names. --- # Trade without touching the mouse > Load symbols, move between desks, enter, scale out, manage stops and flatten using only the keyboard: a full hotkey workflow for scalping in Scalpel. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/keyboard-only-workflow Guide 14.3, Tips and tricks. Intermediate, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Every trading action in Scalpel has a key: `Shift`+`1` to `4` to buy, `Ctrl`+`Z`, `X`, `C`, `A` and `S` to sell, `B` for breakeven, `Shift`+`T` to trail, `Ctrl`+`Q` to cancel and `Esc` to flatten everything. Move between desks with the arrow keys and `Tab`, and let the voice confirm each action. The only mouse moment is putting the cursor in a symbol box: once you pick a symbol, the cursor leaves the box and the keys trade straight away. A scalp is decided in a second or two, and the mouse is slow: you have to look at the button to hit it. Scalpel is keyboard-first so your eyes can stay on Level 2 and the tape. Each key acts on the **focused desk** (the one with the accent outline), and each one is confirmed out loud, so you rarely need to look away ([guide 10.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/voice-callouts)). **Before you start:** - Your buy presets set up ([guide 4.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/sizing-presets)). - A few sessions in SIM, so the keys are in your fingers before money is ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). ## The keys | Action | Default key | Notes | |---|---|---| | Buy preset 1 to 4 | `Shift`+`1` to `Shift`+`4` | A marketable limit at the ask plus your offset | | Sell full (bid) | `Ctrl`+`Z` | The whole position, at the bid less your sell offset | | Sell half (bid) | `Ctrl`+`X` | | | Sell quarter (bid) | `Ctrl`+`C` | | | Sell half (ask) | `Ctrl`+`A` | Into strength, at the ask | | Sell half (mid) | `Ctrl`+`S` | Between the bid and the ask | | Stop to breakeven | `B` | Works with the market closed | | Toggle trailing stop | `Shift`+`T` | Works with the market closed | | Cancel all orders | `Ctrl`+`Q` (`Shift`+`Q` on a Mac) | On the focused desk. Works with the market closed | | Cheatsheet | `?` (`Shift`+`/`) | Shows every key | | Flatten everything | `Esc` | Every position on every desk. Works with the market closed. Fixed, not rebindable | | Next or previous desk | `Right` or `Tab`, `Left` | Only when you are not typing | | Settings | `Ctrl`+`,` | | | Zoom the cockpit | `Ctrl`+`=`, `Ctrl`+`-`, `Ctrl`+`0` | 70% to 125% | On a Mac, `Ctrl` is `Cmd` throughout, except **Cancel all orders**, which is `Shift`+`Q` because `Cmd`+`Q` quits a Mac app. Press `?` any time to see the live keymap, with each buy key showing its preset's size. *Screenshot: The cheatsheet (?) on the default Windows keys. Esc closes it.* ## A full trade on the keyboard ### 1. Load the symbol Click the symbol box in the desk's header (or the empty desk), type the ticker, use `Up` and `Down` to pick from the list and press `Enter`. The symbol loads and the cursor leaves the box, so your keys trade straight away. While you are still typing in a symbol box, letter and number keys type text and never place orders. A faster route skips typing entirely: click a scanner row, or a scanner toast, and the symbol loads on a free desk ([guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)). ### 2. Move to the desk you want Press `Right` or `Tab` for the next desk and `Left` for the previous one. The accent outline shows which desk your keys act on. ### 3. Enter Press `Shift`+`2` (or whichever preset fits). You hear a blip as it is sent and "Filled, level two" when it fills. The stop and take-profit arm themselves. ### 4. Manage the trade Up a little? `B` moves the stop to your entry ("Breakeven"); it never lowers a stop that trailing has already lifted above your entry. Running? `Shift`+`T` starts the trail ("Trailing"). Into a spike, `Ctrl`+`A` sells half at the ask; on a stall, `Ctrl`+`X` sells half at the bid ([guide 4.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scale-out-and-flatten)). ### 5. Exit `Ctrl`+`Z` sells the rest ("Out, full"), cancelling any buy still working on that stock first. If a resting sell is still working, the new sell replaces it, so you never need to cancel before you sell. `Ctrl`+`Q` cancels anything left over ("Cancelled"). In an emergency, `Esc` flattens every desk at once ("Flattened"). **Careful.** `Esc` closes whatever is open first: the cheatsheet, Settings, a panel's settings, or the symbol suggestion list. With nothing open it flattens every position on every desk, **even while your cursor sits in an empty symbol box**. Press it once to close a list, and know what a second press does. ## Make the keys yours Open **Settings > Hotkeys**, click the action you want to change, and press the new key or chord. The row reads **Press a key** while it waits. Click **Apply**. `Esc` and `Enter` are fixed and cannot be rebound ([guide 4.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/hotkeys)). *Screenshot: Settings, Hotkeys: Sell full (bid) waiting for its new key.* Good rebinds keep the hand still: buys on one side of the keyboard, sells on the other, and nothing dangerous next to something you press all day. **Tip.** In Settings, `Enter` applies your changes exactly like **Apply**, so you can rebind, press `Enter` and go straight back to the desk. ## What can go wrong - **A key did nothing.** The cursor is in a text box you were typing in (click the desk), the market is closed (only `B`, `Shift`+`T`, `Ctrl`+`Q` and `Esc` work then), the stock is halted (buys are blocked until it resumes), or the wrong desk is focused. - **The order went to the wrong desk.** Keys act on the focused desk only. Watch the outline, and use the arrow keys rather than clicking around mid-trade. - **A sell was refused.** Scalpel is long only: with no position on that desk there is nothing to sell ([guide 7.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/long-only)). ## Questions **Can I load a symbol without the mouse?** Not entirely. Typing a ticker needs the cursor in a symbol box, which takes a click. Once you pick the symbol, the cursor leaves the box by itself, and everything else, from entries to exits and desk focus, is on the keyboard. **Do hotkeys fire while I type a symbol?** No. Trading keys never fire while a text box has the cursor, so typing a ticker can never place an order. **Which desk does a hotkey trade?** The focused desk, outlined in the accent colour. Move focus with Left, Right and Tab, or by clicking a desk. **Can I change Esc so it does not flatten?** No. Esc and Enter are fixed keys. Esc always closes an open window or list first and flattens only when nothing is open. **Do the hotkeys work on a Mac?** Yes, with Cmd in place of Ctrl: Cmd+Z sells the full position, Cmd+, opens Settings. Cancel all orders is Shift+Q, because Cmd+Q quits a Mac app. --- # Settings for a small account > Settings that suit a small account: risk-based presets, tight caps, a daily loss limit you will respect, the right commission plan, and what to watch for. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/small-account-setup Guide 14.4, Tips and tricks. Beginner, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** On a small account, size every trade by a fixed dollar risk (Risk (Cents) presets of, say, $10 to $50), set the fat-finger and max-position caps below your account size, and set a daily loss limit of a few losing trades with **Auto-flatten on daily loss** on. Set **SIM start ($)** to your real balance and practise there first, and match the commission plan to your IBKR account, because fees take a bigger bite out of small trades. Scalpel's defaults are set for a larger account: a $250,000 fat-finger cap and a $250,000 max position (there only to catch a slip of the finger), a $1,000 daily loss limit, a $25,000 SIM balance and share-count presets up to 1,000 shares. On a $5,000 account those numbers let one bad morning do lasting damage. Small accounts do not need different software; they need smaller numbers and stricter limits. Be clear-eyed first: fast small-cap scalping carries a significant risk of loss and is very difficult, and many people who try it lose money. A small account has less room for the learning curve, so the aim of these settings is to make each mistake small and the bad days short. **Before you start:** - Know your account's cash and its day-trading rules at Interactive Brokers. In June 2026 FINRA replaced the US pattern day trader rule (the $25,000 minimum and the day-trade count) with intraday margin rules, but brokers may phase the change in until October 2027; check IBKR's current rules for your account type ([what changed](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/pdt-rule-interactive-brokers)). - Scalpel in SIM ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)). ## The settings, with a $5,000 example | Setting | Default | For a $5,000 account (example) | Where | |---|---|---|---| | **SIM start ($)** | 25000 | 5000, then reset SIM | Settings > Risk | | Buy presets | 100 / 250 / 500 / 1000 shares | Risk (Cents) at $10 / $20 / $30 / $50 | Settings > Sizing | | **Stop (c)** (Risk (Cents) sizing) | 30 | 20 to 30, to suit your stocks | Settings > Stops | | **Fat-finger ($)** | 250000 | 4000 | Settings > Risk | | **Max position ($)** | 250000 | 4000 | Settings > Risk | | **Daily loss ($)** | 1000 | 100 | Settings > Risk | | **Auto-flatten on daily loss** | Off | On | Settings > Risk | | **Commission plan** | IBKR Pro Tiered | The plan your account is on | Settings > Risk | These are an illustration, not a recommendation: pick numbers you could lose and still trade next week. *Screenshot: Settings, Risk for a $5,000 account: SIM start, the caps and the daily loss limit with auto-flatten, outlined.* ## Size by risk, not by shares A share-count button risks a different amount on every stock. With Risk (Cents), the button is the dollars you can lose and Scalpel works out the shares from your stop ([guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk)): | Button | At a 20c stop | Position at $4.00 | Loss at the stop | |---|---|---|---| | Risk $10 | 50 shares | $200 | $10 | | Risk $20 | 100 shares | $400 | $20 | | Risk $30 | 150 shares | $600 | $30 | | Risk $50 | 250 shares | $1,000 | $50 | *Screenshot: Settings, Sizing: four Risk (Cents) presets from $10 to $50.* Start every session on the smallest button and earn the bigger ones with a green day, not a red one. ## Caps that match the account - **Max position ($)** stops one symbol from growing past a set value, including adds. Keep it under your cash: SIM is a cash account and refuses orders it cannot pay for, and a live margin account will happily let you over-reach. - **Fat-finger ($)** caps any single order. On a small account it can equal max position. - **Daily loss ($)** trips the **RISK LOCK** when the day's realized plus open P&L reaches minus that amount: new entries are blocked until you click **Resume trading**. After a resume, the lock comes back only if the day's loss grows by another quarter of the limit. With **Auto-flatten on daily loss** on, it also closes everything ([guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)). $100 here is two full-size losers or three normal ones; that is the point. Both caps block the whole order rather than shrink it, with a red toast naming the cap ([guide 7.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps)). ## Fees matter more on small trades A 100-share trade on a $4 stock with a 20c stop risks $20. In SIM's estimate the round trip costs $1.34 on IBKR Pro Tiered (with exchange and clearing fees) and $2.00 on IBKR Pro Fixed: 7% to 10% of your risk on every trade, win or lose. Set the plan your account is really on so SIM shows you the true drag, and prefer fewer, better trades over many small ones ([guide 6.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/commissions)). ## What to watch for - **The spread eats the stop.** On a 20c stop, a 6c spread is almost a third of your risk before the trade moves. Skip names whose spread is wide against your stop. - **Sub-dollar stocks.** Exchange fees there are a percent of value, and a cent is a large share of the price. A 20c stop on a $0.60 stock is a 33% move. - **Order size resolves to zero shares.** A tiny risk on a wide stop can work out to under one share. Raise the risk or tighten the stop. - **Thin books.** Even 250 shares can walk a pre-market ask. Watch the size line above each buy button before you press ([guide 4.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/order-bar)). ## Questions **How much should I risk per trade on a small account?** Scalpel cannot answer that for you. Many traders keep each trade's risk to a small fixed share of the account so a run of losers is survivable. Whatever you choose, set it on the buy buttons with Risk (Cents) so every trade risks the same. **Does Scalpel enforce the pattern day trader rule?** No. Interactive Brokers applies its day-trading and margin rules to your account. The pattern day trader rule was replaced by intraday margin rules in June 2026, but brokers may still be moving over, so check IBKR's current rules for your account type before you plan your week. **Can I practise with my real account size?** Yes. Set SIM start ($) in Settings > Risk to your balance and reset the SIM account. SIM is a cash account, so it also refuses orders you could not pay for. **Which IBKR commission plan is cheaper for small trades?** In SIM's estimate, IBKR Pro Tiered is cheaper than Fixed on fills under about 150 shares, because Fixed has a $1.00 minimum. Set Scalpel to whichever plan your account is on. --- # Your first week: a SIM practice plan > A day-by-day SIM plan for your first week with Scalpel: keys, sizing, stops, scanning and review in Analytics, so you go live with habits, not hope. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/first-week-in-sim Guide 14.5, Tips and tricks. Beginner, 5 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Spend your first week in SIM learning one thing a day: the keys on day 1, sizing by risk on day 2, stops on day 3, the scanner and intel on day 4, and a full session under a daily loss limit on day 5. Review every day in Analytics, and judge the week by your process (losers held to about 1R, no moved stops, the daily limit respected), not by the P&L. Go live only when that process is boring. SIM fills against the real Level 2 book, so a week there teaches the parts of scalping that hurt most to learn with money: pressing the right key under pressure, sizing the same way every time, and taking the stop. It will not teach you to be profitable, and nothing guarantees that: fast small-cap trading carries a significant risk of loss, it is very difficult, and many people who try it lose money. What a good SIM week gives you is habits. **Before you start:** - Scalpel installed, licensed and connected, with live market data ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers), [guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). - [Guide 1.7](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/first-session-in-sim) done: your first SIM trade. ## Every morning Before each practice session: 1. Check **MODE** reads **SIM**. 2. Glance at **DAILY P&L**: in SIM it and the daily loss limit start again at New York midnight by themselves. Reset the SIM account (Settings > Risk > **Reset SIM account**, then **Confirm reset to $25000**, with your own balance) only when you want the balance back at your start figure. Your Analytics journal is kept. 3. Note one thing you are practising today, and nothing else. ## The plan ### 1. Day 1: the keys Set **SIM start ($)** in Settings > Risk to your real account size and reset: SIM uses and saves the balance shown on the button. Pick your IBKR commission plan on the same tab ([guide 6.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/commissions)). Leave the default share presets for today. Load a liquid, slow stock and spend the session on the keys alone: `Shift`+`1` to buy, `Ctrl`+`X` to sell half, `B` to move the stop to breakeven, `Ctrl`+`Z` to get out. Listen to the callouts until "Filled, level one" and "Out, half" mean something without looking ([guide 10.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/voice-callouts)). Press `?` whenever you forget a key. Practise `Esc` to flatten everything, so you know what it does before you need it. *Screenshot: The cheatsheet: press ? any time. Esc closes it.* Goal: 20 round trips with no wrong key. ### 2. Day 2: size by risk Switch the order bar's method to **Risk (Cents)** and set four dollar risks in Settings > Sizing that suit your account ([guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk), [guide 14.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/small-account-setup)). Before each press, read the size line above the button and nudge the **Stop** stepper for the stock. Set the fat-finger and max-position caps to your account ([guide 7.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fat-finger-and-position-caps)). Goal: every loser today costs about the same dollars. ### 3. Day 3: stops and targets Watch the red working stop and the green take-profit draw on the chart after every fill. Try each way of managing them: drag the stop on the chart, press `B` once you are up, press `Shift`+`T` to trail a runner, and let at least a few trades stop out by themselves ([guide 5.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work), [guide 5.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/breakeven-and-trailing-stops)). Notice that Scalpel watches the stop: in LIVE it only works while Scalpel runs and is connected. Goal: no stop moved down, ever. ### 4. Day 4: scanner and intel Get up for the pre-market. Put a desk on **SCAN** with the IBKR scanner, and follow the routine in [guide 14.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-routine): shortlist names with a catalyst chip, skip names with red dilution chips, load two or three on trader desks. Let the dilution entry guard stop you once, so you know what it feels like ([guide 9.7](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/dilution-entry-guard)). Goal: every trade today has a reason you can say out loud. ### 5. Day 5: a full session under a daily limit Set **Daily loss ($)** to what you would accept losing in a real day, with **Auto-flatten on daily loss** on ([guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)). Run the whole routine from the pre-market to your stop time. If the **RISK LOCK** trips, stop for the day: do not click **Resume trading**, and do not switch mode to get around it. Goal: the plan followed start to finish. ### 6. Weekend: review in Analytics Pick **Analytics** in the header's **VIEW** picker ([guide 6.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/analytics)). Look at three things: 1. **R DISTRIBUTION**: are your losers in **-1..0**? Bars further left are stops you moved, ignored or overstayed. 2. **NET P&L BY HOUR (ET)** under **Breakdowns**: which hours pay you, and which take it back? 3. **BY SYMBOL**: is one lucky ticker carrying the week? *Screenshot: Breakdowns after a SIM week: by symbol, the R distribution, and net P&L by New York hour. Demo data.* **Goals** grades your win rate and payoff. After one week it is a curiosity, not a verdict. *Screenshot: Goals after a SIM week. A grade on 20 trades says little; keep practising. Demo data.* ## Are you ready for LIVE? Not after one week, for most people. Look for these, over weeks: - You never pressed the wrong key, and you never had to look for one. - Your losers are close to 1R, and the R distribution has almost nothing left of **-1..0**. - You took the daily loss limit as the end of the day, every time it tripped. - Your results are spread over many trades and symbols, not one lucky run. When they are true, work through the checklist in [guide 6.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/go-live) and start live with your smallest button. Expect live fills and live nerves to be harder than SIM, and keep coming back to SIM to practise anything new. ## Questions **How long should I paper trade before going live?** Until your process is consistent, which for most people takes more than a week. Judge it by how you trade (fixed risk, stops honoured, daily limit respected), not by SIM profit. **Should I reset SIM every day?** You do not need to. The header's DAILY P&L and the daily loss limit count from New York midnight in SIM, as in LIVE. Reset when you want the balance back at your start figure. Your Analytics journal is not cleared by a reset. **Is SIM harder or easier than live trading?** Mostly easier. SIM fills against the real book and a stop-out fills where the market really is, but your orders do not move the book, nobody is queued ahead of you, and there is no fear. Treat good SIM results as a minimum, not a forecast. **Can I practise in the pre-market in SIM?** Yes. SIM fills from 04:00 to 20:00 ET on trading days, against the live pre-market book. --- # The momentum method Scalpel is built around > The small-cap momentum style Ross Cameron teaches, from stock selection to gap and go and micro pullbacks, mapped to Scalpel's scanner, intel and stops. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/momentum-method Guide 14.6, Tips and tricks. Intermediate, 11 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Scalpel is built around the small-cap momentum style Ross Cameron teaches at Warrior Trading: find stocks priced about $2 to $20, up 10% or more, trading 5 times their normal volume, with fresh news and a low float; trade them in the pre-market and at the open on patterns like gap and go and the micro pullback; and keep a small fixed risk, about 2:1 reward to risk and a hard daily loss limit. Each step maps to a Scalpel feature. This style is hard and risky, and many people who try it lose money. **Note: Independent.** Scalpel is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ross Cameron or Warrior Trading. This page describes the publicly known approach in our own words and shows where Scalpel supports it. It is not trading advice, and Scalpel never tells you what to buy. Small-cap momentum trading looks for the handful of stocks each morning that are moving hard on news, and tries to take a small, quick piece of the move with a tight stop. Ross Cameron is one of the best-known teachers of the style, and his public material describes it in a consistent way: strict stock selection, a pre-market routine, a few repeatable patterns, hotkeys, Level 2 and the tape, and risk rules that keep losing days small. Scalpel was designed so each of those steps happens in one place, on your Interactive Brokers data. **This can cost you money: Read this first.** Fast small-cap momentum trading carries a significant risk of loss and is very difficult. Many people who try it lose money, and some lose it quickly. These stocks can fall 20% in seconds, halt, or gap through any stop. A method and good software do not change that. Practise in SIM for weeks, not days ([guide 14.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/first-week-in-sim)), start LIVE with the smallest size you can, and expect a long learning curve. ## Stock selection: the five criteria The method's best-known part is its stock filter: five things a stock should have before it is worth watching. Here is each one, in plain words, and where it lives in Scalpel. | Criterion | Why it matters | In Scalpel | |---|---|---| | **Price about $2 to $20** | Cheap enough to move a lot in percent, liquid enough to get in and out | The **PRICE** column. **Running up** filters to **Price min ($)** 2 and **Price max ($)** 20 by default. The IBKR scanner's own range is wider (0.1 to 100) so sub-$2 runners still show | | **Up 10% or more on the day** | Something is happening today, pre-market included | **CHG%**. The IBKR scanner's **Min change %** and Running up's **Min gap (%)** are both 10 by default | | **Relative volume 5x or more** | Far more traders than usual are involved, so moves are real | **RVOL**, today's volume against normal. Running up's **Min rel volume (x)** is 5 by default ([glossary: relative volume](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#relative-volume)) | | **A fresh news catalyst** | A reason for the move: news brings buyers | The catalyst chips in **INTEL**, such as **FDA 4m** or **Trial data 52m**: the kind of news and how long ago it broke, graded from None to Explosive ([guide 9.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/catalyst-grading)). **Require news catalyst** gates Running up | | **Low float, often under 10 to 20 million shares** | Few shares available to trade, so demand moves price fast | **SHS OUT**: shares outstanding from SEC filings, the stand-in for float. The float is never larger, so a small SHS OUT means a small float. Running up's **Max shares out** is 10M by default ([guide 8.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/shares-out-short-interest-squeeze)) | *Screenshot: The IBKR scanner before the open: price (1), change (2), relative volume (3), catalyst chips (4), shares out (5) and the squeeze score (6). Only WXYZ and TUVW pass all five. Demo data.* Read the list the way the criteria do. **WXYZ** is $4.20, up 38%, at 12x volume, on a deal announced 25 minutes ago, with 3.0M shares out: all five. **TUVW** passes too. **XYZA** is under $1 with 152M shares out and a dilution warning. **CDEF** is up on an offering, which is new stock for sale, not a reason to buy it ([guide 9.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/check-dilution)). **BCDE** and **QRST** are moving on modest volume with 20M+ shares out. The **SQZ** column folds most of this into one number from 0 to 100: a tight float (or few shares out), heavy relative volume (10x or more scores fully), shorts trapped, short interest, days to cover, a price in the $2 to $10 sweet spot and a small market cap, cut back if the company is selling or can sell stock. It is a quick way to rank the list, not a reason to buy. ## The pre-market routine The method does most of its work before 09:30, and so does Scalpel. 1. **From 04:00, let the scanner build the list.** At 04:00 ET Scalpel says "Pre-market is open." The IBKR scanner panel lists the top gainers, volume spikes and gappers, pre-market included, and refreshes about every 30 seconds ([guide 8.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-scanning)). 2. **Check the news and the supply.** For each name that passes the five criteria, read the catalyst chip and its headline, and check the dilution chips: a company with a shelf or an offering on file can sell stock into the move ([guide 9.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/check-dilution)). Keep the **dilution entry guard** on, so a buy within 30 minutes of a financing filing or offering headline needs a second press ([guide 9.7](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/dilution-entry-guard)). 3. **Load the best two or three on desks.** Each desk gives you Level 2, the tape and a chart with VWAP from 04:00 ([guide 2.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/load-symbols-and-desks)). 4. **Mark the levels.** The pre-market high, the high of day and VWAP are where these stocks decide. Plan where you would buy and where your stop goes before price gets there. 5. **Trade small, or watch.** Pre-market books are thin. Many traders using this style trade the pre-market with reduced size, or only watch until the open. [Guide 14.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-routine) turns this into a full routine with times. ## The patterns, and Scalpel's setup chips The method trades a few repeatable patterns. Scalpel's **Setups** scan watches every name on the IBKR scanner's list for them on the 1-minute candles, marks each with a lettered chip, and calls it out by voice and toast ([guide 8.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scan-types)). | Pattern | What it looks like | Scalpel chip and callout | |---|---|---| | **Gap and go** | A stock that gapped up pre-market breaks above its pre-market high after the open | **G**, "Gap and go." The first cross above the pre-market high in regular hours, once per stock | | **Micro pullback** | In a fast move, one small red or indecision candle that holds the run's low, then a candle that takes out its high | **M**, "Micro pullback." | | **Bull flag** | A strong push up (the pole), one to three tight candles drifting sideways or down by no more than half the pole, then a break above them | **F**, "Bull flag." | | **Flat top breakout** | Three to five candles stalling at the same high, within 0.3%, then a break above that shelf | **T**, "Flat top." | | **New high of day** | Price breaks to a new high for the day in regular hours | **H**, "Breaking highs." | | **Consecutive run** | Five of the last six candles green, then a new high | **R**, "On a run." | *Screenshot: The Setups panel with four detected patterns, each letter chip in its own colour, and the toasts their callouts raise. A setup stays on the panel for about 25 seconds unless it keeps confirming. Demo data.* A chip says a pattern is there; it does not say it will work. The detectors are deliberately simple, many patterns fail, and the same chip on a stock with no news and 50M shares out means much less. Use the chips to know where to look, then read the book and the tape yourself ([guide 3.7](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-the-players)). ## Entries and exits on the keys The method relies on hotkeys, because momentum moves faster than a mouse. In Scalpel every action has a key ([guide 4.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/hotkeys)): - `Shift`+`1` to `Shift`+`4` buy with your four presets, as a marketable limit at the ask plus your offset ([guide 4.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/entries-and-fills)). - `Ctrl`+`X` sells half into strength, `Ctrl`+`Z` the rest. - `B` moves the stop to breakeven once the trade works. - `Esc` flattens everything. Every fill and exit is spoken, so you can keep your eyes on Level 2 and the tape, which is where the method reads the entry: buyers lifting the ask, a seller at a round number being cleared, the bid stepping up. ## The risk rules The method's risk rules matter more than any pattern. Scalpel has a control for each. ### A small, fixed risk per trade Decide what one trade may cost you and size every trade from it. **Risk (Cents)** does this: set the buy buttons to dollars of risk ($25, $50, $100 and $200 by default) and Scalpel works out the shares from your stop distance, 30c by default ([guide 4.2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk)). *Screenshot: The order bar on Risk (Cents): each button is a dollar risk, with the position size it would buy at the current ask above it. Demo data.* ### About 2:1 reward to risk Aim to make about twice what you risk. Every entry gets a take-profit at **Take profit (R)** times your risk above the entry, **2R** by default ([guide 5.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/r-multiples)): on a 30c stop the target is 60c up. Selling half at the target and trailing the rest is a common variation ([guide 5.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/breakeven-and-trailing-stops)). ### A hard daily loss limit Stop for the day after a set loss, before a bad morning becomes a bad month. **Settings > Risk > Daily loss ($)**, $1,000 by default, blocks new entries once your day's realised and open loss reaches it, with a **RISK LOCK** banner, and can flatten everything with **Auto-flatten on daily loss** ([guide 7.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)). A worked example for a $25,000 account: risk $50 a trade (0.2%), a 2R target of $100, and a daily loss limit of $150. Three losing trades and the day is over; one winner pays for two losers. ### Measure it: the Analytics goals The method judges a trader on accuracy and on the size of wins against losses. **Analytics > Goals** shows the same targets against your own trades, in SIM and LIVE separately ([guide 6.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/analytics)): **ACCURACY** (win rate, target 75%), **PAYOFF (WIN/LOSS)** (average win over average loss, target 2.0), **PROFIT FACTOR** (gross wins over gross losses, target 2.0) and **EXPECTANCY** (average R per trade, target positive), with a trader grade from Novice to Pro. *Screenshot: Analytics, Goals: four targets and the trader grade, from your own trades. Demo data.* Do not go LIVE, or add size, until these numbers hold up over many SIM trades. Most people find their accuracy falls when real money is on the line. ## What Scalpel does not do for you - **It does not pick stocks.** The scanner, chips and scores narrow the list; the decision is yours. - **It does not predict.** The setup chips, the read line and the squeeze score describe what is happening. When Scalpel's book reads were replayed over recorded sessions, most did no better than a coin flip. - **It does not short.** Scalpel is long only ([guide 7.3](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/long-only)). - **It does not trade for you.** There is no auto trader; every order is your key press. - **It does not make this easy.** It makes the mechanics faster and the risk controls harder to skip. The skill, and the risk, stay with you. ## Questions **What are Ross Cameron's five criteria for picking stocks?** As commonly described: a price of roughly $2 to $20, already up 10% or more on the day, relative volume of 5 times normal or more, a fresh news catalyst, and a low float, often under 10 to 20 million shares. Scalpel shows each as a column or chip on its scan panels. **Is Scalpel affiliated with Warrior Trading?** No. Scalpel is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ross Cameron or Warrior Trading. It is built around the publicly known small-cap momentum style. **Does Scalpel show the float?** It shows SHS OUT, the total shares outstanding from SEC filings, as the stand-in. The float is always smaller, so a small SHS OUT means a small float; a large one can still hide a smaller float. **Can Scalpel find gap and go and micro pullback setups?** Yes. The Setups scan marks gap and go, micro pullback, bull flag, flat top, high of day breaks and consecutive runs with a letter chip, a toast and a voice callout. A chip says the pattern is there, not that it will work. **How much should I risk per trade?** Scalpel does not advise amounts. The method uses a small fixed risk per trade and a daily loss limit; many traders risk a fraction of a percent of their account per trade. Set it with Risk (Cents) and Settings > Risk > Daily loss. **Can I make money with this method?** Many people who try small-cap momentum trading lose money. It is very difficult and carries a significant risk of loss. Practise in SIM, keep risk small and expect a long learning curve. --- # Day trading glossary > Plain definitions of the day trading and Scalpel terms used in these guides, from Level 2, VWAP and R multiples to float, borrow, dilution and LULD halts. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary Guide 15.1, Glossary. Beginner, 15 min read. Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team. **In short:** Plain definitions of the day trading and Scalpel terms used in these guides, from Level 2, VWAP and R multiples to float, borrow fees, dilution filings and LULD halts. Each one says what the term means for a long trade, then links to the guide that goes deeper. Scalpel is a long-only cockpit for small-cap momentum trading, so every definition here is written from the buyer's side: what the term tells you about getting in, getting out, and what could go against you. Terms that are Scalpel's own, such as the working stop, the catastrophe net, Risk (Cents), the read line and the squeeze score, say exactly what the app does. The stock selection and pattern terms (relative volume, catalyst, float, gap and go, micro pullback, bull flag, flat top breakout) follow the small-cap momentum style taught by Ross Cameron of Warrior Trading, which inspired Scalpel; Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by him or Warrior Trading. Trading this way carries a significant risk of loss and is very difficult, and many people who try it lose money. See [guide 1.9](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scalpel-philosophy) for what Scalpel is built for and [guide 14.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/momentum-method) for how the method maps onto it. Link any term with its anchor, for example `/guides/glossary#vwap`. **424B prospectus**: The filing a company makes with the SEC when it actually sells stock under a registration, usually a 424B5 for an offering or an at-the-market sale. A fresh 424B means shares are being sold right now, so a long faces a seller into every spike. Scalpel reads 424B filings from SEC EDGAR and shows them as a Selling chip. **Aggressor**: The side of a trade that crossed the spread to make it happen: a buyer paying the ask or a seller hitting the bid. Aggressive buying lifting the offer is what pushes a stock up. Scalpel colours each print on the tape by its aggressor and adds them up into delta. **API socket**: The local network port TWS or IB Gateway opens so other programs can read market data and send orders through your Interactive Brokers login. Scalpel connects to it on 127.0.0.1, port 7497 by default. It must be switched on in the program's API settings, and the port numbers must match. **ATM offering**: An at-the-market offering: the company sells new shares a little at a time into the open market through a broker, at whatever the price is. It is invisible on the tape and tends to cap a rally, because the company sells into your buying. A company with an active ATM is a Dilution risk in Scalpel's intel. **ATR**: Average true range: how far a stock typically moves in one candle, averaged over recent candles. A jumpy stock has a big ATR, a calm one a small ATR. Scalpel sizes its default stop to it, 1.5 x the 1-minute ATR over 14 candles, so normal noise does not stop you out. **Borrow fee**: The yearly rate a short seller pays to borrow shares, set by supply and demand at the broker. A high or climbing fee means shares are scarce and shorts are paying to stay in, which is squeeze fuel for a long. Scalpel reads it from IBKR's stock-loan file and shows a Short fee chip from 20%. **Borrow pressure**: Scalpel's 0 to 100 score, on the borrow chip's hover card, of how hard and costly it is to short a stock right now: the fee, how fast it is rising, how few shares are left to borrow and how fast they are going. 60 and up reads Shorts trapped; under 30, Shorts not trapped. It is one input to a squeeze, not a reason to buy. **Breakeven**: Your entry price. Moving the stop to breakeven means the trade can no longer become a loss, before slippage and fees. In Scalpel, press B or the B/E button, or set Breakeven at (R) so it happens by itself once you are up that many R. It only ever raises the stop: a stop that trailing already lifted above your entry stays where it is. **Bull flag**: A chart pattern: a sharp move up (the pole), a tight, shallow pullback on lighter volume (the flag), then a break over the flag's high. The entry is the break, with the stop under the flag. Scalpel's Setups scan detects it on 1-minute candles and marks it F. **Catalyst**: The news behind a move: FDA results, a contract, earnings, a merger, or an offering. A strong, fresh catalyst gives buyers a real reason to chase, which is why momentum traders look for one before they trade a gapper; fluff or an offering does not. Scalpel grades each headline by kind and strength and shows it as a chip, such as FDA 4m. **Catastrophe net**: Scalpel's second, wider stop under your working stop, 3 x ATR by default with a 50 cent floor (cut to 2.5% of the price on cheaper stocks). It is a crash safety line in case the working stop's exit does not clear the position. It is app-monitored like the working stop and is not drawn on the chart. **Convertible note**: A loan to the company that the lender can turn into shares at a set conversion price, then sell. When the stock trades above that price, expect the holder to convert and sell into strength. Scalpel draws a Converts line at the conversion price when it can read the filing. **Days to cover**: Short interest divided by average daily volume: how many days of normal trading it would take every short to buy back. The higher it is, the harder a squeeze can be when shorts rush for the exit at once. Scalpel shows it in the SHORT column next to the short interest percent. **Delta**: Aggressive buying minus aggressive selling over a window of time, counted from the tape. A rising delta means buyers are lifting the offer; a falling one means sellers are hitting the bid. Scalpel shows delta over 10 seconds, 1 minute and 5 minutes under the Level 2 book and on the chart. **Dilution**: A company issuing new shares, which shrinks each existing share's slice and adds supply. For a long it means a seller who can appear on every spike, often right when a breakout should work. Scalpel rates dilution risk Low, Medium, High or Severe from SEC filings. **Drawdown**: How far your account or equity curve has fallen from its last high. Max drawdown is the deepest such fall: the worst losing stretch you had to sit through. Scalpel's Analytics shows it for the current mode's closed trades. **EMA**: Exponential moving average: an average of recent closes that weights the newest ones most, so it turns faster than a simple average. Price holding above a rising 9 EMA is a common sign of a healthy trend. Scalpel's chart draws the 9 and 20 EMAs. **Expectancy**: What you make or lose on an average trade, in dollars or in R. A positive expectancy over many trades is the only thing that makes a strategy worth trading. Scalpel's Analytics works it out from your closed trades. **Extended hours**: Trading outside the regular 09:30 to 16:00 New York session: the pre-market from 04:00 and after-hours to 20:00. Only limit orders are accepted, books are thinner and spreads wider, so fills can be worse. Scalpel always sends its LIVE sells, including the exits its app-monitored stops send, flagged for extended hours; the Extended-hours fills setting (on by default) does the same for buys. **Fat finger**: An order far bigger than you meant, from a wrong preset or an extra zero. Scalpel's fat-finger cap refuses any single order over a dollar limit, $250,000 by default, so set it close to your largest normal order. **Float**: The shares that actually trade freely, leaving out those held by insiders and locked up. A low float means little supply, so heavy buying can move the price fast in both directions, which is why momentum traders favour low-float stocks. IBKR does not provide float through its API, so Scalpel shows shares outstanding (SHS OUT) instead, which is never below the float. **Gap and go**: A setup on a stock that gapped up overnight: after the open, price breaks above the pre-market high and keeps going. The pre-market high is the line buyers must take. It is one of the core patterns of the small-cap momentum style Scalpel is built around, and Scalpel's Setups scan flags it as G when price crosses the pre-market high after the open. **High of day**: The highest price the stock has traded today, pre-market included. A break to a new high of day often brings in fresh buyers and forces shorts to cover. Scalpel's High-of-day momentum scan lists names making new highs. **IB Gateway**: Interactive Brokers' lightweight program that logs in to your account and serves the API socket, without TWS's trading screens. It uses far less memory than TWS. Scalpel can connect to it on port 4001 instead of TWS. **Iceberg**: A large order that shows only a small size on the book and refills as it fills, hiding its real size. On the bid it can look like support; on the offer it is a hidden seller capping the price. Scalpel marks a venue's Level 2 row when it keeps refilling while several times its shown size trades there. **Inside bid and ask**: The best price anyone will pay (the inside bid) and the best price anyone will sell at (the inside ask), across every venue. A buy that must fill now pays the ask; a sell that must fill now takes the bid. Scalpel's Level 2 puts them side by side in the middle of the book. **Level 2**: The order book: every visible bid and offer at each price, by venue, not just the best one. It shows where buyers and sellers are stacked and how thin the book is above and below. Scalpel's Level 2 montage mirrors bids and asks around the inside price, colours rows by price level and flags icebergs. **LIVE**: Scalpel's real trading mode: every key sends a real order to your Interactive Brokers account. The header shows a red LIVE ORDERS badge so you always know. Switch with the MODE picker in the header or Mode in Settings > Trading, ideally when you are flat. **LULD halt**: A five-minute trading pause triggered by the Limit Up Limit Down rules when a stock moves too far too fast. A long cannot exit during the halt, and it can reopen sharply higher or lower. Scalpel shows a HALTED banner with a timer, blocks buys until the stock resumes, and the IBKR scanner includes a halts scan. **MACD**: Moving average convergence divergence: the gap between a fast and a slow EMA, with a signal line. MACD above its signal line and rising is a common sign momentum is with the buyers. Scalpel draws it in a pane under the chart. **Market cap**: The company's value on the market: shares outstanding times the price. Small caps move further on less money, which is why momentum traders hunt them. Scalpel's scan panels show it, worked out from shares outstanding in SEC filings. **Marketable limit**: A limit order priced through the market so it fills at once, with a ceiling on how far it can chase: for a buy, a limit above the ask. You get the best prices on the book up to your limit, never worse, and because it is a limit order it is accepted in the pre-market too. Every Scalpel order is one: buys go out at the ask plus 10 cents by default. **Micro pullback**: A small, quick dip during a fast move up, then a reclaim of the high on volume. It is the first chance to join a runner without chasing the top, with the stop just under the dip. Scalpel's Setups scan flags it as M. **MMID**: Market maker ID: the short code on each Level 2 row for where a quote sits. With Interactive Brokers' depth it is the venue, such as ARCA, NSDQ, EDGX, IEX or MEMX, not the firm behind the order. Watching which venue keeps refilling a price helps you spot a hidden buyer or seller. Scalpel's Level 2 shows one row per MMID. **Notional**: The dollar value of an order or position: shares times price. A Notional preset in Scalpel buys a fixed dollar amount, so $5,000 is 1,000 shares of a $5 stock and 250 of a $20 one. **Payoff ratio**: Your average win divided by your average loss. A payoff of 2 means winners are twice the size of losers, so you can be right less than half the time and still make money. Scalpel's Analytics shows it with a goal of 2.0. **Pre-market**: The session before the open, from 04:00 to 09:30 New York time, where gappers with news trade first, on thin books with wide spreads. Before the open, US exchanges accept limit orders only, so a plain stop order cannot protect you there: that is why Scalpel watches your stops itself and exits with a marketable limit flagged for extended hours. Scalpel is built first for this session, and its scanner, VWAP and high of day all count pre-market trading. **Print**: One trade on the tape: a price, a size and a time. Big prints at the ask show urgent buyers; a stream of prints at the bid shows sellers in control. Scalpel's tape lists every print and can play them as sound. **Profit factor**: Gross profit divided by gross loss over your trades. Above 1 you made money; 2 means every dollar lost brought two dollars back. Scalpel's Analytics shows it with a goal of 2.0. **R multiple**: A result measured in units of the risk you took, where 1R is the distance from your entry to your stop times your shares. Stopped out is -1R; a winner worth twice the risk is +2R. Scalpel shows stops, targets and P&L in R by default, so trades of any size compare. **Read line**: Scalpel's one-line description, under the Level 2 book, of what the book and tape are doing, such as Bid-heavy book, buyers lifting. It describes; it does not predict. The one read that held up in testing, an ask-heavy book, is coloured as a caution. **Reg SHO threshold list**: A daily list of stocks with too many failed deliveries of shares, under the SEC's Regulation SHO. Shorts in a listed stock face stricter borrowing rules, which can add fuel to a squeeze. Scalpel's borrow read includes it. **Relative volume**: Today's volume compared with the stock's normal pace, for example 5x. High relative volume means unusual interest, which is what moves a stock; 5x or more is one of the stock selection criteria in the momentum style Scalpel is built around. Scalpel's scans measure it against IBKR's 90 day average volume. **Risk (Cents)**: A Scalpel sizing method: each buy button is a dollar risk, and the stop sits a fixed number of cents under your fill, 30 cents by default. Shares = risk / stop, rounded down, so a $100 button with a 30 cent stop buys 333 shares and a stop-out costs about $100 on any stock. **RTH**: Regular trading hours: 09:30 to 16:00 New York time, when the main session runs and liquidity is deepest. Orders outside it must be flagged for extended hours: Scalpel always flags its LIVE sells, and its Extended-hours fills setting flags buys. **S-1**: A registration statement a company files to sell new stock, often for an IPO or a follow-on offering by a small company. A pending S-1 on a small cap means an offering may be coming, so rallies can be sold into. Scalpel reads S-1 filings from SEC EDGAR for its dilution read. **Shares outstanding**: Every share the company has issued, including those held by insiders. It is always at least the float. Scalpel takes it from SEC filings and uses it for the SHS OUT column, market cap and the short interest percent. **Shelf registration (S-3)**: An S-3 lets a company register stock now and sell it later, in pieces, whenever it likes. An effective shelf means the company can sell into any rally on short notice. Scalpel counts a shelf toward a Can dilute or Dilution read. **Short interest**: The shares sold short and not yet bought back, shown as a percent of the float when Scalpel knows it, otherwise of shares outstanding. Every one of them must be bought back some day, which is fuel for a squeeze. FINRA publishes it twice a month, so Scalpel's SHORT column can be up to three weeks old. **Short squeeze**: A fast rise caused by short sellers buying back at once to limit their losses, which pushes the price further and forces more of them out. Low float, high short interest and scarce, costly borrow make one more likely. Scalpel's squeeze score and borrow chips measure the fuel. **SHS OUT**: The scan panel column showing shares outstanding from SEC filings, in place of float, which IBKR does not provide through its API. A small number is a sure low float; a big one may still hide a tight float behind large insider holdings. It needs the SEC contact email in Settings > Intel. **SIM**: Scalpel's practice mode: a paper cash account that fills your orders against the live Level 2 book, with commissions, and keeps its own positions and history. Nothing is sent to your broker. It is the default mode, and the place to learn the keys. **Slippage**: The difference between the price you expected and the price you got. Fast moves, thin books and stop exits all cause it, and it makes a loss bigger than planned. Scalpel's marketable limits cap it on entries, and SIM can add some on purpose to keep paper results honest. **Spread**: The gap between the inside bid and the inside ask. You pay it every round trip: buy at the ask, sell at the bid. A wide spread on a cheap stock can eat a scalp's whole profit, so Scalpel shows it in dollars and percent above the book. **Squeeze score**: Scalpel's 0 to 100 rating, the SQZ column, of how built to squeeze a stock is. It rises with a tight float, heavy relative volume, trapped shorts, short interest and a small company in the $2 to $10 range, and dilution cuts it. 70 and up is built to squeeze; under 40 is not a squeeze setup. **Take-profit**: A price above your entry where you plan to sell for a gain. Scalpel sets an app-monitored take-profit at 2R above entry by default, drawn as a green line you can drag. It fires a marketable exit when price trades there, while Scalpel is running. **Time and sales**: The tape: every trade as it prints, with time, price and size. It shows what is actually trading, while Level 2 shows what is offered. Scalpel's tape sits on the right edge of the Level 2 panel, coloured by aggressor. **Trailing stop**: A stop that follows the price up and never moves down, locking in more of a winner as it runs. Scalpel can trail at your entry stop's distance, a fixed number of cents, a percent, or under each 1-minute candle's low. Turn it on with Trail or Shift+T; turned off, it stays off for that position. **TWS**: Trader Workstation, Interactive Brokers' full desktop trading program. Scalpel connects to its API socket, port 7497 by default, for market data and orders, so TWS or IB Gateway must be running and logged in. **VWAP**: Volume weighted average price: the average price paid today, weighted by volume. Above VWAP, the average buyer today is in profit; a close back under it often means sellers are taking over. Scalpel's VWAP starts at 04:00 New York time, so pre-market volume counts. **Warrant**: A right to buy new shares from the company at a set price. When the stock trades above that price, holders can exercise and sell, adding supply right there. Scalpel draws a Warrants line at the exercise price when it can read the filing. **Working stop**: Scalpel's main stop, the scalp stop that should fill: 1.5 x ATR under your entry by default, or a fixed distance with a Risk (Cents) preset. It is app-monitored, not an order resting at your broker, because before the open exchanges take limit orders only and a stop-limit can be jumped; when price trades through it, Scalpel sends a marketable limit sell, in LIVE 5 cents under the last trade, and re-prices it if it does not fill. It only works while Scalpel is running and connected, never shows on the book, and is the red line on the chart. **Flat top breakout**: A shelf of near-equal highs where sellers keep stopping the price, then a break above it. The entry is the break of the shelf, with the stop under the last pullback. Scalpel's Setups scan flags it as T on 1-minute candles. **Limit order**: An order to buy or sell at a set price or better. A buy limit at 5.75 never pays more than 5.75, but it may not fill if the price runs away. Before the open it is the only order type US exchanges accept, which is why every Scalpel order, stop exits included, is a limit. **Long only**: Buying a stock to sell it higher, and never selling short. Scalpel is long-only by design: every sell is capped to the shares you hold, so no key can put you short. It does not trade options, futures or crypto either. **Montage**: Scalpel's Level 2 view, modelled on the DAS Trader style familiar to momentum traders: bids on the left, asks on the right, one row per venue, and each price level in its own colour band so you can count levels at a glance. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with DAS Trader. **Stop-limit order**: An order resting at the broker that becomes a limit order when a trigger price trades. In a thin, fast pre-market book the price can gap straight through the limit, so the order sits unfilled while the stock keeps falling. Scalpel does not use them: it watches your stop itself and sends a marketable limit sell, in LIVE 5 cents under the last trade, which is still not a guaranteed fill. **Stop order**: An order resting at the broker that becomes a market order when a trigger price trades. Market orders are not accepted before the open, so a stop order cannot protect a pre-market position. That is why Scalpel's stops are app-monitored and exit with a marketable limit instead; the trade-off is that Scalpel must be running and connected. **Venue**: The exchange or trading system an order sits on, such as ARCA, NSDQ, EDGX, IEX or MEMX, shown as the MMID on each Level 2 row. Interactive Brokers' depth shows the venue, not the firm behind the order, so the players are read from behaviour: a venue refilling one price while far more trades there, unusual size, or size that vanishes as price approaches. ## Questions **What is the difference between float and shares outstanding?** Shares outstanding is every share the company has issued. The float is the part that trades freely, leaving out insider and locked-up shares, so it is never bigger. Interactive Brokers does not provide float through its API, so Scalpel shows shares outstanding from SEC filings in the SHS OUT column. **What does R mean in trading?** R is the risk you took on a trade: the distance from your entry to your stop, times your shares. Results are counted in R, so a stop-out is -1R and a winner twice your risk is +2R. **What is a marketable limit order?** A limit order priced through the market so it fills at once, with a ceiling on how far it can chase. A buy limit above the ask fills at the best prices on the book up to that limit. Every Scalpel order is one. **What is VWAP?** The volume weighted average price: the average price paid today, weighted by volume. Above it, the average buyer today is in profit. Scalpel's VWAP starts at 04:00 New York time so pre-market volume counts. --- # Day trading on Interactive Brokers: the complete setup (2026) > Interactive Brokers day trading, set up end to end: 2026 margin rules, Level 2 data costs, TWS vs IB Gateway, hotkeys, Tiered vs Fixed and a checklist. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-10-13, last changed 2026-10-15. 14 min read. **In short:** Interactive Brokers is a strong broker for day trading US stocks: low per-share commissions, SmartRouting across many venues, pre-market access from 04:00 ET and a full API. The weak spot is speed of use, not speed of fills: TWS takes real setup before it trades fast. For IBKR day trading you need a margin or cash account that fits the 2026 rules, live US data plus a Level 2 feed, marketable limit orders with outside regular hours allowed, a hotkey and layout setup, and a plan for stops before the open. Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is where a lot of day traders end up: the costs are low, the routing is serious and the account opens everything from US small caps to foreign markets. It is also where many of them get stuck, because Trader Workstation (TWS) was built to do everything, and a day trader needs it to do a few things very fast. This guide is the complete setup, in the order you would do it: account, rules, data, platform, orders, hotkeys, commissions, layout and scanning, then an honest look at the tools you can put on top and a checklist for your first morning. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers. ## Is Interactive Brokers good for day trading? Yes, for most active stock traders, with one real caveat. What IBKR sells is access and cost. What it does not sell is a fast, opinionated day-trading screen: TWS can be made quick, but out of the box it is a general platform with hundreds of options, and the hotkeys, layout and order defaults are yours to build. | IBKR suits you if | IBKR may not suit you if | | --- | --- | | You want low per-share costs and pay for them in setup time | You want a platform that is fast the day you install it | | You trade US stocks and may want other markets later | You trade mostly pre-market on a tiny account and want $0 commissions on every trade | | You want an API, or tools that connect through one | You will not spend a weekend on hotkeys, presets and layouts | | You trade the pre-market and need access from 04:00 ET | You want a broker to hold your hand on every setting | The friction is real. One Warrior Trading review of TWS concluded it suits users who do not rely on fast-paced hotkey scalping. We cover that review, and what you can do about it, in [scalping on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/scalping-interactive-brokers). ## Account type and the 2026 margin rules You can day trade on IBKR in a **cash account** or a **margin account**, and the rules for each changed less than the headlines suggest. **The pattern day trader rule is gone.** FINRA's amendments to Rule 4210 took effect on June 4, 2026: they removed the pattern day trader designation and its $25,000 minimum, and replaced them with intraday margin standards that check an account's margin throughout the day against what it actually holds ([FINRA Regulatory Notice 26-10](https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/notices/26-10)). Firms may phase the change in until October 20, 2027, so confirm with IBKR which regime your account is on today. The detail, with worked examples, is in [the PDT rule change on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/pdt-rule-interactive-brokers). What that means in practice: - **Margin account.** FINRA's $2,000 minimum equity for margin accounts still stands ([FINRA Rule 4210 interpretations](https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/guidance/interps-4210)), and IBKR can set house requirements above FINRA's minimums. The new standard does not change maintenance margin: if your intraday margin level goes negative you have a deficit, which can lead to a margin call or to IBKR closing positions. - **Cash account.** No margin rules to worry about, but you can only trade with settled cash. US stock trades settle one business day after the trade ([SEC investor bulletin on T+1](https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/general-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/investor-bulletins/new-t1-settlement-cycle-what-investors-need-know-investor-bulletin)), so money from this morning's sale is not free to trade again until tomorrow. - **IBKR Pro, not Lite, for most day traders.** IBKR Lite is commission-free on US listed stocks, but its outside-regular-hours, auction and sub-dollar trades stay free only while they are under 10% of your monthly US stock volume ([IBKR commissions page](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/pricing/commissions-stocks.php)). A trader who mostly trades the pre-market will cross that line. Some third-party platforms also require Pro. **Careful: A smaller account can now overtrade.** The old rule capped how many day trades a small margin account could make. Without it, nothing but your own rules stops a $3,000 account from taking forty trades in a morning. Set a fixed risk per trade and a daily loss limit before you start ([settings for a small account](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/small-account-setup), [daily loss limit](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit)). ## Market data you need for day trading on IBKR IBKR ships accounts with limited free quotes. For day trading you need streaming data for the whole US market, and for scalping you need depth ([Level 2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#level-2)). Subscribe in Client Portal under **Settings > Market Data Subscriptions**, per username. | Need | IBKR subscription (non-professional) | Price per month | | --- | --- | --- | | Quotes and charts on all US exchanges | US Securities Snapshot and Futures Value Bundle | $10.00, waived in any month you pay $30 in commissions | | Streaming instead of snapshots | US Equity and Options Add-On Streaming Bundle | $4.50 | | Nasdaq depth (Level 2) | NASDAQ TotalView-OpenView | $16.50 | | NYSE Arca depth | NYSE ArcaBook | $11.00 | Prices from [IBKR's market data pricing page](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/pricing/market-data-pricing.php), checked on October 15, 2026. IBKR does not pro-rate them: subscribe mid-month and you pay the full month. Professional rates are much higher, so answer the subscriber questionnaire honestly. Two limits catch new day traders. IBKR gives one live data session per username, so a second TWS or the phone app on the same login can leave your desktop on delayed data. And the number of Level 2 books you can stream at once depends on your account's market data lines. The full walk-through, with screenshots of what missing data looks like, is in [IBKR market data for day trading](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading). Which depth feed to pick, and how to read it, is in [IBKR Level 2: which subscription and how to read it](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-level-2). ## TWS vs IB Gateway IBKR gives you two desktop programs that log in to your account: - **TWS** is the full trading platform: charts, order entry, Level 2, scanners and every setting. - **IB Gateway** is the same connection without the trading screens. IBKR's API docs say it uses about 40% fewer resources ([IBKR API docs](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/architecture/the-trader-workstation/the-ib-gateway)). It exists for programs that connect through the API. If TWS is your trading screen, you run TWS. If another program is your trading screen, IB Gateway is the lighter host for it. Both need you to log in with two-factor approval, and both log you out once a day unless you set auto-restart in their Lock and Exit settings. One trading session per username is allowed, so logging in to one usually signs the other out. Ports differ: TWS listens on 7496 (live) and 7497 (paper) by default, IB Gateway on 4001 and 4002. The full comparison is in [IB Gateway vs TWS for day trading](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ib-gateway-vs-tws). ![A flow diagram: the IBKR account and market data at IBKR, then TWS or IB Gateway on your computer, the API on ports 7496 and 7497 or 4001 and 4002, and the front end](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers/setup-flow.webp) *Account and data live at IBKR, and TWS or IB Gateway logs in to them on your computer. If you trade in TWS alone you stop there: the API only matters when another tool is your trading screen.* ### Enable the API (only if you use a third-party tool) Any tool that connects to IBKR, from a journal to a trading cockpit, needs the API switched on: in TWS, **Global Configuration > API > Settings**, tick **Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients** and untick **Read-Only API** if the tool will place orders ([enable the TWS API](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/enable-tws-api)). What the API can and cannot do for a fast trader is in [scalping through the IBKR API](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-api-scalping). ## Order types that matter for day trading You will use a small set of order types every day. Get these right and most of the "why did that fill there" problems go away. | Order | Use it for | Watch out for | | --- | --- | --- | | [Marketable limit](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#marketable-limit) | Entries and exits: a limit priced through the other side, such as the ask plus 5 to 10 cents to buy | It caps your price; on a thin book part of it may not fill | | Plain limit | Scaling out into strength, at the ask or above | Can sit unfilled while price turns | | Market | Rarely: only in regular hours, on liquid names | No price cap; not active outside regular hours | | Stop | Protection in regular hours | Inactive before 09:30 ET on IBKR, and becomes a market order when it triggers | | Stop-limit | Protection outside regular hours | Can be jumped when price gaps through the limit | **Outside regular trading hours.** US exchanges accept only limit orders before 09:30 and after 16:00 ET. In TWS an order also needs the **Allow order to be activated, triggered, or filled outside of regular trading hours** box ticked, or it waits for the open. Set it once as a default in **Global Configuration > Presets > Stocks**, under the timing section; IBKR says a default set in one platform applies across all of them ([IBKR on Outside RTH](https://www1.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/orders/outside-rth.php)). IBKR also runs an overnight session from 20:00 to 03:50 ET through its own Overnight destination, limit orders only, but few day traders need it. **Stops before the open.** This is the trap that costs pre-market traders the most: a stop order you placed at 07:30 is not working, and a stop-limit can be skipped in a thin book. What to do instead, with a worked example, is in [why your stop did not trigger in the pre-market](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/premarket-stop-loss-ibkr). ## Hotkeys Hotkeys are where TWS goes from slow to usable. They live in **Global Configuration > Hot Keys** (the **File** menu in Mosaic, **Edit** in Classic). Pick an action under **Possible Actions**, click **Create Shortcut**, then **Record** and press the keys ([IBKR's hot keys guide](https://ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/hot-keys.htm)). Three things to know before you build them: 1. **By default a buy or sell hotkey only stages the order.** To send it in one press, open the shortcut's **Customize** page and tick **Transmit the order instantaneously**. Without it, every hotkey waits for you to click Transmit. 2. **Global and tool hotkeys are separate.** A hotkey made for a specific tool, such as BookTrader or Chart Trader, only works inside that tool. 3. **Hotkeys trade the selected ticker in the window that has focus.** Click the wrong window and the key fires on the wrong stock, or on nothing. A working buy key is a limit at the ask plus an offset (the **Lmt Price (+/- offset)** field), with instant transmit and outside regular hours from your stock preset. The complete setup, buy, sell, cancel and scale-out keys included, is in [TWS hotkeys for day trading](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-hotkeys-day-trading). If a key does nothing, [IBKR hotkeys not working](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-hotkeys-not-working) goes through the usual causes. ## Commissions: Tiered vs Fixed IBKR Pro has two price plans for US stocks ([IBKR commissions page](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/pricing/commissions-stocks.php), checked on October 15, 2026): | | Tiered | Fixed | | --- | --- | --- | | Per share | $0.0035 up to 300,000 shares a month, lower above that | $0.005 | | Minimum per order | $0.35 | $1.00 | | Maximum per order | 1% of trade value (see IBKR's notes) | 1% of trade value (see IBKR's notes) | | On top | Exchange, clearing and pass-through fees (or rebates), plus regulatory fees | Regulatory fees only | A worked example: 500 shares bought and sold at $5.00. On Fixed that is $2.50 a side, $5.00 for the round trip, plus small regulatory fees on the sale. On Tiered the commission is $1.75 a side, plus a clearing fee of $0.0002 a share and an exchange fee that depends on the venue and whether your order took liquidity (a marketable order usually does). Which plan is cheaper depends on your share size, how often you take liquidity and your monthly volume. Two details matter to scalpers. On some exchanges a modified order counts as a new order for the minimum, so repricing a working order that has partly filled can cost a second minimum. And small orders favor Tiered: a 100-share fill pays the $1.00 Fixed minimum against Tiered's $0.35 plus fees. The full math is in [IBKR Tiered vs Fixed for scalpers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-tiered-vs-fixed). ## A TWS layout for day trading A day-trading layout puts one stock's whole picture in one place: a chart (1-minute plus a faster one), Level 2 (a market depth window, or BookTrader, IBKR's price ladder), time and sales, an order entry panel, and your orders and positions. Link the windows with TWS's color grouping, so loading a symbol in one loads it in all, and lock the layout so a stray drag does not break it. The trap is window count. Every extra window is one more place your focus can land when you press a hotkey. Start with one linked group for the stock you are trading and a watchlist beside it. A layout that works for scalpers, window by window, is in [a TWS day trading layout](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-day-trading-layout). ## Scanning for stocks to trade TWS has IBKR's own market scanner built in: **New Window > Advanced Market Scanner** in Mosaic, or **Analytical Tools > Advanced Market Scanner** in Classic ([IBKR's scanner guide](https://ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/create-a-market-scanner.htm)). **Top % Gainers** with a price band and a volume floor finds the pre-market gappers, at no extra cost beyond your market data. It cannot filter by float, so you check share counts elsewhere. The settings, step by step, are in [momentum trading on IBKR: scanner setup](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-momentum-scanner), and how they fit a whole morning routine is in [trading the small-cap momentum style on IBKR](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/small-cap-momentum-ibkr). ## What IBKR does well, and where TWS is slow **What it does well:** - **Routing.** IBKR's SmartRouting searches for the best available price across exchanges and dark pools, and keeps re-evaluating and re-routing all or part of an order that has not filled ([IBKR on SmartRouting](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/smart-routing.php)). When several exchanges share the best price, it also weighs each venue's fee or rebate for a marketable order. - **Costs.** Per-share commissions with low minimums, and the data set above comes to about $42 a month before waivers. - **Access.** US stocks from 04:00 to 20:00 ET, an overnight session, and most of the world's markets in the same account. - **The API.** A documented, free API that third-party tools can connect to, so you are not locked in to TWS. **Where TWS is slow for fast trading:** - **Setup depth.** Hotkeys, presets and layouts live in different parts of Global Configuration, and a wrong default (a hotkey without instant transmit, a preset without outside regular hours) fails silently. - **Window focus.** Hotkeys follow the focused window, so juggling a chart, a depth window and an order panel is a real source of mistakes. - **Sizing and scaling out.** A hotkey buys the preset size. There is no simple key that sizes from a dollar risk, and TWS's **Close Portion of Positions** action applies to all matching positions, not just the stock in front of you. - **Stops before the open.** No resting stop protects a pre-market trade. - **One session per username.** TWS, IBKR Desktop and IB Gateway sign each other out, and live data goes to one of them. None of that is about fill speed. It is about how many decisions and clicks stand between you and the order. ## Tools on top of IBKR: TWS alone, DAS Trader, or Scalpel You can trade an IBKR account through TWS alone, or connect a dedicated front end. Here are three honest options for a US stock day trader. | | TWS alone | DAS Trader Pro on IBKR | Scalpel on IBKR | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Cost | Free with the account | $100 to $200 a month on DAS's IBKR plans, by data package | $299 once | | Market data | IBKR subscriptions | DAS's packages include data feeds | Your IBKR subscriptions | | Account needed | Any IBKR account | IBKR Pro (DAS says not Lite) | IBKR, with TWS or IB Gateway running on the same machine | | Markets and sides | Everything IBKR offers, long and short | US stocks, with options and more as add-ons | US stocks, long only | | Hotkeys | Powerful, but staged and focus-dependent until configured | Scriptable hotkeys, a long-time favorite of momentum traders | Built in: four buy presets and scale-out keys, rebindable | | Stops before 09:30 | Stop-limit at best | Depends on your setup | App-monitored stops that send outside-hours limit exits, only while Scalpel runs | | Setup effort | High | Medium | Low | DAS prices from [DAS's IBKR subscription page](https://www.dastrader.com/form-sub-ib.html), checked on October 15, 2026. **Choose TWS alone** if you trade more than US stocks, swing trade as well as day trade, or want to pay nothing extra. Put the hours into hotkeys and layout and it will serve you. **Choose DAS Trader** if you trade options as well as stocks, or want fully scripted hotkeys and the montage that many momentum traders learned on. It is the most established option, and the monthly cost buys a mature product. More in [DAS Trader vs Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/compare/das-trader). **Choose Scalpel** if you trade US small caps long only, mostly before the open, and want the setup done for you. The trade-offs are plain: it does not short, it does not trade options or futures, it runs on Windows and Apple silicon Macs only, and its stops only work while it is running and connected. More in [Scalpel vs TWS alone](https://scalpeltrade.com/compare/tws). Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by DAS. ## Where Scalpel fits Scalpel is a keyboard-first desktop cockpit for one style of IBKR day trading: long-only scalping of US stocks, pre-market first. It connects to your own account through TWS or IB Gateway on the same computer and uses your IBKR market data, so there is no separate feed to buy ([why it is built this way](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scalpel-philosophy)). *Screenshot: The Scalpel cockpit in SIM: the header with MODE and Flatten All, four desks each with a DAS-style Level 2 montage, tape, chart and order bar, and the IBKR connection on the status bar. Demo data.* Against the TWS friction above, it removes these steps: - **Hotkeys work on install.** `Shift+1` to `Shift+4` buy as marketable limits at the ask plus your offset, `Ctrl+X` sells half, `Esc` flattens every position, and a voice confirms each fill. - **Sizing by risk.** Each buy preset can size by shares, dollars or risk, so a $100 risk button with a 30 cent stop buys 333 shares. - **Stops that work before the open.** Every entry arms a working stop and a take-profit that Scalpel watches itself; when price trades through, it sends a limit sell 5 cents under the last trade with outside regular hours set. No fill is guaranteed, and nothing is watched while the app is closed. - **One desk per stock.** Level 2, tape, chart and order bar sit together on each of up to six desks, and the hotkeys trade the focused desk. - **A daily loss limit and a SIM mode** that fills against the live book with IBKR commissions, so you can practice before LIVE ([your first session in SIM](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/first-session-in-sim)). ## Pre-flight checklist for your first IBKR day trading session 1. **Account.** Pro, with the account type (cash or margin) you intend, and you know which day-trading margin regime IBKR applies to it. 2. **Data.** Live US data and at least one depth feed on the username you trade from, and no second session stealing it. 3. **Platform.** TWS (or IB Gateway plus your tool) logged in, auto-restart set, API on only if a tool needs it. 4. **Presets.** Stock preset on limit orders with outside regular hours ticked, and a sensible default size. 5. **Hotkeys.** Buy, sell, cancel and flatten keys recorded, with instant transmit, tested in the paper account. 6. **Stops.** A written plan for protecting pre-market trades, because a resting stop will not. 7. **Commissions.** You know whether you are on Tiered or Fixed, and what a round trip costs at your normal size. 8. **Layout.** One linked group per stock, locked, with the chart, depth, tape and order entry visible. 9. **Scanner.** A saved gainer scan with auto refresh. 10. **Risk.** A fixed dollar risk per trade and a daily loss limit, decided before the open, not during it. *Trading carries a significant risk of loss, and most people who day trade lose money. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **Is Interactive Brokers good for day trading?** For most US stock day traders, yes: low per-share commissions, SmartRouting, pre-market access from 04:00 ET and a full API. The cost is setup time, because TWS needs hotkeys, presets and a layout before it is fast. **Do I still need $25,000 to day trade on Interactive Brokers?** FINRA removed the pattern day trader rule and its $25,000 minimum on June 4, 2026, replacing it with intraday margin standards. Firms can phase the change in until October 20, 2027, so check with IBKR which rules apply to your account. Margin accounts still need at least $2,000 in equity. **Which IBKR market data do I need for day trading?** Live US stock data (the US Securities Snapshot and Futures Value Bundle plus the streaming add-on) for quotes and charts, and a depth feed such as NASDAQ TotalView-OpenView for Level 2. Prices are on IBKR's market data page. **Should I use TWS or IB Gateway for day trading?** Use TWS if it is your trading screen. Use IB Gateway if another program is your trading screen and connects through the API: it uses fewer resources and serves the same connection. **Is IBKR Tiered or Fixed better for day trading?** It depends on your share size and volume. Tiered has a lower minimum and suits small orders; Fixed folds exchange fees into $0.005 a share and can be simpler for larger marketable orders. Compare both on a week of your own fills. **Can I place a stop loss in the pre-market on IBKR?** Not a plain stop: stop orders are only active in regular hours. A stop-limit with outside regular hours allowed is accepted, but it can be jumped when price gaps through its limit in a thin book. --- # Scalping on Interactive Brokers: can you, and how to set it up > Interactive Brokers scalping works: routing and fills are fine, TWS is the friction. A step by step TWS scalping setup, and where a cockpit saves steps. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/scalping-interactive-brokers By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-10-08, last changed 2026-10-15. 8 min read. **In short:** Yes, you can scalp on Interactive Brokers. Orders go through IBKR's SmartRouting, which searches the exchanges and dark pools for the best price and keeps re-routing what has not filled, and per-share commissions keep small trades cheap. The friction is TWS itself: hotkeys stage orders until you set them to transmit instantly, sizes are typed by hand, scale-outs are awkward, stop orders do not work before 09:30 ET, and focus jumps between windows. Fix those in your presets and hotkeys, or put a dedicated cockpit on top. "Can you scalp on Interactive Brokers?" is usually a worried question. The trader has read that IBKR is great for investors and clumsy for fast trading, and wants to know whether the problem is the broker or the software. This post answers that, then shows a complete TWS-only scalping setup you can build tonight, and finally where a dedicated cockpit takes steps out. ## The doubt behind the search Most of the doubt traces back to reviews like Warrior Trading's review of TWS by Ross Cameron ([read it on warriortrading.com](https://www.warriortrading.com/interactive-brokers-review-warrior-trading/)). Its verdict lists IBKR as good for "users who don't rely on fast-paced hotkey scalping", and not good for momentum day traders who need rapid order execution. The reasons it gives are worth taking seriously: - hotkeys split between global and window-specific settings, so a key made in one place did not work in another; - no hotkey to sell a fraction of the position you hold, so share counts get typed mid-trade; - in its test, a noticeable delay from hotkey to fill compared with other brokers; - a compliance check that, it reports, held up a sale of a large small-cap position. Two of those are interface problems, and you can fix most of them yourself (below). The delay is one trader's test; we have no independent numbers and will not invent any. The compliance check we could not find documented on IBKR's site. If you trade large size in thin small caps, ask IBKR how its volume checks apply to your account before it matters. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers, Ross Cameron or Warrior Trading. ## Interactive Brokers scalping: routing and fills are not the problem What decides a scalper's fill is mostly the order and the book: the price you allow, how much size is offered there, and whether the order actually left your machine. On the broker side, IBKR describes SmartRouting as searching for the best available price across exchanges and dark pools, continuously evaluating market conditions and re-routing all or part of an unfilled order, and weighing each venue's fee or rebate when several share the best price ([IBKR on SmartRouting](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/smart-routing.php)). That is what a scalper wants from a router. If your hotkey-to-fill feels slow, check your own side first: 1. **The order was staged, not sent.** A TWS buy or sell hotkey creates an order and waits for **Transmit** unless you ticked **Transmit the order instantaneously** ([IBKR's guide](https://www.ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/create-instantaneous-transmit.htm)). 2. **A confirmation dialog was waiting.** Orders that break your precautionary settings raise a warning you must click through. Set those limits to fit your real size, not the defaults. 3. **The limit was too tight.** A buy at exactly the ask misses when the ask lifts as you press. A [marketable limit](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#marketable-limit), the ask plus 5 to 10 cents, fills at the prices on the book up to that cap. 4. **It was before 09:30 ET without outside regular hours set.** The order is accepted and then waits for the open. ## Where the friction really is | Friction | What it costs you mid-trade | TWS workaround | | --- | --- | --- | | Hotkey setup | Keys that stage instead of send, or work in one window only | Global hotkeys with instant transmit, tested in paper | | Window juggling | The key fires on whichever window has focus, maybe the wrong stock | One linked window group, keys used only there | | Sizing shares by hand | A fixed share count risks very different money on a 10 cent and a 40 cent stop | Work out shares = risk / stop before the open, keep two or three preset sizes | | Scaling out | **Close Portion of Positions** applies to all matching positions and opens a pane to confirm | A second sell key with a fixed half-size, or sell from the position line | | Stops outside regular hours | A stop order is not active before 09:30 ET; a stop-limit can be jumped | A stop-limit with outside regular hours, or a hand exit with your sell key | | Level 2 readability | A wide, dense depth window that is hard to read at speed | BookTrader or a trimmed depth window, with TotalView and ArcaBook | The scale-out row is IBKR's own documentation: its hotkeys lesson builds a **Close Portion of Positions** key that closes 50% of positions by asset class and side, through a confirmation pane ([IBKR Campus on TWS hotkeys](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/campus/trading-lessons/configuring-tws-hotkeys/)). That suits trimming a book, not taking half off the one stock that just spiked. ## Set up TWS for scalping, step by step This is a complete TWS-only setup for scalping US stocks. Build it in the paper account first; the menu paths are from IBKR's own guides. ### 1. Subscribe to live data and depth In Client Portal, under **Settings > Market Data Subscriptions**, add streaming US stock data and at least one depth feed, such as NASDAQ TotalView-OpenView. Without depth you are scalping blind. Which feeds, what they cost and how to read them: [IBKR Level 2](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-level-2). ### 2. Set the stock order preset Open **Global Configuration** (**File** menu in Mosaic, **Edit** in Classic), then **Presets > Stocks**. Set the order type to **LMT**, time in force to **DAY**, a default size you can live with, and under timing tick **Allow order to be activated, triggered, or filled outside of regular trading hours**. IBKR applies an outside regular hours default set in one platform to all of them ([IBKR on Outside RTH](https://www1.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/orders/outside-rth.php)). ### 3. Make a buy hotkey that sends at once In **Global Configuration > Hot Keys**, pick **Buy** under **Possible Actions** and click **Create Shortcut**. On the **Customize** page set the limit price to the ask plus your offset in **Lmt Price (+/- offset)**, for example 0.05, and tick **Transmit the order instantaneously**. Click **Record** and press your key. Make two or three buy keys if you want more than one size. ### 4. Make the exit keys Add a **Sell** key priced at the bid minus an offset, with instant transmit, for getting out fast. Add a **Cancel** key for working orders. For a full exit of the stock you are in, a **Close Position** key acts on the highlighted position line. For a half, the simplest reliable method is a second sell key with half your usual size. The full key set, with values: [TWS hotkeys for day trading](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-hotkeys-day-trading). ### 5. Build one linked trading group Put a 1-minute chart, BookTrader or a depth window, time and sales, and an order entry panel in one color group, so a symbol loaded in one loads in all. Lock the layout. Use your hotkeys only in this group, so focus never lands on a stock you are not trading. ### 6. Write your size table Before the open, decide your dollar risk per trade and work out shares for your usual stop distances: $100 at a 10 cent stop is 1,000 shares, at 20 cents 500, at 40 cents 250. Set your buy keys to those sizes, and pick the key by the stop the chart gives you. ### 7. Decide how you exit before 09:30 ET A resting stop order will not protect a pre-market trade. Either place a stop-limit with outside regular hours allowed, knowing it can be jumped, or plan to exit by hand with your sell key at your level. The trade-offs, with a worked example: [why your stop did not trigger in the pre-market](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/premarket-stop-loss-ibkr). ### 8. Rehearse in the paper account Log in to IBKR's paper account (TWS uses port 7497 for paper) and run the whole loop: buy, half off, full exit, cancel. The paper and live logins can keep separate settings, so check your presets and keys again the first time you log in live. Done properly, that setup is fast enough for many scalpers. What it still leaves you is arithmetic before every trade, a stop that only you are watching before the open, and a screen of separate windows to keep in focus. If a key misbehaves, [IBKR hotkeys not working](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-hotkeys-not-working) lists the usual causes. ## TWS scalping vs a dedicated cockpit A dedicated cockpit connects to the same IBKR account and the same routing, and takes steps out of the setup above. This is how Scalpel maps onto it. *Screenshot: One Scalpel desk, top to bottom: the desk header, the intel strip, the quote, the Level 2 ladder with the tape on its right, the chart, the order bar, and orders and positions. Demo data.* | TWS step | In Scalpel | | --- | --- | | Preset with limit orders and outside regular hours | Every buy is a marketable limit at the ask plus your **Buy offset** (10 cents by default); exits always go out allowed to fill outside regular hours | | Buy hotkeys with instant transmit | `Shift+1` to `Shift+4` fire your four buy presets, and a voice calls the fill | | Sell and half-out keys | `Ctrl+Z` sells all at the bid, `Ctrl+X` half, `Ctrl+C` a quarter, for the stock on the focused desk | | Linked window group | Each desk holds one stock's Level 2, tape, chart and order bar; the keys trade the focused desk | | Size table worked out by hand | Presets size by shares, dollars or risk: **Risk (Cents)** with $100 and a 30 cent stop buys 333 shares ([trade a fixed dollar risk](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk)) | | A pre-market stop plan | Every entry arms a working stop and a take-profit; when price trades through the stop, Scalpel sends a limit sell 5 cents under the last trade with outside regular hours set, and re-prices it if the market runs away | | Paper rehearsal | SIM fills against the live book with IBKR commissions, and switches to LIVE without a restart ([your first session in SIM](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/first-session-in-sim)) | ![The six steps of one scalp side by side, in TWS alone and with Scalpel: size, focus, enter, protect, half out and exit, with sizing, focus and the pre-market stop left to the trader in TWS](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/scalping-interactive-brokers/steps-per-trade.webp) *The same trade, step by step. TWS set up well leaves three jobs on you mid-trade: the share arithmetic, the windows in focus and the stop before the open. Scalpel's stops are watched by the app, so they work only while it runs.* The trade-offs, said plainly. Scalpel's stops are watched by the app, not resting at IBKR: they only work while Scalpel is running and connected, and no fill is guaranteed. It is long only and trades US stocks only: no shorting, options or futures, and no automation. It runs on Windows and on Macs with Apple silicon, and TWS or IB Gateway still has to be running on the same machine. If you short, trade other markets, or want to pay nothing beyond your IBKR account, TWS set up as above is the better tool. Why Scalpel is built this narrowly: [the Scalpel philosophy](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scalpel-philosophy). For the full IBKR setup around this, from account rules to commissions, see [day trading on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers). **This can cost you money.** Scalping small caps is hard, and most people who try it lose money. Faster keys make mistakes faster too. Practice in a paper account until the keys are automatic, keep a small fixed risk per trade, and set a daily loss limit before you trade live. *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **Can you scalp on Interactive Brokers?** Yes. IBKR's SmartRouting and per-share commissions suit scalping. The work is in TWS: hotkeys with instant transmit, a limit-order preset with outside regular hours allowed, one linked window group, and a plan for stops before the open. **Is Interactive Brokers too slow for scalping?** The usual causes of a slow fill are on the trader's side: a hotkey that stages the order instead of sending it, a confirmation dialog, a limit priced exactly at the ask, or a pre-market order without outside regular hours set. Fix those first. **How do I set up TWS hotkeys for scalping?** In Global Configuration, Hot Keys, create Buy and Sell shortcuts priced off the ask and bid with an offset, tick Transmit the order instantaneously on the Customize page, and add Cancel and Close Position keys. Test them in the paper account. **Can I sell half my position with a TWS hotkey?** Not for one stock in a single press. Close Portion of Positions applies to all matching positions and opens a pane to confirm. Most scalpers use a second sell key set to half their usual size. **Do stop orders work in the pre-market on IBKR?** Plain stop orders are only active in regular hours. A stop-limit with outside regular hours allowed is accepted, but it can be jumped when price gaps through the limit. --- # The PDT rule is gone: what changed for day trading on Interactive Brokers > The IBKR PDT rule changed on June 4, 2026: no $25,000 minimum, no trade count. How intraday margin works, with an example, and what IBKR applies today. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/pdt-rule-interactive-brokers By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-10-03, last changed 2026-10-15. 9 min read. **In short:** The pattern day trader rule is gone. FINRA replaced it with an intraday margin rule that took effect on June 4, 2026: no more counting day trades and no more $25,000 minimum. Interactive Brokers says the $25,000 requirement is being removed and that margin trading still needs the standard $2,000 minimum, but brokers may phase the change in until October 20, 2027, and IBKR warns your account may still be under the old PDT rules until then. Cash accounts were never under the PDT rule and still trade only with settled cash. For years the pattern day trader rule decided how a small account could day trade: three day trades in five business days, then you waited or found $25,000. That rule is now gone, replaced by something that measures how much you borrow during the day instead of how often you trade. This post explains the old rule, the new one with a worked example, what Interactive Brokers says about it today, and what did not change. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers. ## What the old pattern day trader rule was Under FINRA Rule 4210, a "pattern day trader" was a margin customer who made four or more day trades within five business days. A day trade is buying and selling the same stock in the same session. Once flagged, the account had to keep at least $25,000 of equity to day trade. IBKR enforced it before you could break it. Its stock margin page still describes the legacy behavior: with under $25,000 in the account, IBKR refused the fourth opening trade within five days and showed a "potential pattern day trader" message, and TWS showed a **Day Trades Left** count. The rule never applied to cash accounts. It was a margin rule. ## What replaced it: the intraday margin rule The SEC approved FINRA's amendments to Rule 4210 on April 14, 2026 ([Release No. 34-105226, File No. SR-FINRA-2025-017](https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/sro/finra/2026/34-105226.pdf)). FINRA then published [Regulatory Notice 26-10](https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/notices/26-10) on April 20, 2026. | Date | What happened | |---|---| | April 14, 2026 | SEC approves SR-FINRA-2025-017 | | April 20, 2026 | FINRA publishes Regulatory Notice 26-10 | | June 4, 2026 | The new intraday margin rule takes effect | | October 20, 2027 | End of the phase-in: firms that need more time must be done by then | In FINRA's words, the new standards replace "in their entirety" the old day trading margin requirements, "including the day trade count requirements for designating a customer as a 'pattern day trader' and the $25,000 pattern day trader minimum equity requirement." FINRA also says the rule "does not change the regular maintenance margin requirements as they exist today, but rather supplements them." So the count is gone and the $25,000 is gone. What took their place is a check on how far below your maintenance margin you went during the day. ## Intraday margin in plain words Three new terms do the work. Here they are without the legal wording: - **Intraday margin level (IML).** How much cash you could pull out of the account right now and still meet maintenance margin. If you are already short of maintenance, it is the cash you would need to put in, written as a negative number. - **IML-reducing transaction.** Anything that lowers that number: a stock purchase, a short sale, or a withdrawal. - **Intraday margin deficit.** The most negative IML right after any IML-reducing trade that day. It counts even if you are flat by the close. Maintenance margin on a long stock is the slice of the position's value you must own outright. FINRA's floor is 25%, and IBKR's [stock margin table](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/margin-stocks.php) lists 25% maintenance for a long stock in a margin account. In short: at 25% maintenance, your equity can carry positions worth up to four times it, at any moment of the day. Go past that, even for minutes, and you have created a deficit. ### A worked example A margin account starts the day with $5,000 cash and no positions. Using the 25% maintenance rate and ignoring fees and any house requirements: | Time (ET) | Trade | Position value | Equity | Maintenance (25%) | IML | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 09:30 | Start of day | $0 | $5,000 | $0 | +$5,000 | | 09:41 | Buy 2,000 ABCD at $5.00 | $10,000 | $5,000 | $2,500 | +$2,500 | | 09:52 | Sell 2,000 ABCD at $5.20 | $0 | $5,400 | $0 | +$5,400 | | 10:05 | Buy 4,000 WXYZ at $6.00 | $24,000 | $5,400 | $6,000 | -$600 | | 10:20 | Sell 4,000 WXYZ at $5.90 | $0 | $5,000 | $0 | +$5,000 | ![A bar chart of the worked example's intraday margin level at five times of day, positive except for -$600 right after the 10:05 buy of 4,000 WXYZ at $6.00](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/pdt-rule-interactive-brokers/intraday-margin.webp) *The account ends the day flat with $5,000, but right after the 10:05 buy it held $5,400 of equity against $6,000 of maintenance. That one moment is a $600 intraday margin deficit.* The account ends the day flat with $5,000, but it has a $600 intraday margin deficit, because right after the 10:05 buy it needed $600 more equity than it had. Under the old rule this day would have been two day trades out of three allowed. Under the new rule nobody counts the trades; what matters is the 10:05 buy. The deficit has to be met "as promptly as possible." FINRA's rule counts it as met when, from the end of that day onward, you make net deposits or otherwise raise the account's IML by at least $600. With the account flat, the plain way is a $600 deposit. **Note.** On IBKR you would most likely never see that 10:05 fill. IBKR checks margin in real time when you place the order, and its table lists 26.25% initial margin for a long stock at the time of trade. On that number the WXYZ buy needs $6,300 of equity against $5,400, so IBKR would usually refuse it. On a small cap IBKR can ask for much more: it may cut the collateral value of small, illiquid stocks, up to full payment. ### What happens if a deficit is not met FINRA sets the floor. If you make a practice of not meeting deficits promptly and leave one unmet past the close of the fifth business day, the firm must stop you from adding to a debit balance or short position for 90 calendar days, or until the deficit is met. Small deficits, no more than the lesser of 5% of the account's equity or $1,000, do not count toward that practice. A deficit stays outstanding until it is met or until the close of the 15th business day after it occurred. IBKR's own version, from its [stock margin page](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/margin-stocks.php): - Deficits "must be satisfied as promptly as possible and ideally within 3 business days." - Failing to satisfy one "on 4 or more occasions within a 12-month period may result in a 90-day trading restriction across all your associated margin accounts." FINRA's updated [investor page on frequent intraday trading](https://www.finra.org/investors/investing/investment-products/stocks/day-trading) says the same in plainer words: cover a deficit by depositing funds or selling positions, and if you make a practice of not covering deficits, your firm may freeze margin trading for 90 days. ## The IBKR PDT rule today Here is what Interactive Brokers says on its stock margin page, under "Changes to Pattern Day Trading Rules": - "The $25,000 minimum equity requirement for pattern day traders is being removed." - "Clients will still be subject to the standard Reg T $2,000 minimum for trades using margin or short sales." - Trades that reduce your account's excess liquidity "may create an Intraday Margin Deficit ('IMD')." - "Your account may still be subject to existing PDT rules during FINRA's transition period, which ends in October 2027." IBKR told [Traders Magazine](https://www.tradersmagazine.com/featured_articles/regulators-end-pdt-rule/) it would implement the change on June 4, 2026 "for eligible securities clients affected by the update." The same IBKR page still carries the legacy PDT text below the update, so read the update box first. To know where your own account stands, check it rather than a forum thread. If TWS still shows a **Day Trades Left** count, or an order is refused with a "potential pattern day trader" message, the old rules still apply to you, and IBKR support can tell you when that changes. ![A timeline from the SEC approval on April 14, 2026 to the end of the phase-in on October 20, 2027, with the transition from June 4, 2026 marked in orange](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/pdt-rule-interactive-brokers/timeline.webp) *The rule took effect on June 4, 2026, but firms may phase it in until October 20, 2027. Until then, check which rules IBKR applies to your account.* ### Cash vs margin accounts on IBKR | | Cash account | Margin account | |---|---|---| | Old day trade count and $25,000 | Never applied | Gone, unless your account is still in transition | | What limits day trading now | Settled cash only | Intraday margin deficits | | Minimum to trade | None for the rule | $2,000 to use margin or short | | Buy with today's sale proceeds | No, they settle the next business day | Yes, within margin | | Main way to get restricted | Selling a stock bought with unsettled money | Repeatedly unmet deficits | In a cash account you must pay in full before you sell. Settlement for most stocks is T+1, the next business day, so cash from a sale today is spendable tomorrow. FINRA's investor page describes the two classic violations: a good faith violation (buying with unsettled proceeds and selling before they settle) and free riding (buying and selling before paying for the purchase). Neither changed in June 2026. ## What did not change **Margin itself.** IBKR still lists 25% maintenance and a 50% Reg T end-of-day requirement for a long stock held overnight in a margin account, and 100% in a cash account. Its house requirements can be higher than the rule, especially on small, illiquid stocks. **How IBKR enforces it.** IBKR does not make margin calls. Its [margin warning entry](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/campus/glossary-terms/margin-warning/) says real-time liquidations occur when an account has a margin deficiency, and that "generally, accounts will not have time to deposit funds." If you dip below maintenance, IBKR can sell your positions for you without asking. **The $2,000 floor.** Margin trading still needs $2,000 of equity at IBKR. **Risk.** This is the one that matters. The old rule was a crude brake: three day trades a week was a hard limit on how much a small account could lose to overtrading. That brake is gone. A $3,000 account can now take thirty trades on a Tuesday, and on margin it can carry close to four times its equity while it does. Fast small-cap scalping carries a significant risk of loss, and fewer restrictions make that risk bigger, not smaller. ## How to keep your risk fixed now that the count is gone You need your own brake. Three rules cover most of it: 1. **A daily loss limit.** Decide the most you will lose in a day, in dollars, and stop when you hit it. A small multiple of your per-trade risk is common: three to five full losers. [Set a daily loss limit](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/daily-loss-limit). 2. **Fixed dollar risk per trade.** Size every trade from the stop, so each loser costs the same dollars whatever the stock's price. [Trade a fixed dollar risk](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk). 3. **No borrowing by accident.** If your total position value never exceeds your cash, you never use margin, and an intraday margin deficit cannot form. On a small account, set position limits below your cash. [Set up for a small account](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/small-account-setup). Commissions add up faster too when the count is gone: thirty round trips a day on IBKR is a real bill. The math is in [IBKR Tiered vs Fixed](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-tiered-vs-fixed). ## Where Scalpel fits Scalpel does not apply the PDT rule or the intraday margin rule. Interactive Brokers does. When IBKR refuses an order for buying power, margin or a day trading restriction, Scalpel shows a red toast with IBKR's own reason and code ([why an order was rejected](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-rejected)). What Scalpel can do is enforce your own brake, before an order reaches IBKR: - **Daily loss ($)** in **Settings > Risk** trips a **RISK LOCK** when the day's realized plus open P&L reaches minus that amount. New buys are refused until you click **Resume trading**, and with **Auto-flatten on daily loss** ticked it also sells every open position. The day counts from midnight New York time. - **Risk (Cents)** buy presets size each entry from your stop, so a $20 button risks $20 on a $2 stock and on a $12 one. - **Fat-finger ($)** and **Max position ($)** caps refuse any single order, or any position in one symbol, above the value you set. Set them under your cash and a single trade cannot borrow. *Screenshot: Down $503 with a $500 limit: the header P&L, the RISK LOCK banner with Resume trading, and the toast when a buy is refused. Demo data.* None of this is a substitute for knowing IBKR's rules for your account. Where TWS alone is enough, it is enough: IBKR's real-time margin check and its account window already show your buying power. Scalpel adds the limits you choose on top. The wider setup is in [day trading on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers). FINRA, SEC and IBKR sources checked on October 15, 2026. *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **Does Interactive Brokers still have the PDT rule?** IBKR says the $25,000 pattern day trader minimum is being removed under FINRA's new intraday margin rule, effective June 4, 2026. It also warns that an account may still be subject to the old PDT rules during FINRA's transition period, which ends in October 2027, so check your own account. **Was the pattern day trader rule removed?** Yes. FINRA replaced it with intraday margin standards in Rule 4210, approved by the SEC on April 14, 2026 and effective June 4, 2026. Firms may phase the change in until October 20, 2027. **What is an intraday margin deficit?** It is the largest amount by which your account fell short of maintenance margin right after a purchase, short sale or withdrawal during the day. It counts even if you are flat by the close, and it must be met as promptly as possible, usually by a deposit. **What is the minimum to day trade on IBKR now?** There is no $25,000 day trading minimum under the new rule. IBKR still applies the standard $2,000 minimum for trades that use margin or short sales, and a cash account can day trade with settled cash only. **Does the PDT rule apply to cash accounts?** It never did. A cash account can make as many day trades as its settled cash allows, but it cannot buy with unsettled sale proceeds and sell before they settle without risking a good faith or free riding violation. **Does Scalpel enforce the PDT rule?** No. Interactive Brokers applies its day trading and margin rules to your account. Scalpel shows IBKR's reason when an order is refused and adds your own daily loss limit and position caps. --- # TWS hotkeys for day trading: a setup that actually works > Set up TWS hotkeys for day trading: where IBKR hotkeys live, the presets they need, a five-key scalping set with exact settings, and a printable cheat sheet. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-hotkeys-day-trading By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-08-04, last changed 2026-10-15. 11 min read. **In short:** TWS hotkeys live in **Global Configuration > Hotkeys** (open it from the **File** menu in Mosaic or the **Edit** menu in Classic TWS). Pick an action such as **Buy**, click **Create Shortcut**, record a key, then use the **Customize** tab to set a limit order priced off the ask plus a few cents and tick **Transmit the order instantaneously**. Put your default size, time in force and the outside regular hours box in **Presets > Stock**, select the stock's row before you press, and test every key in a paper account first. Most traders who give up on TWS hotkeys set them up halfway: the key is recorded, but the order waits for a click, prices off the wrong side of the book, sits until 09:30 because the outside regular hours box was never ticked, or goes to whichever stock was selected last. This guide is the full setup for a fast, long-only scalper: the settings each key depends on, a five-key set with exact options, the precautions that keep a fat finger from hurting you, and a cheat sheet to print. Everything here was checked against IBKR's own [TWS hot keys guide](https://www.ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/hot-keys.htm) and IBKR Campus lessons on October 15, 2026. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers. ## Where TWS hotkeys live Hotkeys and the order presets they lean on are both in Global Configuration. [Mosaic and Classic](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#tws) are two layouts of the same TWS, and only the menu that opens it differs: | Layout | Path | | --- | --- | | Mosaic | **File > Global Configuration > Hotkeys** | | Classic TWS | **Edit > Global Configuration > Hotkeys** | The Hotkeys page has the list of **Possible Actions** at the top and your **Configured Shortcuts** at the bottom. Some actions are hidden until you tick **Show Hidden Actions** in the top right, and the search box finds an action by name. IBKR groups them into categories such as Create Orders, Modify/Transmit Orders and Cancel Orders ([IBKR Campus: Configuring TWS Hotkeys](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/campus/trading-lessons/configuring-tws-hotkeys/)). A hotkey works the moment you click **Apply** and **OK**. There is no restart. ## Set your order presets first A Buy or Sell hotkey whose size is set to **Default** takes its size from your order presets, and the presets also decide the time in force and whether the order may fill outside regular hours. Set them before you record a single key. Open **Global Configuration > Presets** and click **Stock**. Click **All Possible Fields** at the top if a field below is missing ([IBKR Campus: Configuring TWS Presets](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/campus/trading-lessons/configuring-tws-presets/)). | Section | Setting | Scalper's value | Why | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Timing | Time in Force | DAY | An entry that did not fill today should not wake up tomorrow | | Timing | Allow order to be activated, triggered, or filled outside of regular trading hours | Ticked | Without it, a pre-market order waits until 09:30 ET | | Size | Quantity | Your standard clip, for example 500, unit Shares | This is what a key set to Default size buys | | Primary Order | Order type | Limit | US exchanges take only limit orders outside regular hours | | Precautionary Settings | Share and dollar limits | A little above your largest normal order | A typo triggers a warning; your routine orders do not | Leave the price itself to each hotkey's Customize tab (below), so the buy key prices off the ask and the sell key off the bid. Presets can also be set per ticker: click **Ticker** at the bottom left of the Stock page and enter the symbol. A per-ticker preset beats the general one for that stock only. ![A diagram of the order a Ctrl+B buy hotkey sends: type, price, size and transmit come from the hotkey's Customize tab, and quantity, time in force and outside regular hours come from the stock presets](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/tws-hotkeys-day-trading/order-sources.webp) *The key sets the order type, the price and whether it sends. With Size on Default, the 500 shares, DAY and the outside regular hours box all come from your stock presets, so set those first.* **Note: Precautionary settings are your fat-finger net.** If an order breaks a precautionary limit, TWS shows a warning in the order confirmation and waits for **Override and Transmit**. Entering zero turns a check off. Do not zero them to make the popup go away; raise them to just above your real maximum instead, so the warning only appears when something is wrong. ## Create a hotkey in TWS, step by step ### 1. Open the Hotkeys page **File > Global Configuration** in Mosaic, or **Edit > Global Configuration** in Classic, then **Hotkeys** in the left pane. ### 2. Pick the action and click Create Shortcut Select **Buy** under Create Orders and click **Create Shortcut**. A dialog opens with a **Shortcuts** tab and a **Customize** tab. ### 3. Record the key On the Shortcuts tab, click **Record** and press the combination. TWS accepts any single key, or `Ctrl` or `Shift` with one of the 26 letters. `Alt` is reserved and is rejected with an error. ### 4. Customize the order On the Customize tab, set **Order Type** to LMT, the limit price to **Ask** with an offset of 0.05, and **Size** to **Default**. Size also offers **Absolute** (a fixed share count typed here) and **Available** (the size currently shown on the ask or bid). ### 5. Decide on instant transmit At the bottom of the Customize tab, **Transmit the order instantaneously** sends the order the moment you press the key. Unticked, the key only builds the order and leaves it for you to transmit. A key that transmits instantly shows an asterisk next to its name. Leave it unticked for your first paper sessions, then tick it once the key does exactly what you expect. ### 6. Apply, then test on paper Click **Apply** and **OK**. The key is live at once and appears in Configured Shortcuts. IBKR has no hotkey test mode, so press it in a paper trading login on a liquid stock and read the order that comes out. ## The actions a scalper needs These are the TWS hotkey actions that matter for a long-only scalper, with IBKR's own descriptions ([TWS hotkey actions](https://www.interactivebrokers.com.hk/php/webhelp/Setting_User_Preferences/hotkey.htm)): | Action | What it does | | --- | --- | | **Buy** | Creates a buy order for the selected stock, with the order type, price, size and transmit option from Customize | | **Sell** | The same on the sell side | | **Close Position** | Creates an opposite-side order for the whole position in the selected stock. Manual transmit by default; can be set to transmit instantly in Customize | | **Close Portion of Positions** | Opens a pane to close a percentage of your positions, filtered by asset class and long or short | | **Cancel All Orders** | Cancels every working order in TWS | | **Cancel Contract's Orders** | Cancels the working orders for one stock | | **Increase / Decrease price or size** | Nudges the limit price or size of the selected order by a number of ticks: handy to chase or pull a resting limit | | **Transmit Order** | Sends the selected order you built but did not transmit, for keys left on manual transmit | ## A TWS hotkey set for scalping Five keys cover a long-only scalp: in, out half, out all, everything out, and cancel. The keys below are suggestions chosen to avoid common copy and paste combinations. If one already does something in your layout, record another. | Key | Action | Customize | Transmit instantly | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `Ctrl`+`B` | **Buy** | LMT, Ask + 0.05, Size Default (500), TIF DAY | Ticked | | `Ctrl`+`D` | **Sell** (half) | LMT, Bid - 0.05, Size Absolute 250, TIF DAY | Ticked | | `Ctrl`+`E` | **Close Position** (all) | Check on paper which order type and price it sends in your build | Ticked | | `Ctrl`+`F` | **Close Portion of Positions** (flatten) | 100%, all positions; pick the order type in the pane | Opens a pane and asks you to confirm | | `Ctrl`+`K` | **Cancel All Orders** | None | Acts at once | ![A key map of the five-key scalping set: Ctrl+B buy, Ctrl+D sell half, Ctrl+E close position, Ctrl+F flatten and Ctrl+K cancel all, with what each sends](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/tws-hotkeys-day-trading/key-map.webp) *The five keys from the table above. Four send or act at once; the flatten key opens a pane and waits for you to confirm.* Some notes on why it is set up this way: - **Ask plus 5 cents is a [marketable limit](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#marketable-limit).** It reaches across to the offers, so it usually fills at once like a market order, but it never pays more than 5 cents over the ask you saw. A buy priced at the bid, the last or the midpoint is a resting order, and in a move it gets left behind. - **"Sell half" is a fixed size, not a percentage.** TWS's percentage tool, Close Portion of Positions, opens a pane and a confirmation, so it is not one keypress. With a fixed 500 share buy, a 250 share sell is half. Change both together. - **Flatten is a panic button with brakes.** Close Portion of Positions at 100% asks you to confirm and warns that precautionary checks are skipped. Slower than one key, but it closes everything from one place. **This can cost you money: A fixed-size sell key can open a short.** In a margin account, a Sell key with an Absolute size does not know what you hold. Press `Ctrl`+`D` twice on a 250 share position, or once when a partial fill left you holding fewer than 250, and the extra shares sold can open a short position. Use **Close Position** for the last shares, and watch your position before you press a second time. ## Focus: which stock a TWS hotkey trades TWS hotkeys act on the selected stock, not on the one you are looking at. IBKR's own descriptions say "the selected asset" and "the selected contract" for a reason. Before every press: 1. **Click the stock's row** in the watchlist, or the stock in the order entry panel. Close Position needs the position's row selected in your portfolio. 2. **Mind the chart.** Traders on IBKR Campus report that after a click elsewhere, chart hotkeys stop working until they click the ticker again. IBKR has said a fix is on its roadmap. 3. **Know the special panels.** Standard hotkeys do not work inside the Rapid Order Entry panel. Hotkeys made for a tool such as ChartTrader or BookTrader (from the tool drop-down on the Hotkeys page, then **Go**) only work inside that tool. 4. **Link your windows.** In Mosaic, put the watchlist, chart and order entry in the same color link group, so one click selects the stock everywhere. Our [TWS day trading layout](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-day-trading-layout) shows a Mosaic layout built around this, with one selected stock driving every panel. ## Order confirmations and precautions With instant transmit ticked, a hotkey should send without a dialog. Two things can still stop it: - **The order confirmation.** When a confirmation appears, tick **Don't display this message again** at the bottom left. You can turn any hidden message back on in **Global Configuration > Messages**. Some traders report the confirmation keeps appearing for hotkeys anyway; IBKR points them to its FAQ on [disabling the order preview](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/faq?id=34483582) and a support ticket. - **Precautionary warnings.** An order over your precautionary limits always stops for **Override and Transmit**. That is the point. Set the limits just above your real maximum. If a key does nothing at all, our checklist for [IBKR hotkeys not working](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-hotkeys-not-working) goes through every cause one by one. ## Hotkeys in the pre-market Outside regular trading hours, US exchanges accept limit orders only, so every key that trades before 09:30 ET must send a limit with a price ([pre-market](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#pre-market)). Check three things: 1. **The outside regular hours box** in Presets > Stock > Timing is ticked. You can confirm it on any order: the order confirmation shows **Outside Regular Trading Hours: True**, and the Time in Force drop-down shows **Fill Outside RTH** ticked ([IBKR Campus: Trading Outside RTH](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/campus/trading-lessons/trading-outside-regular-trading-hours-rth/)). 2. **Every order type is LMT.** A market order or a plain stop will not trade pre-market. 3. **Your offsets are wide enough.** Pre-market books are thin and spreads wide. An offset that fills at 10:00 can sit unfilled at 07:30. The one thing no setting fixes: a stop order attached in TWS does not trigger outside regular hours on US stocks, so your pre-market trade has no automatic protection. More on that in [why your stop did not trigger in the pre-market](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/premarket-stop-loss-ibkr). ## Printable TWS hotkey cheat sheet Print it, with your own keys filled in. | Key | Action | Sends | Before you press | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `Ctrl`+`B` | Buy | LMT at ask + 0.05, preset size, outside RTH | Stock row selected | | `Ctrl`+`D` | Sell half | LMT at bid - 0.05, 250 shares | You hold at least 250 | | `Ctrl`+`E` | Close position | Whole position in the selected stock | Position row selected | | `Ctrl`+`F` | Flatten | Closes 100% of positions after you confirm | Expect a pane and a warning | | `Ctrl`+`K` | Cancel all | Cancels every working order | Also cancels other stocks' orders | | `Ctrl`+`H` | Hotkey list | Shows your keys (reported in recent builds) | None | ## What TWS hotkeys cannot do TWS hotkeys are good at turning one key into one order. A scalper usually wants more from that keypress: - **Size by risk at the instant you press.** Size can be your preset, a fixed count, or whatever shows on the ask. There is no option for "risk $100 to a stop 30 cents under my fill", so you work out the shares in your head, under pressure, every trade. - **A stop that protects you pre-market.** A hotkey can attach a simple bracket (a limit and a stop priced off the bid, ask or last), but the stop is a stop order at IBKR, and stop orders do not trigger outside regular hours on US stocks. - **One-key scale-outs by percentage.** Close Portion of Positions opens a pane and asks for confirmation, so "sell half" is a fixed size that goes stale when your entry size changes. - **Move a stop on the chart without an order change.** TWS shows your working orders on its charts and lets you adjust them, but each change is a modification to a broker order, still bound by regular-hours rules. None of this makes TWS a bad choice. It is free with the account, it trades stocks, options and futures, it can short, and its stops rest at the broker, so they work during regular hours even if your computer is off. If those matter more to you than speed, stay with TWS. ## Where Scalpel fits Scalpel is a keyboard-first desktop cockpit that trades your own IBKR account through TWS or IB Gateway with the API enabled. Its [hotkeys](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/hotkeys) are built for the long-only small-cap scalp, and each key fires on the focused desk (the one with the blue outline), with a spoken confirmation. Here is the TWS set above next to Scalpel's defaults: | Job | TWS (this guide) | Scalpel default | | --- | --- | --- | | Buy | `Ctrl`+`B`, one size from presets | `Shift`+`1` to `Shift`+`4`, four presets sized by shares, dollars or risk, at the ask plus your buy offset | | Sell half | `Ctrl`+`D`, a fixed 250 shares | `Ctrl`+`X`, half the position rounded down, at the bid | | Sell a quarter | Close Portion of Positions at 25%, then confirm | `Ctrl`+`C` | | Sell half into strength | Not built in | `Ctrl`+`A` at the ask, `Ctrl`+`S` at the mid | | Sell all | `Ctrl`+`E`, Close Position on the selected row | `Ctrl`+`Z`, the whole position at the bid | | Flatten everything | Close Portion of Positions, then confirm | `Esc` with nothing open flattens every position on every desk | | Cancel | `Ctrl`+`K`, every order in TWS | `Ctrl`+`Q` (`Shift`+`Q` on a Mac), the focused desk's symbol | | Stop to breakeven | Not built in | `B` | | Trailing stop on or off | Add Auto Trailing Stop Order on the selected order, regular hours only | `Shift`+`T` | *Screenshot: The cheatsheet with the default keys and the default share ladder. It always shows your current bindings. Demo data.* The difference is in what happens around the keypress. A risk preset works out the shares the moment you fire, from the live price and the stop distance ([sizing presets](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/sizing-presets)). The stop and take-profit arm themselves on the fill, and you move them by dragging the line on the chart. They are app-monitored, not resting orders: when price trades through the stop, Scalpel sends a sell limit 5 cents under the last trade with the outside regular hours flag set, which the exchange accepts in the pre-market. The trade-off is plain: they only work while Scalpel runs with a live feed, and no fill is guaranteed. Rebinding is one click on the key and one press in **Settings > Hotkeys**. To run a whole trade without the mouse, see the [keyboard-only workflow](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/keyboard-only-workflow). *Screenshot: Settings, Hotkeys: the thirteen rebindable actions. Esc and Enter are fixed and not listed.* Whichever tool you use, build the keys in paper first: hotkeys make bad trades faster too. For the rest of the setup, from market data to commissions, start with [day trading on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers). *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **Where are hotkeys in TWS?** In Global Configuration, under Hotkeys in the left pane. Open Global Configuration from the File menu in Mosaic or the Edit menu in Classic TWS. **How do I make a TWS hotkey send the order without a confirmation?** On the hotkey's Customize tab, tick Transmit the order instantaneously. If a confirmation still appears, tick Don't display this message again on it, and keep orders under your precautionary limits, which always ask before sending. **Can TWS hotkeys trade in the pre-market?** Yes, if the order is a limit and is allowed to fill outside regular trading hours. Tick that box in Global Configuration, Presets, Stock, Timing, and price your keys off the ask or bid with an offset. **Can I create a TWS hotkey to sell half my position?** Close Portion of Positions can close 50%, but it opens a pane and asks you to confirm. For one keypress, many traders use a Sell key with a fixed size equal to half their standard buy. **Which key combinations can I use for TWS hotkeys?** Any single key, or Ctrl or Shift with one of the 26 letters. Alt is reserved and TWS rejects it. **Do I need to restart TWS after creating a hotkey?** No. A hotkey works as soon as you click Apply and OK in Global Configuration. --- # IBKR hotkeys not working? The causes and how to fix each one > IBKR hotkeys not working? Go through the checklist: row not selected, no instant transmit, popups, outside RTH unset, unmarketable prices. Exact TWS fixes. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-hotkeys-not-working By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-08-09, last changed 2026-10-15. 9 min read. **In short:** When IBKR hotkeys do not work, the cause is almost always one of five things: the stock's row or the right window is not selected, the key builds the order but **Transmit the order instantaneously** is unticked, a confirmation or precautionary popup is waiting for a click, the order is not allowed to fill outside regular hours so it sits in the pre-market, or the limit price is priced off the wrong side of the book. Work through the checklist below in order; each cause has its symptom and the exact fix in TWS. You set up a buy key, a stock starts to move, you press it, and nothing happens. Or something happens, but no fill. IBKR Campus pages on hotkeys collect comments from traders who say exactly this: that they cannot buy or sell with a key combination, and that it makes momentum trading on IBKR feel impossible. Most of the time the hotkey is working as configured. It is just configured to do something other than what you expect. This checklist covers every cause we could confirm in IBKR's own guides and in traders' reports, checked on October 15, 2026. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers. ## Quick diagnosis | What you see | Most likely cause | Jump to | | --- | --- | --- | | Nothing at all happens | No row selected, wrong window, or the key never reached TWS | Causes 1, 3 and 9 | | An order appears but is not sent | Instant transmit is off, or a popup is waiting | Causes 4 and 5 | | The order is sent but sits unfilled | Outside RTH not set, or the price is not marketable | Causes 6 and 7 | | A warning about shorting on a sell | The key sells more than you hold | Cause 8 | | Hotkeys work in TWS but not in your trading app | Read-Only API | Cause 11 | ![A flow chart for a hotkey that fails: if no order appears, check causes 1, 3 and 9; if it is not sent, causes 4 and 5; if it does not fill, causes 6 and 7; a shorting warning is cause 8 and an app refused by the API is cause 11](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/ibkr-hotkeys-not-working/diagnosis-flow.webp) *The quick-diagnosis table as three questions. Answer them in order after a press, and the first No points to the causes to check.* ## IBKR hotkeys not working: the checklist ### 1. No row selected, or the wrong window has focus **Symptom:** You press the key and nothing happens, or the order goes to a different stock. **Cause:** TWS hotkeys act on the selected instrument. IBKR describes Buy as creating "a buy order for the selected asset" and Close Position as working on "the selected contract" ([IBKR hotkey actions](https://www.interactivebrokers.com.hk/php/webhelp/Setting_User_Preferences/hotkey.htm)). If no row is highlighted, or focus is in a window that does not take the key, the press goes nowhere. Traders on Elite Trader report custom keys that only work from a watchlist, not from the chart. Traders on IBKR Campus report that chart hotkeys stop after any click elsewhere until they click the ticker again, and IBKR has said a fix is on its roadmap. **Fix:** Click the stock's row in your watchlist (or the position's row in your portfolio, for Close Position) right before you press. In Mosaic, put the watchlist, chart and order entry in one color link group so one click selects the stock everywhere. If keys only work from one window, trade from that window. ### 2. You are in IBKR Desktop, not TWS **Symptom:** You followed a TWS guide, but the menus and options do not match what you see. **Cause:** IBKR Desktop is a separate, newer app. Its hotkeys live in **Settings > Hotkeys**, split into Platform Controls and Order Entry, and IBKR's replies on Campus say it has "only basic hotkeys" for now, with advanced keys in its development queue ([IBKR Campus: Using Hotkeys](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/campus/trading-lessons/ibkr-desktop-hotkeys/)). **Fix:** Set up keys in the app you trade from. The **Transmit the order instantaneously** option and everything else in this checklist are TWS settings (Mosaic or Classic). ### 3. The key belongs to a tool, or you are in Rapid Order Entry **Symptom:** A key works in one place and not another. **Cause:** Hotkeys created from the tool drop-down on the Hotkeys page (ChartTrader, BookTrader, OptionTrader) only work inside that tool. And IBKR's guide says standard hotkeys do not work inside the Rapid Order Entry panel ([TWS hot keys](https://www.ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/hot-keys.htm)). **Fix:** Open **Global Configuration > Hotkeys** (from **File** in Mosaic, **Edit** in Classic) and check whether the key is a global hotkey or a tool hotkey. Record a global one if you want it to work everywhere, and click out of the Rapid Order Entry panel before you press. ### 4. The order is built but never transmitted **Symptom:** Pressing the key creates an order, but it waits in your orders with a **Transmit** or **Update** button. **Cause:** **Transmit the order instantaneously** is unticked. That is the default: the key builds the order and leaves it for you to send. **Fix:** In **Global Configuration > Hotkeys**, select the shortcut under Configured Shortcuts, click **Configure**, open the **Customize** tab and tick **Transmit the order instantaneously** at the bottom ([IBKR: instantaneous transmit](https://www.ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/create-instantaneous-transmit.htm)). Keys that transmit instantly show an asterisk next to their name. For Close Position, the same option is in its Customize area. ### 5. A confirmation or precaution popup is waiting **Symptom:** The key works, but a dialog opens, sometimes behind another window, and the order waits for a click. **Cause:** Three different popups can stop a hotkey order: - **The order confirmation.** Turned off by ticking **Don't display this message again** at its bottom left. Hidden messages are managed in **Global Configuration > Messages** ([IBKR Campus: Messages and Sound Manager](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/campus/trading-lessons/messages-sound-manager/)). - **Precautionary warnings.** An order above the share or dollar limits in **Presets > Stock > Precautionary Settings** always shows a warning with **Override and Transmit**. - **Close Portion of Positions.** This action always opens a pane, then a Proceed warning. It has no instant transmit option. **Fix:** Untick the confirmation and set your precautionary limits just above your largest normal order, so the warning only fires on a real mistake. Do not set them to zero, which turns the checks off. If the confirmation keeps appearing for hotkeys even after you hid it, which several traders report, IBKR points to its FAQ on [disabling the order preview](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/faq?id=34483582) and asks for a support ticket. For scale-outs in one keypress, use a Sell key with a fixed size instead of Close Portion of Positions. ### 6. Outside RTH is not set, so pre-market orders sit **Symptom:** At 07:30 ET your buy is sent, accepted, and never fills. The same key works after 09:30. **Cause:** The order is not allowed to fill outside regular trading hours (RTH), so IBKR holds it for the open. A trader on Campus asked why his keys only worked in regular hours; IBKR's answer was to change the hotkey's time in force settings. **Fix:** In **Global Configuration > Presets > Stock**, under **Timing**, tick **Allow order to be activated, triggered, or filled outside of regular trading hours**, then **Apply** and **OK**. Check it on your next order: the confirmation shows **Outside Regular Trading Hours: True**, and the Time in Force drop-down shows **Fill Outside RTH** ticked ([IBKR Campus: Trading Outside RTH](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/campus/trading-lessons/trading-outside-regular-trading-hours-rth/)). An order already sent without it cannot be changed; cancel and resend. Also make sure the key sends a limit order: outside regular hours, exchanges accept limit orders only ([glossary: pre-market](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#pre-market)). ### 7. The price is not marketable **Symptom:** The order is live, but it rests below the ask while the stock runs away. **Cause:** The key prices the buy off the bid, the last trade or the midpoint, or uses a negative offset. That is a resting order, not an entry. In a fast move, even a buy at the exact ask can be left behind. **Fix:** On the buy key's Customize tab, price the limit off the **Ask** plus an offset, for example 0.05 to 0.10 on a fast small cap. Price the sell key off the **Bid** minus an offset. This is a [marketable limit](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#marketable-limit): it reaches across to the other side but caps what you pay. A limit that still does not fill means the price moved past it; more in [fix an order that did not fill](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-not-filled). ### 8. The size is not what you think **Symptom:** The order is the wrong size, or a sell warns that the stock is not available for shorting. **Cause:** A hotkey's **Size** is **Default** (your preset quantity), **Absolute** (a fixed number) or **Available** (whatever size shows on the ask or bid, which can be 100 shares or 50,000). A Sell key with an Absolute size does not know what you hold, so it can sell more than your position. A trader on Campus who used **Reverse Position** to scale out got a "not available for shorting" warning, because reversing a long means selling it and then going short. **Fix:** Set your standard quantity in **Presets > Stock > Size**. Use **Close Position** for the last shares, never Reverse Position to get out of a long, and check your position before a second sell press. ### 9. The key never reached TWS **Symptom:** Nothing happens anywhere, even with the right row selected. **Cause:** TWS rejects reserved keys such as `Alt` when you record them. Another program can also take the key or the focus first: a NinjaTrader forum thread describes NinjaTrader pulling focus away from TWS windows. On a Mac, a trader on Campus reported that his letter combinations started editing the ticker instead of trading. **Fix:** Check the key is listed under Configured Shortcuts. IBKR allows any single key, or `Ctrl` or `Shift` with one of the 26 letters. Try the combination in a plain text editor: if something else reacts, another program owns it, so record a different one in TWS. ### 10. There is no live quote to price from **Symptom:** The order is priced oddly or sits far from the market. **Cause:** A key priced off the ask needs a live ask. With delayed data, or no quote yet for the stock, there is nothing current to price from. **Fix:** Make sure the stock shows live, streaming quotes before you press. See [IBKR market data for day trading](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading) for what to subscribe to. ### 11. Your trading app uses the API in read-only mode **Symptom:** A third-party trading app shows quotes and your account, but every order is refused. **Cause:** Apps that trade through the TWS API need **Read-Only API** unticked in **Global Configuration > API > Settings**. It starts ticked. **Fix:** Untick it, keep **Allow connections from localhost only** ticked, and click **Apply** ([enable the TWS API](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/enable-tws-api)). ## Still stuck? IBKR says there is no way to test hotkeys other than using them, so use a paper trading login. Your live and paper logins can hold different settings, so check the keys exist in both. If a key still fails, IBKR asks for a web ticket with your settings. For a full, working key set, see our guide to [TWS hotkeys for day trading](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-hotkeys-day-trading), and for the wider setup, [day trading on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers). ## Where Scalpel fits Scalpel is a keyboard-first desktop cockpit for your own IBKR account, connected through TWS or IB Gateway with the API on. It removes most of this checklist by design. Every trading action is one key with no confirmation dialog, and each key fires on the **focused desk**, the one with the blue outline. The trading keys only fire when no text box has the key, so typing a symbol never places an order. *Screenshot: D1 is focused: blue outline, and the extra header buttons. D2 is not, so a hotkey press goes to D1. Demo data.* When a key cannot act, Scalpel says so. With the market closed (before 04:00 or after 20:00 ET, weekends and holidays), a buy or sell key shows **Market closed - orders disabled**. A refused order shows a red toast with the reason, and the voice says "Rejected." See the [hotkeys guide](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/hotkeys) and [fix a rejected order](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-order-rejected). *Screenshot: The market closed: every order bar button greyed out, and the toast a buy key raises. Demo data.* Scalpel is long only and needs TWS or IB Gateway running with **Read-Only API** off for LIVE orders. Its stops are app-monitored, not resting orders at IBKR, so they only work while Scalpel runs with a live feed. *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **Why are my TWS hotkeys not working?** Usually the stock's row is not selected, the key builds the order without transmitting it, or a confirmation popup is waiting. Select the row first, tick Transmit the order instantaneously on the key's Customize tab, and hide the order confirmation. **Why does my IBKR hotkey not work in the pre-market?** The order is not allowed to fill outside regular trading hours, so IBKR holds it until 09:30 ET. Tick the outside regular trading hours box in Global Configuration, Presets, Stock, Timing, and use limit orders. **How do I stop the order confirmation popup on TWS hotkeys?** Tick Transmit the order instantaneously on the hotkey's Customize tab and Don't display this message again on the confirmation. Orders above your precautionary settings still ask before they send. **Why do my hotkeys work on the watchlist but not on the chart?** TWS hotkeys act on the selected instrument, and traders report that chart hotkeys lose the selection after a click elsewhere. Click the ticker again before you press, or trade from the watchlist. **Does IBKR Desktop have the same hotkeys as TWS?** No. IBKR Desktop has its own hotkeys under Settings, Hotkeys, which IBKR describes as basic for now. Transmit the order instantaneously and the other options in this checklist are TWS settings. --- # IBKR Level 2: which subscription, what it costs and how to read it > IBKR Level 2 explained: which depth feeds to buy and what they cost today, the TWS limit on books at once, and how to read the book, pre-market included. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-level-2 By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-08-14, last changed 2026-10-15. 10 min read. **In short:** To get Level 2 on Interactive Brokers, you need live US stock quotes plus at least one depth-of-book feed. For non-professionals today, NASDAQ TotalView-OpenView is $16.50 a month, NYSE ArcaBook $11.00, Cboe BZX $8.00 and NYSE OpenBook $25.00. You add them in Client Portal under Settings, Market Data Subscriptions. TWS then shows depth in BookTrader, Market Depth Trader and the Mosaic Market Depth window, for at least 3 symbols at once (one per 100 market data lines). Depth tells you what each venue is showing right now. It does not tell you what happens next, and pre-market it shows less than it seems. "IBKR Level 2" is a common search for traders who have just opened a TWS window and found a bid and an ask but no book. This post covers which subscriptions to buy and what they cost today, how to switch them on, how many books TWS will show at once, which TWS windows display depth, and how to read the book for a scalp. If you use Scalpel, the guide [The IBKR market data you need for Level 2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading) covers the exact setup the app needs. This post covers the wider picture. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers. ## What Level 2 on IBKR actually shows **Level 1** is the top of the book: the best bid, the best ask and the last trade. **[Level 2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#level-2)** (also called depth, depth of book or the order book) is every displayed limit order behind them: the bids stacked below the inside bid and the offers stacked above the inside ask, with the size at each price. Each depth feed is one exchange's book. NASDAQ TotalView is Nasdaq's book, ArcaBook is NYSE Arca's, and so on. In TWS, each row is labeled with the [venue](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#venue) the order rests on. When you ask for aggregated (SMART) depth, IBKR merges the venues you pay for into one ladder. Venues you do not subscribe to are missing from it, so the book you see is always partial. Off-exchange volume never shows on any book. ## Which IBKR Level 2 subscription to buy Every depth feed sits on top of live level 1 data. IBKR's page says each US depth feed requires top-of-book data for all three US networks (NYSE, Network B and Nasdaq). Most people get that through the bundle in the first two rows below. | Subscription (IBKR's name) | What it gives you | Non-pro per month | Pro per month | |---|---|---|---| | US Securities Snapshot and Futures Value Bundle | Snapshot quotes for NYSE, NYSE American and Nasdaq stocks; required for the add-on | $10.00, waived in a month with $30 of commissions | Separate pro bundle | | US Equity and Options Add-On Streaming Bundle | Streaming level 1 for all three US networks plus options | $4.50 | $125.00 | | NASDAQ TotalView-OpenView (L1, L2) | Nasdaq's full book, including stocks listed elsewhere that trade on Nasdaq | $16.50 | $90.00 | | NYSE ArcaBook (L1, L2) | NYSE Arca's book | $11.00 | $65.00 | | Cboe BZX (L1, L2) | The Cboe BZX exchange book | $8.00 | $47.00 | | NASDAQ BX TotalView (L1, L2) | The Nasdaq BX exchange book | $3.50 | $48.00 | | NYSE OpenBook (L2) | The NYSE exchange book for NYSE-listed stocks | $25.00 | $64.50 | Fees checked on October 15, 2026, on [IBKR's market data pricing page](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/pricing/market-data-pricing.php). Prices change, so check that page before you subscribe. Things on that page worth knowing before you click: - **Free data is not enough for scalping.** Every IBKR client gets free real-time quotes from Cboe One and IEX, but IBKR labels them non-consolidated. That means they do not show the national best bid and offer, and they are not a depth feed. - **Professional vs non-professional is the exchanges' definition, not IBKR's.** Most individuals trading their own money are non-professional. Anyone registered with a regulator or exchange, or working as an investment adviser, is professional. IBKR notes this has nothing to do with IBKR Pro vs IBKR Lite. - **Waivers.** The $10 snapshot bundle is the one waived by commissions ($30 in the month). None of the depth feeds in the table carry a commission waiver today, so expect to pay for them every month. The streaming add-on is not available on IBKR Lite. - **No pro-rating.** Subscribe on the 28th and you pay the full month. - **A balance floor.** IBKR asks for at least USD 500 of equity to hold market data subscriptions, on top of their cost. **A worked example.** A non-professional scalping small caps adds the bundle ($10.00), the add-on ($4.50), TotalView ($16.50) and ArcaBook ($11.00). That is $42.00 a month, or $32.00 in a month with $30 or more in commissions. For low-priced momentum stocks, Nasdaq and Arca carry much of the pre-market activity, so those two are the usual first picks. Cboe BZX is a cheap third. NYSE OpenBook matters mainly if you trade NYSE-listed names. ![Two stacked bars of a month's IBKR data cost: $42.00 with the snapshot bundle, add-on, TotalView and ArcaBook, and $32.00 when the $10.00 bundle is waived](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/ibkr-level-2/monthly-cost.webp) *The worked example as bars: depth is most of the bill, and only the $10.00 snapshot bundle is waived by commissions. Non-professional prices checked on October 15, 2026.* ## How to get Level 2 on Interactive Brokers ### 1. Open Market Data Subscriptions in Client Portal Log in to Client Portal, click the head-and-shoulders icon in the top right, then **Settings**. Under **User Settings**, find **Market Data Subscriptions**. Subscriptions belong to a username, not an account. A second username pays again. ### 2. Click Configure and check your subscriber status Click the **Configure** gear. If IBKR asks, answer the non-professional questionnaire honestly. Your answer decides which price column applies. ### 3. Add level 1 first On the North America tab, tick the **US Securities Snapshot and Futures Value Bundle** and the **US Equity and Options Add-On Streaming Bundle**. Without these, depth feeds will not stream. ### 4. Add one or more depth feeds Tick **NASDAQ TotalView-OpenView**, then any others you want: **NYSE ArcaBook**, **Cboe BZX**, **NYSE OpenBook**. Each one adds one venue's rows to your book. ### 5. Sign the agreements and restart TWS Click **Continue**, review, and sign the exchange agreements. If you will use depth through the API (Scalpel or any other program), accept IBKR's market data API acknowledgement too. Then log out of TWS or IB Gateway and back in so the new data loads. Do not stream live data on the same username in two places at once (two TWS sessions, or TWS and the phone app). IBKR gives live data to one session and can leave the other delayed. ## How many Level 2 windows TWS allows at once This limit catches most new IBKR day traders. IBKR does not let you stream unlimited books. Its rule: **one depth symbol for every 100 market data lines, with a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 60.** Every account starts with 100 lines. After the first month, IBKR gives you the largest of three numbers: your monthly commissions divided by 8, your equity times 100 divided by $1,000,000, or 100. | Your situation | Market data lines | Depth symbols at once | |---|---|---| | New account, or under $800 a month in commissions | 100 | 3 | | $3,200 a month in commissions | 400 | 4 | | $4,000 a month in commissions | 500 | 5 | | Default 100 lines plus 2 Quote Booster packs | 300 | 5 (3 plus 1 per pack) | A **Quote Booster** pack costs $30.00 a month and adds 100 lines and one more depth symbol, up to 10 packs per account. Opening the same symbol in several depth windows (BookTrader, Market Depth Trader and the Integrated Stock Window) counts once. When you go over the cap, a new depth window falls back to aggregated top-of-book data and hides its exchange buttons. Programs that use the API draw on the same allowance, because [IBKR ties API depth requests](https://interactivebrokers.github.io/tws-api/market_depth.html) to the same lines. For a scalper, three books is usually enough: the stock you are in, the next one up and one spare. ## How to open TWS Level 2: BookTrader, Market Depth Trader and Mosaic TWS has three windows that show depth. All of them come from the **New Window** button in the top left of Mosaic ([IBKR Guides](https://www.ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/market-depth-trader.htm)). In Classic TWS, BookTrader and Market Depth Trader are under **Trading Tools**. | Window | How it shows depth | Best for | |---|---|---| | **BookTrader** | A vertical price ladder: bid size and ask size beside each price | Clicking orders at a price. Left-click a bid size for a buy limit, an ask size for a sell limit, and right-click for a stop | | **Market Depth Trader** | The classic Level II table: bids left, asks right, a row per venue per price, with **Deep Book** buttons to choose which exchanges to include | Seeing who is at each price | | **Market Depth** (Mosaic) | A smaller version of Market Depth Trader, linked to your Mosaic window group, rows shaded by price group | Keeping a book on screen without a separate window | In Market Depth Trader, click an exchange's **Deep Book** button to add that venue's Level II rows. If the book looks thin, check that the buttons for the feeds you pay for are on. BookTrader is the fastest for clicking orders. Market Depth Trader is the one to read. If you trade TWS alone, the [TWS day trading layout](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-day-trading-layout) shows where to place each one, and [TWS hotkeys for day trading](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-hotkeys-day-trading) covers sending orders from the keyboard instead of the mouse. ## How to read Level 2 for a scalp Read the book for three questions: what will it cost to get in, how much stock sits between you and the next level, and can you get out? **The stacks.** Add up the size in the first few price levels on each side. Suppose ABCD is 5.70 bid, 5.71 ask, and the asks hold 300 shares at 5.71, 400 at 5.72 and 9,000 at 5.75. Buyers can push through 5.71 and 5.72 easily, and 5.75 is where the move may stall. The [spread](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#spread) is 1 cent here. On a $5.70 stock that is about 0.18% each round trip, before commissions. ![A price ladder for ABCD with 300 shares offered at 5.71, 400 at 5.72 and 9,000 at 5.75 above a 5.70 bid, with notes on the spread, the wall and the exit](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/ibkr-level-2/reading-the-stacks.webp) *The example from this section: thin offers at 5.71 and 5.72, a 9,000-share offer at 5.75, and a 1-cent spread over the 5.70 bid.* **Size.** Size you can see is size someone is willing to show. It is not a promise. A 9,000-share offer can be cancelled the moment price gets near it. **Market makers and ECNs.** Old Level II screens showed market maker IDs (MMIDs) on every row. On IBKR, the label you will mostly see is the venue: NSDQ, ARCA, EDGX, BATS, IEX, MEMX, NYSE. An ECN (electronic communication network) is just one of these electronic venues. Nasdaq's feed can carry a firm's ID when that firm chooses to attribute its quote, but most orders are not attributed. A row that says ARCA could be a market maker, a fund's algorithm or another day trader. See the glossary entry for [MMID](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#mmid). **Refreshing size.** Watch the [time and sales](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#time-and-sales) tape against the book. If a venue keeps showing 200 shares at 5.75 while 3,000 shares trade there, that order is refilling. **Icebergs.** A refilling order like that is usually an [iceberg](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#iceberg): a large order that displays a small piece and reloads as it fills. A hidden seller at the offer can cap a breakout until it is done. A hidden buyer under you is not a floor, because once the order is filled there is nothing left at that price. **Who is taking.** The book shows intent. The tape shows action. Prints at the ask eating through the offers is buying you can see. Prints at the bid with the bids pulling away is selling. When the book and the tape disagree, trust the tape. ## Why Level 2 misleads in the pre-market Momentum traders do most of their work between 04:00 and 09:30 ET, which is when depth is least reliable: - **Fewer venues are quoting.** Only venues with an early session take orders, and many market makers do not quote until the open. A book that looks one-sided may only be missing the venues that are not quoting yet. - **Books are thin.** A few hundred shares can be the whole stack at a price. One trader can move price several cents by pulling or adding one order, so a "wall" can disappear in a second. - **Spreads are wide.** A 5 to 10 cent spread on a small cap is normal before the open. The cost to get in and out is much higher than the book's neat rows suggest. - **Your exit is the bid.** In a thin book, selling your whole position can walk down several levels. Count the bid size under you before you buy. - **Stops behave differently.** Outside regular hours, exchanges take limit orders only, so a resting stop may not protect you. [Why your stop did not trigger in the pre-market](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/premarket-stop-loss-ibkr) explains this. Use pre-market depth to judge cost and liquidity. Do not use it to predict direction. ## Where a DAS-style montage reads faster TWS shows the same data any IBKR platform gets, and BookTrader is very fast for clicking orders. What TWS does not do is the arithmetic. Spotting a refilling order, adding up each side's size, or checking whether you could sell into the bid is left to your eyes, across separate windows. Scalpel draws the same IBKR SMART depth as a montage in the style of the DAS Trader montage that many momentum traders learned on: bids left, asks right, one row per venue, each price level in its own color band, with the tape in a column beside the book. On top of the book it shows the spread, both sides' size, an imbalance gauge and buy-minus-sell delta. It marks a refilling venue with a layers icon once enough trades into it. The rule is in the [iceberg orders guide](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/iceberg-orders). *Screenshot: IEX keeps showing 145 shares at 5.71 (1) while buyers lift far more there (3). The layers icon marks the row and the read line says **Hidden seller refilling at the offer** (2). Demo data.* To be fair to the alternatives: DAS Trader Pro is the more complete platform if you want direct routing choices or shorting, and TWS alone is enough if you trade slowly. Scalpel is narrower. It is long only, for US stocks, with no paid data beyond your IBKR subscriptions, and it still needs the same depth subscriptions and the same depth cap. The [Level 2 guide](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-level-2) walks through every number on the panel, and [reading the players](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-the-players) shows each footprint (refills, size that vanishes, bids stepping up) as it looks on the montage. For how depth fits into the rest of an IBKR setup, see [day trading on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers). For a side-by-side comparison, see [DAS Trader vs Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/compare/das-trader). Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by DAS Trader. *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **How do I get Level 2 on Interactive Brokers?** In Client Portal, open Settings, then Market Data Subscriptions, and click Configure. Add the US Securities Snapshot and Futures Value Bundle and the US Equity and Options Add-On Streaming Bundle for live quotes, then a depth feed such as NASDAQ TotalView-OpenView. Sign the agreements and log back in to TWS. **How much does IBKR Level 2 cost?** For non-professionals on October 15, 2026, NASDAQ TotalView-OpenView was $16.50 a month, NYSE ArcaBook $11.00, Cboe BZX $8.00 and NYSE OpenBook $25.00, on top of about $14.50 for live level 1 data. Check IBKR's market data pricing page for current prices. **Is NASDAQ TotalView worth it on IBKR?** For scalping Nasdaq-listed small caps, it is usually the first depth feed to add, because it shows Nasdaq's full book and much pre-market trading happens there. It shows one venue's book, so many traders add ArcaBook as well. **How many Level 2 windows can I open in TWS?** One depth symbol per 100 market data lines, with a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 60. A new account gets 3. Quote Booster packs at $30 a month add one each, and several windows for the same symbol count once. **Why does my TWS Level 2 show only a few rows?** Either you subscribe to only one or two venues, the Deep Book buttons for your feeds are off in Market Depth Trader, or you are over your depth cap and the window has fallen back to top-of-book data. In the pre-market, books are also genuinely thin. **Can I see market maker IDs on IBKR Level 2?** Mostly no. IBKR depth labels each row with the venue, such as NSDQ, ARCA or EDGX. A firm's ID appears only on quotes that the firm chooses to attribute, and most are not. --- # Why your stop loss did not trigger in the pre-market on IBKR > IBKR stop loss pre-market: why a plain stop does nothing before 09:30, how a stop-limit gets jumped in a thin book, and the TWS settings that help. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/premarket-stop-loss-ibkr By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-08-19, last changed 2026-10-15. 9 min read. **In short:** A plain stop order at Interactive Brokers does not work in the pre-market (04:00 to 09:30 ET) or after hours (16:00 to 20:00 ET): a stop becomes a market order when it triggers, and those sessions take limit orders only. The closest thing TWS offers is a stop-limit with **Allow order to be activated, triggered or filled outside of regular trading hours** checked. It can trigger before the open, but in a thin book price can gap straight through its limit and leave it unfilled. Give it a wide limit offset, test it in your paper account, and never treat it as a guaranteed exit. You bought a gapper at 07:41, set a stop in TWS, and looked away. At 07:52 the stock flushed through your stop, and when you looked back the stop was untouched, or it had triggered and was resting above the market as a sell nobody wanted. This post explains why, how IBKR's outside RTH setting really works for stops, and what you can do in TWS alone. Scalpel's approach comes at the end. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers. ## Does an IBKR stop loss work in the pre-market? Not as a plain stop. US stocks trade in four sessions at IBKR, and only one of them takes market orders: | Session (ET) | What it is | Orders that work there | |---|---|---| | 20:00 to 03:50 | IBKR Overnight session | Limit orders, routed to the Overnight destination | | 04:00 to 09:30 | [Pre-market](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#pre-market) | Limit orders; stop-limits only with outside RTH set | | 09:30 to 16:00 | [Regular trading hours (RTH)](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#rth) | Everything, including market and stop orders | | 16:00 to 20:00 | After hours | Limit orders; stop-limits only with outside RTH set | Nasdaq's [published system hours](https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/content/technicalsupport/nasdaq_sys_hours.pdf) are 04:00 to 20:00 ET around the 09:30 to 16:00 market session, and IBKR's [overnight page](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/us-overnight-trading.php) covers 20:00 to 03:50. The SEC's [investor bulletin on after-hours trading](https://www.investor.gov/additional-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/investor-bulletin-after-hours-trading) notes that many brokers accept only limit orders outside regular hours, and that liquidity there is thin. A [stop order](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#stop-order) sends a market order once price reaches your trigger. With no market orders allowed, it has nothing to send. IBKR staff say it plainly on the [outside RTH lesson](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/campus/trading-lessons/trading-outside-regular-trading-hours-rth/): stop-limit orders can be set to work outside RTH, plain stop orders do not. So a plain stop placed at 07:41 waits for 09:30, and if the stock is already well under your trigger then, it sells at the open, wherever that is. ![A 24 hour timeline of the US stock sessions in New York time: overnight 20:00 to 03:50, pre-market 04:00 to 09:30, regular hours 09:30 to 16:00 and after hours 16:00 to 20:00, with a flush at 07:52 and a plain stop waiting until 09:30](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/premarket-stop-loss-ibkr/sessions.webp) *Only regular hours take market orders, so a plain stop that should fire on a 07:52 flush waits for 09:30. Times are New York time.* ## Why your stop loss did not trigger: the usual causes 1. **It was a plain stop (STP).** It cannot work before 09:30 or after 16:00. 2. **It was a stop-limit without outside RTH.** IBKR's [preset guide](https://www.ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/define-order-preset-value.htm) says that with the outside RTH box unchecked, stop orders will not trigger outside regular trading hours. 3. **It triggered and got jumped.** The stop-limit became a sell limit above the market and is still resting there. 4. **IBKR's trigger rule was not met.** The default **Last** method for stocks needs a last price at or through your trigger while a bid and an ask are published, with the last inside them or within 0.5%. A stray print far outside the quote can be filtered out. 5. **It was the overnight session.** After 20:00 the IBKR Overnight destination takes limit orders. ## How outside RTH works for stop and stop-limit orders Three IBKR details matter here. **The setting.** In TWS the box reads **Allow order to be activated, triggered or filled outside of regular trading hours (if available)**. You can set it as a default for stocks in your presets, or per order with **Fill Outside RTH** in the Time in Force drop-down. The Order Confirmation then shows **True** next to Outside Regular Trading Hours. **Stops may be simulated.** IBKR's [order types page](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/ordertypes.php) says it may simulate stop and stop-limit orders on its own books and send them to the exchange only when they become marketable. So your stop is not on the exchange's book until it fires, and it fires on IBKR's reading of the market data, which IBKR warns can be affected by bad data, filters that ignore prints outside the bid and ask, and halts. **Trigger methods.** For simulated stops you can change how the trigger is read, per order or in the preset's Trigger Method drop-down. IBKR's [trigger method reference](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/orders/trigger-methods) lists Default, Double Bid/Ask, Last, Double Last, Bid/Ask, Last or Bid/Ask and Mid-point. For a long position: | Method | A sell stop triggers when | In a thin pre-market book | |---|---|---| | Last (the stock default) | One trade prints at or under your stop, inside or near the quote | Fast, but one print can do it | | Double Last | Two trades in a row print at or under it | Fewer false triggers, slower in a flush | | Bid/Ask | One ask at or under it | Can fire on a quote that never trades | | Double Bid/Ask | Two asks in a row at or under it | Slowest of the four | **Careful: Test before you trust it.** IBKR's documentation does not fully agree with itself here. The preset guide implies stops can trigger outside RTH when the box is checked, but the same guide's description of the Last method says stops in US stocks only trigger while the primary exchange is holding regular hours. Before you rely on a pre-market stop-limit, place one on a small position in your paper account at 07:00 ET and watch whether it triggers. ## How a stop-limit gets jumped in a thin pre-market book A [stop-limit order](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#stop-limit-order) has two prices: the trigger, and the worst price you will accept once it fires. IBKR warns that it trades the price risk of a stop for the risk that the order never fills. In the pre-market that is the normal case. You hold 400 ABCD from 5.50, bought at 07:41 ET. You risk 12 cents, $48, which is your 1R. In TWS you place **SELL 400 STP LMT**, stop 5.38, limit 5.36, outside RTH checked. At 07:52 the bids look like this: | Bid | Size | |---|---| | 5.40 | 300 | | 5.31 | 400 | | 5.28 | 400 | | 5.25 | 600 | There is nothing between 5.40 and 5.31. A seller dumps 600 shares. The tape prints 300 at 5.40, then 300 at 5.31. The 5.31 [print](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#print) is at or under 5.38, so your order triggers and becomes a sell limit at 5.36. But the best bid is now 5.31 (100 left), and your 5.36 offer sits above it. Nobody buys at 5.36 from a falling stock. Two minutes later ABCD is 5.20 and your order is still working. Sell there and the loss is 30 cents on 400 shares, $120 before fees: 2.5R instead of 1R, and only if you are at the screen to do it. The fix inside TWS is a wider gap between trigger and limit. With stop 5.38 and limit 5.18, the same 5.31 print sends a sell limit at 5.18, which is marketable: it takes 100 at 5.31 and 300 at 5.28, an average of 5.2875. The loss is about $85 before fees, roughly 1.8R. Worse than planned, but you are out. The limit still sets a floor: if the bids vanish down to 5.15 before the order reaches them, it sits unfilled again. ![A bid ladder for ABCD with bids at 5.40, 5.31, 5.28 and 5.25 and nothing between 5.40 and 5.31, showing a stop at 5.38 triggered by a 5.31 print, a tight limit at 5.36 left above every bid, and a wide limit at 5.18 that fills](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/premarket-stop-loss-ibkr/stop-limit-jump.webp) *The 600-share sale takes the bid at 5.40 and most of 5.31. The stop triggers, but a 5.36 limit sits above every bid that is left, while a 5.18 limit fills at 5.2875 average. Losses are before fees.* ## Your options in TWS, and the weakness of each | Option | How it works | Weakness | |---|---|---| | Stop-limit, outside RTH, tight limit | Triggers on your stop, sells no lower than a few cents under it | Jumped in any gap; then rests above the market | | Stop-limit, outside RTH, wide limit (15 to 30 cents, or more on higher-priced stocks) | Same trigger, room to fill through a gap | Still a fixed floor; worse fills on a single bad print; trigger behavior pre-market needs testing | | Trailing stop-limit, outside RTH | The trigger and limit follow price up by your trail amount and limit offset | The same jump risk, plus one thin print up can drag the trigger right under the market | | Price alert plus a sell hotkey | TWS alerts you at your level; you press a hotkey that sells at the bid minus an offset | Only works if you are watching, hear it and act at once | | Mental stop | You sell by hand when price hits your number | Fails exactly when you are busiest: you freeze, hesitate, or move it | One real strength of the IBKR-side orders: a stop-limit held at IBKR keeps working with your computer off. The alert, the hotkey and the mental stop do not. If you ever hold while you cannot watch, a wide stop-limit at the broker is the better choice, gaps and all. For the hotkey route, IBKR's [hotkey guide](https://www.ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/hot-keys.htm) has the path: **Global Configuration > Hotkeys**, choose **Sell**, **Create Shortcut**, and on the **Customize** tab set **Lmt Price (+/- offset)** to **Bid** with a negative offset. See [TWS hotkeys for day trading](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-hotkeys-day-trading) for the full setup. ## How to set a stop-limit to work outside RTH in TWS ### 1. Turn on outside RTH for stocks Open **File > Global Configuration** (Mosaic) or **Edit > Global Configuration** (Classic), click **Presets**, then **Stocks**. Under **Timing**, check **Allow order to be activated, triggered or filled outside of regular trading hours (if available)**. Click **Apply**, then **OK**. ### 2. Pick a trigger method In the same preset, the **Trigger Method** drop-down is in the Miscellaneous section. Default means Last for stocks; **Double Last** trades some speed for fewer single-print triggers. ### 3. Place the order with a wide limit Sell the full position, order type **STP LMT**. Set the stop price at your level and the limit price well under it: on the ABCD example, stop 5.38 and limit 5.18. A limit only a cent or two under the stop is the setting that gets jumped. ### 4. Confirm the flag Open the **Time in Force** drop-down and check that **Fill Outside RTH** is ticked. On the Order Confirmation, look for **True** next to Outside Regular Trading Hours. ### 5. Test it before you need it In your paper account before 09:30 ET, set one just under the market on an active stock and watch whether it triggers and how it fills. **This can cost you money.** No stop, at IBKR or anywhere else, limits your loss to the stop price. In a halt, a gap or a flush with no bids, a stop-limit may not fill at all and a marketable exit can fill far below your level. Size every pre-market trade so that a fill two or three times worse than planned is still a loss you can take. ## Where Scalpel fits Scalpel is built for long-only scalping of US small caps, pre-market first, so it does not leave the stop at the broker. Every entry arms a [working stop](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#working-stop), a wider catastrophe net and a take-profit, and none of them is an order. Scalpel watches every trade print on the desk itself ([how stops work](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). *Screenshot: 07:41 ET, before the open: the PRE badge on the desk, and 400 ABCD from 5.50 with the working stop at 5.38 (-48.00, -1.0R) and the target at 5.74. Nothing is resting at the broker. Demo data.* When price trades at or through your stop, Scalpel sends a sell for the whole position. In LIVE it is a sell limit **5 cents under the last trade**, with the outside-regular-hours flag set, so the exchange accepts it at 07:52 the same as at 11:00. It is a [marketable limit](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#marketable-limit): it takes the bids that are there, best first, down to that price. On the ABCD flush, the 5.31 print fires the stop and Scalpel sends SELL 400 LMT 5.26, which fills 100 at 5.31 and 300 at 5.28, the same 5.2875 as the wide stop-limit above. The difference shows when the market runs away from the first exit. If price trades under the exit's limit, or the exit sits unfilled for 5 seconds, Scalpel cancels it, waits for IBKR to confirm, and sends a new one off the latest trade, at 5 cents under it or about 1% under it, whichever is lower. It does that up to 5 times, then leaves the last order working and tells you to check it in TWS. A fixed stop-limit floor never moves. [Pre-market stops](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-stops) walks through every step. *Screenshot: The Orders tab after the stop fired: the 400-share SELL filled at 5.36 average, NET P&L -$59.80 with fees, and the toast. Order times are New York time. Demo data.* That shot is the calmer case from the guide: the stop fires on a 5.37 print and the exit fills at 5.36 average. Because the stop lives in the app, you can also [drag your stop and target](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/drag-stops-and-targets) on the chart with no order to modify. The trade-offs, plainly: - **It only works while Scalpel is running and connected** to TWS or IB Gateway with a live feed, with the symbol on a desk. If Scalpel is closed or the connection drops, nothing watches the position. An IBKR-side stop-limit does not have that weakness. - **No fill is guaranteed.** A halt or a book with no bids can leave the exit unfilled even after re-pricing. - **It is for at-the-screen trading.** If you hold while away from your desk, use a stop-limit at IBKR. [A pre-market routine](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-routine) shows how a session runs end to end. For the wider picture, see [scalping on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/scalping-interactive-brokers), [scalping through the IBKR API](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-api-scalping), and the full [day trading on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers) setup. IBKR documentation checked on October 15, 2026. *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **Do stop loss orders work in the pre-market on IBKR?** A plain stop order does not: it becomes a market order when it triggers, and market orders are not accepted outside regular hours. A stop-limit can work from 04:00 ET if you check the outside RTH setting, but it can be jumped when price gaps through its limit. **Why didn't my stop loss trigger before the open?** Usually because it was a plain stop, or a stop-limit without outside RTH checked, so it waited for 09:30. If it did trigger, a stop-limit may be resting above the market because price gapped through its limit. **What limit offset should I use on a pre-market stop-limit?** Wide enough to fill through a gap, often 15 to 30 cents on a small cap and more on higher-priced stocks. A limit a cent or two under the stop is the one that gets jumped. Test it in your paper account first. **Are IBKR stop orders simulated?** IBKR says it may simulate stop and stop-limit orders on its own books and send them to the exchange only when they become marketable. That keeps them off the exchange book, but the trigger depends on IBKR's reading of the market data. **Can I use a stop order in IBKR's overnight session?** Do not count on it. IBKR describes the overnight session, 20:00 to 03:50 ET, as limit-order trading through its Overnight destination. **Does a trailing stop work in the pre-market on IBKR?** A plain trailing stop sends a market order, so it does not. A trailing stop-limit with outside RTH set can work, with the same risk as any stop-limit: price can gap through its limit and leave it unfilled. --- # A TWS day trading layout for scalpers: the Mosaic setup > A TWS day trading setup step by step: Mosaic windows, color-linked groups, 1 and 5-minute charts, time and sales, saving the layout and settings for speed. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-day-trading-layout By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-08-24, last changed 2026-10-15. 8 min read. **In short:** A good TWS day trading setup is one Mosaic layout, with every window for the stock you trade linked to one color group: order entry, a Level 2 window (BookTrader or Market Depth), Time & Sales, a 1-minute and a 5-minute chart with VWAP and EMAs, a scanner, and your positions. Unlock the layout to arrange it, lock it again, and save it with File, Layout Settings, Save Settings. Then set your stock order preset to allow outside-RTH fills and turn off the confirmations you no longer need. TWS can do almost anything, which is why a new IBKR day trader's screen often ends up as a pile of unlinked windows. This post is a precise, menu-by-menu build of a layout for scalping US stocks: what to open, how to link it, which chart and tape settings to use, how to save it, how to spread it over more than one monitor, and which defaults to change for speed. Every path below was checked against IBKR's own documentation. Labels can shift between TWS versions, so if one does not match, search IBKR Guides for the window name. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers. ## The TWS day trading setup at a glance | Window | Open it from | What it is for | |---|---|---| | Order Entry | In the default Mosaic layout | Ticker, size, price and the buy and sell buttons | | BookTrader | **New Window**, then **BookTrader** | Price ladder with depth: click to place orders at a price | | Market Depth | **New Window**, then **Market Depth** | Level II table, one row per venue per price | | Time & Sales | **New Window**, then **Time & Sales** | Every print: time, price, size, venue | | Chart (x2) | **New Window**, then a chart | 1-minute for entries, 5-minute for context | | Scanner | **New Window**, then a market scanner | Finding the stocks that are moving | | Portfolio and Activity | In the default Mosaic layout | Positions, open orders and fills | You do not need both BookTrader and Market Depth. BookTrader is quicker for clicking orders, and Market Depth is easier to read. Both need a depth subscription. [IBKR Level 2](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-level-2) covers which feeds to buy and the cap on how many books you can stream at once (3 on a new account). ## Build the Mosaic layout ### 1. Unlock the layout In Mosaic, open the **File** menu and choose **Unlock Layout (Edit Mode)** under **Layout**. While the layout is locked you cannot add, remove or resize the docked windows. ### 2. Clear what you will not use The default Mosaic has a watchlist, news and other tools you may not want on a trading screen. Close anything you will not look at during a trade. Every extra window is one more place your eyes can go. ### 3. Open the trading windows Click **New Window** in the top left and open **BookTrader** (or **Market Depth**), **Time & Sales**, two charts and a scanner. They open as their own windows. Drag each one into the Mosaic frame and drop it where you want it docked. ### 4. Place them around the order entry A layout that works for most scalpers: Level 2 and Time & Sales side by side in the center, the 1-minute chart to their right, order entry under the Level 2, and the 5-minute chart, scanner and positions on the edges. Your eyes should move between book, tape and 1-minute chart without turning your head. ### 5. Link the windows to one color group Set every window that should follow the traded stock to the same color group (next section). ### 6. Lock and save Lock the layout again from the **File** menu, then save it with **Save Settings** (below). ## Link windows by color group so one ticker drives all Linking is what turns a pile of windows into a layout. Click the chain-link icon in the top right of a window's title bar and pick a colored number from the list. Give every window you want in the group the same number. When you change the symbol in one window, every linked window follows ([IBKR Guides: color grouping](https://ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/color-grouping-linked-panels.htm)). - **One group for the stock you trade.** Order entry, BookTrader, Market Depth, Time & Sales and both charts in group 1. Type a ticker in any of them and the whole station loads it. - **The scanner.** If the scanner is in group 1, selecting a row loads that stock everywhere. That is fast, but it also means a stray click changes the stock under your order entry. Many traders leave the scanner unlinked and type the ticker on purpose. - **A second station.** To watch a second stock, give its own chart, tape and book group 2. Keep in mind each extra symbol in a depth window counts toward your depth cap. A window belongs to one group at a time. Hover over the group icon to see whether a window sends symbols, receives them, or both. ![A wireframe of a one-ticker layout with Level 2, Time & Sales, a 1-minute chart and order entry in the center, the scanner, positions and a 5-minute chart on the edges, and the windows for the traded stock marked as color group 1](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/tws-day-trading-layout/linked-layout.webp) *Book, tape and 1-minute chart sit together with order entry under the book. Everything that follows the traded stock is in group 1; the scanner is your choice.* ## Chart settings for 1-minute and 5-minute charts Open **Edit**, then **Chart Parameters**, at the top of each chart window ([IBKR Guides: chart parameters](https://www.ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/chart-parameters.htm)). | Setting | 1-minute chart | 5-minute chart | |---|---|---| | Time Period | 1 day, 1-minute bars | 2 to 5 days, 5-minute bars | | Bar Type | Candlestick | Candlestick | | Show data outside of regular trading hours | On | On | | Show data in user time zone | Off if you want New York time | Same | | Volume | On | On | | Studies | VWAP, 9 EMA, 20 EMA | VWAP, 9 EMA, 20 EMA | **Show data outside of regular trading hours** matters most for pre-market traders. Without it, the chart starts at 09:30 ET and hides the pre-market high, the level everyone is watching. To add studies, open the **Studies** tab in Chart Parameters, expand the group on the left (EMAs are under the moving averages), select the study and click **Add**. For [VWAP](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#vwap), use the intraday version that resets each session, not a multi-day volume average. The 9 and 20 [EMA](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#ema) are common choices for short-term trend, not magic numbers. Keep the studies identical on both charts, so a line means the same thing wherever you see it. ## Time and sales settings Open **New Window**, then **Time & Sales**, and link it to group 1. The default columns are Time, Last, Size, Exchange and Condition ([IBKR Guides: Time & Sales](https://ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/time-and-sales.htm)). - **Keep Exchange and Condition.** Exchange tells you whether a print hit a lit venue or printed off-exchange. Condition flags odd lots and out-of-sequence prints. Hover over a size or price to decode a condition. - **Use the Block filter.** Right-click a column and set a block size so large prints stand out. On a $5 small cap, 5,000 to 10,000 shares is a reasonable starting point. Adjust it to the stock. - **Columns** live under the Configure wheel in the top right of the window, then **Settings**. - **Live vs history.** A light gray icon means the tape is streaming. A dark gray icon means you have paged back into history and the window is frozen. Get back to live before you trade from it. What the tape is telling you, and how to read it alongside the book, is covered in [reading time and sales](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-time-and-sales). ## Save and lock the layout TWS saves your settings when you exit, but do not rely on that alone: 1. **Lock the layout.** Use the **File** menu's layout lock (the same item you used to unlock it), so a stray drag cannot undock a window mid-trade. 2. **Save Settings.** **File**, **Application Settings**, **Layout Settings**, **Save Settings** writes your layout, defaults and menu choices to disk. 3. **Save Settings As.** Save a named copy, for example `day-trading-layout`, somewhere you back up. If TWS ever loads a blank layout, you can restore it. 4. **Layout Settings Recovery.** In the same menu, this restores a layout from a previous day. It is the fix when an update or crash scrambles your windows. ## A multi-monitor TWS layout TWS windows can live outside the Mosaic frame, and **New Window Group** in the **File** menu creates a second blank frame you can drag to another screen. | Screen | Two monitors | Three monitors | |---|---|---| | Center (straight ahead) | Level 2, Time & Sales, 1-minute chart, order entry | Level 2, Time & Sales, 1-minute chart, order entry | | Second | 5-minute chart, scanner, positions and activity | 5-minute and daily charts, news | | Third | (none) | Scanner, positions and activity, account window | Put the window you act from straight in front of you, and never on the far edge of a screen. Keep everything that follows the traded stock in group 1, whichever monitor it is on. ![Two monitors: the center one holds Level 2, the tape, the 1-minute chart and order entry, the second holds the 5-minute chart, the scanner and positions, with group 1 on both screens](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/tws-day-trading-layout/two-monitors.webp) *The two-monitor plan from the table. The 5-minute chart is on the second screen but stays in group 1, so it still follows the traded stock.* ## Settings to change for speed TWS ships with safety prompts aimed at investors. A scalper should change some of them, carefully. **Default order preset.** Open **Global Configuration** (from the **File** menu, or the wrench icon on most windows), then **Presets**, then **Stock** ([IBKR Guides: order presets](https://ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/define-order-preset-value.htm)): - In the timing section, tick **Allow order to be activated, triggered, or filled outside of regular trading hours**. Without it, a pre-market order rests until 09:30 ET. Set **Time in Force** to DAY. - Set the default size to the share count you actually trade, so order entry and BookTrader start there. **Precautionary Settings.** In the same preset are **Size Limit**, **Total Value Limit**, **Percentage** and **Number of Ticks**. If they are below your normal size, every order stops for a warning. Raise them to just above your largest normal order instead of setting them to zero. That way they still catch a fat-fingered extra zero. **Confirmations.** Most order dialogs have a **Don't display this message again** box. You can re-enable any of them later in **Global Configuration**, then **Messages**. In BookTrader, you can turn off the confirmation on the first order so clicks transmit immediately. Only do this after you have practiced in a paper account, because a misclick then becomes a live order. **Hotkeys.** Keyboard entries are faster than any click. [TWS hotkeys for day trading](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-hotkeys-day-trading) has a tested setup. **This can cost you money: Outside RTH changes how stops behave.** Outside regular hours, exchanges accept limit orders only. Ticking outside RTH in the preset does not make a resting stop protect you in the pre-market. [Why your stop did not trigger in the pre-market](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/premarket-stop-loss-ibkr) explains what happens and what to do instead. ## The one-window alternative: Scalpel's desks Everything above can be done in TWS, and TWS is the better choice if you also trade options or futures, or want free-floating windows across several monitors. The cost is the linking, saving and checking you just did. Scalpel takes the opposite approach: one window, built for long-only scalping of US stocks, where each stock gets a desk. A desk is a whole station for one stock: a DAS-style Level 2 montage with the tape beside it, a chart with the order bar, and orders and positions. Nothing to link, because each desk is one stock. You can run up to six desks side by side. Scanner rows carry a small square in each desk's color, and clicking one loads that stock onto that desk. *Screenshot: The cockpit in SIM: the header (1), a desk header (2), Level 2 and the tape (3), the chart (4), the order bar (5), orders and positions (6), the + rail for more desks (7), and the status bar (8). Demo data.* Panels inside a desk are rearranged by dragging their title bars, and **Apply to all** copies one desk's layout to the rest ([arranging desks](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/arrange-desks)). The layout saves itself. On several screens, either keep Scalpel on the main screen and TWS on a side one, or stretch the window over two ([multi-monitor setup](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/multi-monitor-setup)). TWS or IB Gateway still has to run in the background, because Scalpel trades through your own IBKR account. The [cockpit tour](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/cockpit-tour) names every part of the screen. For the full IBKR setup, from account to data to hotkeys, start with [day trading on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers). *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **What is the best TWS layout for day trading?** One Mosaic layout with order entry, BookTrader or Market Depth, Time & Sales, a 1-minute and a 5-minute chart, a scanner and positions, with every window for the traded stock in the same color group. Keep the book, tape and 1-minute chart close together in front of you. **How do I link windows in TWS Mosaic?** Click the chain-link icon in the top right of each window's title bar and pick the same colored number for every window you want linked. Changing the symbol in one then changes it in all of them. **How do I save my TWS layout?** Open the File menu, then Application Settings, Layout Settings and Save Settings. Use Save Settings As to keep a named backup, and Layout Settings Recovery to restore a previous day's layout. **How do I show pre-market data on TWS charts?** In the chart window open Edit, then Chart Parameters, and tick Show data outside of regular trading hours. Without it the chart starts at the regular open. **How do I make TWS orders fill in the pre-market by default?** In Global Configuration open Presets, then Stock, and in the timing section tick Allow order to be activated, triggered, or filled outside of regular trading hours. Use limit orders, because exchanges accept only limit orders outside regular hours. --- # IB Gateway vs TWS for day trading: which one to run > IB Gateway vs TWS for day trading: memory use, daily auto restart, the weekly login, API ports and two-factor, and which one to run for your setup. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ib-gateway-vs-tws By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-08-29, last changed 2026-10-15. 7 min read. **In short:** IB Gateway is Trader Workstation (TWS) without the trading screens: the same login, the same API, about 40% fewer resources by IBKR's own estimate. Run IB Gateway when another program is your trading screen, and TWS when you also want IBKR's own windows for charts, manual orders or account work. Both need a two-factor login, both should be set to auto restart daily, and both make you log in again once a week. Every trading app that connects to Interactive Brokers through the TWS API needs one of the two programs running and logged in on your computer. The choice looks small, but it decides how much memory the setup eats, what happens at the daily restart, and whether you can still click an order in by hand when something goes wrong. Settings below were checked against IBKR's documentation on October 15, 2026. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers. ## What IB Gateway is, and what TWS is **TWS** ([glossary](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#tws)) is IBKR's full desktop trading platform: watchlists, charts, Level 2 in BookTrader, order entry, hotkeys, scanners, account windows. It also serves the API, once you switch the API on. **IB Gateway** ([glossary](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#ib-gateway)) is the API server without the platform. You log in, a small status window appears, and that is all you see. IBKR's docs put it plainly: "From the perspective of an API application, IB Gateway and TWS are identical" ([IBKR: The IB Gateway](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/architecture/the-trader-workstation/the-ib-gateway)). Same orders, same market data, same limits. The difference is everything around the API. ## IB Gateway vs TWS at a glance | What | TWS | IB Gateway | | --- | --- | --- | | Trading screens | Full platform | None: a status window | | Resources | Heavier | About 40% fewer, per IBKR | | API | Off until you tick Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients | Always listening | | Default ports | 7496 live, 7497 paper | 4001 live, 4002 paper | | Login | Username, password, two-factor | The same | | Daily restart | Auto restart under Lock and Exit | The same | | Weekly login | Yes | Yes | | Can lock on inactivity | Yes, unless Never lock is set | No | | Manual orders and charts | Yes | No | ## Memory and CPU footprint IBKR's only published comparison is that IB Gateway "consumes about 40% fewer resources" than TWS. It does not publish megabyte figures, and real use depends on what you open: in TWS, every chart, watchlist row and depth window costs memory and CPU, while IB Gateway's load comes only from what your API programs request. Two things help either program: - **Memory Allocation.** Both have it under Global Configuration, **General**. IBKR's API docs suggest 4000 MB for API users if your computer has the room, and warn that setting it too high on a small machine causes the opposite problem ([memory allocation](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/tws-settings/memory-allocation)). - **Fewer open windows in TWS.** A layout with ten charts you never look at slows the program your orders pass through. If your trading app already draws your charts, Level 2 and tape, running TWS underneath means paying for the same data on screen twice. That is the main reason to pick IB Gateway for day trading. Do not be alarmed if IB Gateway shows a yellow or inactive data farm connection when nothing is running. IBKR notes that IB Gateway does not connect to the market data farms until a program asks for data. ## Daily restart, auto log off and the weekly login Both programs are designed to restart once a day. Left at the default, they log you out at a set time, every API connection drops, and your trading app sits disconnected until you log in again. The fix is the same setting in each: ### 1. Open Lock and Exit In TWS, open **File > Global Configuration** (**Edit > Global Configuration** in the Classic layout), then **Lock and Exit**. In IB Gateway, open **Configure > Settings**, then **Lock and Exit**. ### 2. Choose Auto restart Select **Auto restart** instead of **Auto log off**, and set a time you never trade, such as late evening. The time is in the time zone TWS is set to, not necessarily New York time. ### 3. Stop TWS from locking In TWS, choose **Never lock Trader Workstation**. A locked TWS disconnects API programs. IB Gateway does not lock on inactivity. ### 4. Apply and keep the program open Click **Apply** and **OK**. From now on the program restarts itself each day without asking for two-factor, and API programs reconnect after it comes back. Auto restart does not remove the weekly login. IBKR's docs describe a session running "from Sunday to Sunday" with auto restart, after which you must enter your credentials again ([daily and weekly reauthentication](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/tws-settings/daily-weekly-reauthentication)). Plan to log in, with your phone to hand, before your first session of each week. ![A week from Sunday to Sunday: with Auto restart the API stays connected through nightly restarts with one two-factor login a week, while Auto log off disconnects every evening until you log in again](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/ib-gateway-vs-tws/restart-week.webp) *With Auto restart, the program restarts itself each night and you log in with two-factor once a week. Left on Auto log off, every day ends disconnected until you log in again.* **Tip.** Do not log in to Client Portal on the web with the same username while TWS or IB Gateway is running. IBKR notes that the program then cannot reconnect by itself after the next server reset. Use a second username for Client Portal if you need both. ## API settings in TWS and IB Gateway The API page has the same settings in both programs, in different places: | Setting | TWS | IB Gateway | | --- | --- | --- | | Where | File > Global Configuration > API > Settings | Configure > Settings > API > Settings | | Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients | Must be ticked | Not shown: always on | | Socket port | 7496 live, 7497 paper | 4001 live, 4002 paper | | Read-Only API | Untick to allow orders | Starts ticked: untick to allow orders | | Allow connections from localhost only | Keep ticked | Keep ticked | | Precautions | API > Precautions | API > Precautions | The ports are IBKR's defaults ([IBKR's port list](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/excel/dde/dde-socket-bridge/configuring-the-socket-bridge/configure-the-connecting-socket-port)). You can change them; the program you connect must use the same number. With **Read-Only API** ticked, programs can read quotes and your account but not place orders, which is a sensible lock while you only practice. Every setting is explained in [enable the TWS API](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/enable-tws-api). ![A diagram of IBKR's servers connected to TWS or IB Gateway on your computer, TWS serving the API on ports 7496 live and 7497 paper, IB Gateway on 4001 live and 4002 paper, and your app connecting at 127.0.0.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/ib-gateway-vs-tws/connections.webp) *Either program logs in to IBKR and serves the API on your own computer. Your app connects to 127.0.0.1 on the port that program listens on.* ## Two-factor login and one session per username IBKR requires two-factor for every user, and the API programs are no exception: you approve the login in IB Key or another supported method each time you log in by hand. IBKR's [two-factor page for the API](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/notes-limitations/supported-two-factor-authentication-2-fa) lists IB Key, the smartphone apps, SMS and the Digital Security Card+ as supported, and the security code cards as not supported. The bigger trap is sessions. IBKR allows one trading session per username at a time ([logging into multiple applications](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/connectivity/logging-into-multiple-applications)). Log in to TWS while IB Gateway runs on the same username, or to IBKR Desktop, and one of them is signed out, taking its API connections with it. You cannot run TWS and IB Gateway side by side on one username. If you want both, add a second username in Client Portal. Market data subscriptions are set up per username, so the second one needs its own, and pays for them. ## Why you might still want TWS open IB Gateway is lighter, but TWS earns its memory in a few situations: - **A manual way out.** If your trading app crashes or loses its connection while you hold a position, TWS is already open with the position in front of you. With IB Gateway, you would open TWS or the IBKR mobile app, and logging in to TWS on the same username signs IB Gateway out. - **Charts and tools your app does not have.** Option chains, Risk Navigator, the fundamentals windows and IBKR's own charts. - **Account work.** Transfers, market data subscriptions and settings are easier in TWS than in a status window. - **Checking your app.** IBKR's own advice to API users is to learn TWS first: if an order or quote looks wrong in your app, TWS shows what the broker sees. ## Which to run: TWS or IB Gateway | Your setup | Run | Why | | --- | --- | --- | | A trading app is your only screen | IB Gateway | Lighter, never locks, nothing duplicated on screen | | A trading app plus TWS windows | TWS with the API on | One login serves both | | You trade by hand in TWS only | TWS, API off | No API needed | | You want both fully open at once | TWS on one username, IB Gateway on a second | Two logins, two sets of data subscriptions | | Older or low-memory computer | IB Gateway | About 40% fewer resources | | New to IBKR | TWS first | Learn what the broker sees before you automate around it | ## Where Scalpel fits Scalpel works with either. It connects to the API socket on the same computer at 127.0.0.1, starts on port 7497, and you set **Settings > Connection > Port** to whatever your program listens on: 7497 or 7496 for TWS, 4001 or 4002 for IB Gateway ([connect Scalpel to Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). While the link is down, Scalpel checks every 5 seconds which program answers on those four ports and says so in a banner: **Use port 7496** when TWS is on its other port, **Use IB Gateway** when the other program is the one running, and **Start TWS** or **Start IB Gateway** when nothing is running and the program is installed in its usual place. *Screenshot: Scalpel expects TWS, but IB Gateway is the one running. One click switches over. Demo data.* *Screenshot: Settings, Connection: Host stays 127.0.0.1, and Port matches the socket port of TWS or IB Gateway. Demo data.* If Scalpel is your only trading screen, IB Gateway is the lighter choice. Keep in mind that Scalpel's stops are watched by the app, so if TWS or IB Gateway restarts or drops while you hold a LIVE position, nothing protects it until the link is back ([fix a disconnected Scalpel](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-disconnected)). That is one more reason to set the daily restart well outside your trading hours. For what the API itself can and cannot do for a scalper, from market data lines to pacing, read [scalping through the TWS API](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-api-scalping). For the full setup from account to hotkeys, see [day trading on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers). *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **What is IB Gateway?** IB Gateway is Interactive Brokers' API server without the trading screens. You log in to it like TWS, and trading programs connect to it through the TWS API. It uses about 40% fewer resources than TWS, according to IBKR. **Is IB Gateway better than TWS for day trading?** It is better when another program is your trading screen, because it is lighter and never locks on inactivity. TWS is better if you also trade by hand or want IBKR's own charts and windows. **What port does IB Gateway use?** 4001 for a live login and 4002 for a paper login, by default. TWS uses 7496 for live and 7497 for paper. You can change either under the API settings. **Can I run TWS and IB Gateway at the same time?** Not on the same username: IBKR allows one trading session per username, so logging in to one signs the other out. With a second username, which needs its own market data subscriptions, you can run both. **Does IB Gateway need two-factor authentication?** Yes. Every manual login needs two-factor approval, as with TWS. With Auto restart set, the daily restarts do not ask again, but you still log in once a week. **Why does IB Gateway log out every day?** Both IB Gateway and TWS are designed to restart daily. Set Auto restart instead of Auto log off under Lock and Exit, and it restarts itself and keeps you logged in through the week. --- # Momentum trading on Interactive Brokers: scanner setup for gappers > Interactive Brokers momentum trading starts with the scanner: TWS settings for pre-market gappers, which scans to run, and how to live without a float filter. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-momentum-scanner By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-09-08, last changed 2026-10-15. 9 min read. **In short:** For momentum trading on Interactive Brokers, open TWS's **Advanced Market Scanner** (Mosaic: **New Window > Advanced Market Scanner**), pick US stocks, run **Top % Gainers** with a price band of about $1 to $20, a minimum gain of 10% and a volume floor, and tick **Auto Refresh**. It finds pre-market gappers from early morning, but scans measured to today's open stay empty until 09:30 ET. IBKR cannot filter by float through its API, so check shares outstanding on SEC EDGAR instead. Interactive Brokers has a capable market scanner built into TWS, at no cost beyond the market data you already pay for. It is just not set up for small-cap momentum out of the box, and it says nothing about float. This guide sets it up for one job: finding the US small caps that are gapping and moving before the open. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers. ## What a momentum scanner has to find Small-cap momentum traders mostly look for the same five things, whatever course or book they learned from: a low price, a big move already under way, heavy volume against normal, a news reason, and a small supply of shares. The scanner can handle the first three directly. News and supply need a second look. | What you want | Why it matters | Can IBKR's scanner filter it? | |---|---|---| | Price about $1 to $20 | Cheap enough to move a lot in percent, liquid enough to trade | Yes | | Up 10% or more on the day | Something is happening today, pre-market included | Yes | | [Relative volume](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#relative-volume) 5x or more | Far more traders than usual are involved | Partly: rank by it with Hot Contracts by Volume | | A news [catalyst](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#catalyst) | A reason for the move | No: read the news on the row | | A low [float](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#float) | Few shares to trade, so demand moves price fast | No: see the float section below | ## Set up the IBKR pre-market scanner in TWS IBKR calls the full tool the **Advanced Market Scanner** ([IBKR's guide](https://ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/create-a-market-scanner.htm)). Mosaic also has a simpler scanner window, but the advanced one gives you every filter and the **Max results** field. ### 1. Open the Advanced Market Scanner In the Mosaic layout, open the **New Window** drop-down and choose **Advanced Market Scanner**. In the Classic layout it is **Analytical Tools > Advanced Market Scanner**; IBKR recommends opening it as a new window rather than a tab. ### 2. Choose the instrument and location Set the instrument to US stocks and the location to the major US exchanges. Leave OTC out: most OTC names are hard to trade fast and the scanner fills up with them. ### 3. Pick the scan parameter Choose **Top % Gainers** for your main gapper scan. IBKR defines it as the stocks whose last price shows the biggest percent gain over the previous night's close ([scan definitions](https://ibkrguides.com/traderworkstation/market-scanner-types.htm)), which is exactly what a pre-market gap is. ### 4. Add the filters Add a price filter (above 1, below 20), a minimum percent change (10), and a minimum volume. Filter labels differ a little between TWS versions; type the field name into the filter search if you cannot see it. IBKR lets you stack several filters but sort by only one parameter. The table in the next section has values to start from. ### 5. Run it and set Auto Refresh Click **Search**, then tick **Auto Refresh** so the scan reruns on its own. Most scans return the top 50 stocks by default; change **Max results** if you want a shorter list. ### 6. Save it as a template Use the save icon next to **Max results** to save the scan as a template, then build your second and third scans (below) from it by changing only the scan parameter. ## IBKR scanner settings for small-cap gappers These are starting values, not magic numbers. Widen them on a slow morning and tighten them when everything is running. | Setting | Start with | Why | |---|---|---| | Instrument | US stocks, major exchanges | No OTC, no foreign listings | | Price | Above $1, below $20 | Keeps out sub-dollar names and slower large caps. Use $2 if you never trade under $2 | | Percent change | 10 or more | The stock is already moving. Drop to 5 before 07:00 ET when the list is thin | | Volume | 100,000 or more | Drops names showing a big percent move on a few hundred shares. Lower it before 07:00 ET | | Shares outstanding | Under 20 to 50 million, if your filter list has it | The closest thing to a float filter (see below). Leave it off if it hides fresh listings | | Max results | 25 to 50 | More rows than you can read is noise | A worked example: at 07:40 ET a fictional stock ABCD trades at $4.10, up 38% from yesterday's $2.97 close, on 1.2 million shares. It passes every filter above. WXYZ is up 14% at $31: it fails the price band and never shows, which is the point. ![The gapper scan as a funnel: US stocks, then price above $1 and below $20, up 10% or more, 100,000 shares or more, then a float check on SEC EDGAR, with ABCD at $4.10, up 38% on 1.2 million shares passing and WXYZ at $31 dropped by the price band](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/ibkr-momentum-scanner/filter-funnel.webp) *Each filter narrows the list. ABCD passes all four of IBKR's filters; WXYZ is up 14% but fails the price band and never shows. Float is the one check IBKR's scanner cannot do, so it moves to SEC filings.* ## Which scan types to run For momentum, a handful of IBKR's scan parameters matter. These are IBKR's own names and definitions: | Scan parameter | What it ranks | Use it for | |---|---|---| | **Top % Gainers** | Biggest percent gain over yesterday's close | Your main gapper list, pre-market included | | **Hot Contracts by Volume** | Today's volume against the average daily volume (a 30-day average) | Names with unusual interest, a rough relative volume rank | | **Most Active** | Most shares traded today | What everyone is watching. Often dominated by big names: keep the price filter on | | **Top Volume Rate** | The highest volume rate per minute | Catching a stock as it starts to move | | **Halted** | Stocks in a trading halt | Volatility halts on runners, so you know before the stock reopens | | **Top Close-to-Open % Gainers** | Gain from yesterday's close to today's opening price | The classic gap list, but only after the open | Run **Top % Gainers** as the main window, with **Hot Contracts by Volume** and **Halted** beside it. Add **Most Active** after 09:30 when volume is real. ## How the IBKR scanner behaves in the pre-market This is where most "my scanner shows nothing" questions come from. - **Gainer and volume scans work pre-market.** When we tested IBKR's scanner through the API at 06:11 ET, Top % Gainers, Hot Contracts by Volume, Most Active, Top Volume Rate and Halted all returned live pre-market rows, with the change measured against yesterday's close. TWS must be logged in; IBKR's extended session starts at 04:00 ET. - **Open-gap scans are empty until 09:30.** Any scan measured to today's opening price, such as **Top Close-to-Open % Gainers** or the gap and since-open scans, returns nothing before the open because there is no opening price yet. That is not a broken scanner. Use Top % Gainers until 09:30. - **Relative volume starts low.** Hot Contracts by Volume compares today's volume so far with a whole average day. At 07:30, a stock at 2x has already traded two normal days of volume before the open, which is huge. - **Rows and refresh.** In TWS, most scans return 50 rows by default, and IBKR's guide says the data updates every 60 seconds. Through the API, IBKR caps each scan at 50 results and allows 10 scanner subscriptions at once ([API docs](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/market-scanner/introduction)); in our testing API scans refreshed about every 30 seconds. Either way, read the live price and tape on the stock itself. Details checked against IBKR's documentation on October 15, 2026. ## What IBKR's scanner cannot filter: float Float is the number of shares free to trade: shares outstanding minus those held by insiders and other locked-up holders. It is the number small-cap traders ask about most, and it is the one IBKR does not give you cleanly. - **Through the API, the float filter is refused.** When we asked IBKR's scanner for a float filter over the API, it answered with error 10360, "Scan filter floatSharesBelow is not allowed", and the float-ranked scan codes failed too. Any tool built on IBKR's API, Scalpel included, has no float filter from IBKR. - **IBKR does not offer a reliable free float field.** Float figures come from fundamentals vendors, are often weeks out of date, and change the day a company sells new stock. - **Shares outstanding is the free stand-in.** US companies report shares outstanding on the cover of their 10-K and 10-Q filings, free on [SEC EDGAR](https://www.sec.gov/edgar/search/) (foreign issuers filing 20-Fs report it less often). The float is never bigger than shares outstanding, so a small number there is a sure low float. A big number can still hide a smaller float, but at least you know where you stand. **Tip.** The 10-K cover also gives the dollar value of shares held by non-affiliates (the public float) as of mid-year. Divide by the price on that date for a rough float. It is old, so treat it as a ballpark. Before you trade a gapper, check the filings for a fresh [S-3 shelf](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#shelf-registration-s-3), [424B prospectus](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#424b-prospectus) or [ATM offering](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#atm-offering): a company that can sell stock into your move is a seller on every spike. [Checking dilution](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/check-dilution) walks through what to look for. ## A pre-market scanning routine 1. **04:00 to 07:00 ET: let the list build.** Log in to TWS early. Run Top % Gainers with the change floor at 5% and the volume floor low; early lists are short. 2. **From 07:00 ET: tighten the filters.** Raise the change floor to 10% and the volume floor to 100,000. The names left are the ones with real interest. 3. **Check why each one is moving.** Open the news for each row. No headline is a warning sign, not a reason to buy. 4. **Check the supply.** Look up shares outstanding and recent filings on EDGAR. Strike out names with a fresh offering or shelf. 5. **Pick two or three.** Put them in your Level 2 and time and sales windows, and mark the pre-market high and VWAP. 6. **09:30 ET: expect a reshuffle.** Add a Top Close-to-Open % Gainers window, and watch Halted as the open brings volatility halts. [The complete setup for day trading on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers) covers the data subscriptions, layout and order settings around this routine. For the trading style itself, see [small-cap momentum trading on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/small-cap-momentum-ibkr). ## Where Scalpel fits Scalpel runs on the same IBKR market scanner, over the TWS API, so there is no scanner service or extra data feed to pay for. What it adds is the merging and the second look, so the routine above happens on one panel ([set up the IBKR scanner](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)). - **Five scans merged into one list.** Top gainers, 3 minute volume spikes, halted, hot by volume and gappers run side by side with the same filters, and Scalpel merges them into one list ranked by change. Out of the box it lists up to 30 US stocks between $0.10 and $100 that are up at least 10%, pre-market included. Gappers stays empty until 09:30 ET, as in TWS. - **Live numbers between refreshes.** IBKR sends symbols only, about every 30 seconds; the price, change and relative volume on each row come from your own IBKR quotes, tick by tick. - **Shares out, not float.** The **SHS OUT** column is shares outstanding from SEC filings, and **Max shares out (M)** caps it. Dilution, catalyst and borrow chips sit on each row. - **Three scans on top of the list.** **High of day momentum** shows a listed stock breaking its high of day, pre-market included. **Running up** shows a stock up 2% in about a minute on a volume burst, with its own filters ($2 to $20, under 10M shares out by default). **Setups** marks patterns such as gap and go and the micro pullback with a letter chip ([scan types](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scan-types)). *Screenshot: The header clock at 07:42 ET, reading Pre-market, over the IBKR scanner: four gappers ranked by change, with their catalyst and dilution chips. Demo data.* [Pre-market scanning in Scalpel](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-scanning) covers what each scan does before 09:30. Where TWS is the better choice: if you scan other markets, options or fundamentals, or want hundreds of rows, TWS's scanner is far broader. Scalpel scans US stocks for long momentum only. *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **Does the IBKR scanner work in the pre-market?** Yes. Top % Gainers, Hot Contracts by Volume, Most Active and Halted return pre-market rows, with change measured against yesterday's close. Scans measured to today's opening price stay empty until 09:30 ET. **Can I filter by float in the IBKR scanner?** Not through the API: IBKR refuses the float filter there, and it does not offer a reliable free float field. Shares outstanding from SEC filings is the free stand-in, since the float is never larger. **How many results does the IBKR scanner show?** Most TWS scans return the top 50 by default, adjustable in the Max results field. Through the API each scan is capped at 50 results, with up to 10 scanner subscriptions at once. **How often does the TWS scanner refresh?** IBKR's TWS guide says scanner data updates every 60 seconds with Auto Refresh on. API scanner subscriptions refreshed about every 30 seconds in our testing. **What are good IBKR scanner settings for gappers?** A common start is Top % Gainers on US stocks, price $1 to $20, up 10% or more, and at least 100,000 shares traded. Loosen the change and volume floors before 07:00 ET, when the list is thin. **Does the IBKR scanner cost extra?** No. The scanner is part of TWS. You need IBKR's real-time US stock data for live prices on the rows, which is a market data subscription you pay IBKR for. --- # Small-cap momentum trading on Interactive Brokers: what you need > Small-cap momentum trading on Interactive Brokers: what the Warrior Trading review says, and how to get scanning, hotkeys, fixed risk and pre-market stops. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/small-cap-momentum-ibkr By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-09-18, last changed 2026-10-15. 8 min read. **In short:** You can trade the small-cap momentum style popularized by Ross Cameron on Interactive Brokers, but TWS needs work for it. The style needs six things: a pre-market gapper scanner, Level 2 and the tape, hotkeys, a fixed dollar risk per trade, stops that work before 09:30 ET, and quick dilution and news checks. TWS covers the first three with setup and the rest with manual steps; IBKR's execution and compliance rules apply whatever front end you use. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Warrior Trading, Ross Cameron or Interactive Brokers. Interactive Brokers is a common choice for active traders: low commissions, broad market access and solid data. Small-cap momentum trading is one of the most talked-about day trading styles. The two do not fit together as naturally as you might hope, and the best-known teacher of the style has said so in public. This post explains what the style asks of a platform, where IBKR falls short, and how to close each gap with TWS alone or with Scalpel. **This can cost you money: Read this first.** Small-cap momentum trading is hard, and most people who try it lose money. These stocks can drop 20% in seconds, halt, or gap straight through a stop, especially in the thin pre-market. No platform changes that. Practice in a paper account for weeks, then start with the smallest size you can. ## What the Warrior Trading review of Interactive Brokers says Warrior Trading publishes an [Interactive Brokers review](https://www.warriortrading.com/interactive-brokers-review-warrior-trading/), bylined Ross Cameron, first published in February 2025 and updated in November 2025. Its verdict lists IBKR as good for "Users who don't rely on fast-paced hotkey scalping" and not good for "Momentum day traders who need rapid order execution." In short, the review found TWS secure and its charts solid, but not a platform it would use for fast-paced day trading. The review gives four reasons, and they are worth separating, because they are different kinds of problem: | The review's point | What kind of problem | Can a different front end fix it? | |---|---|---| | Hotkeys split between global and window settings, so a buy key did not work until set in the Level 2 window | TWS setup | Yes | | No hotkey to sell a fraction of the position, so you type share counts mid-trade | TWS hotkey features | Yes | | A noticeable delay from hotkey to fill, compared with other brokers it tested | IBKR's order handling | No | | Sells blocked for a compliance review on thinly traded small caps, which the review ties to Rule 144 | IBKR's compliance rules | No | The first two are about the software on your screen. The last two are about the broker behind it, and the review itself notes they remain even if you run DAS Trader on top of IBKR. Any front end on IBKR, Scalpel included, sends orders through IBKR, so it inherits IBKR's execution and its compliance rules. We could not find IBKR's own description of when it reviews a sell, so if you plan to trade large size in thin names, ask IBKR before you do, not mid-trade. Reviews checked on October 15, 2026. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by DAS Trader. ## What small-cap momentum trading needs from a platform The style, as Ross Cameron and others describe it publicly, looks for a handful of stocks each morning that are moving hard on news: priced roughly $2 to $20, up 10% or more, trading at five or more times normal volume, with a fresh catalyst and a low float. It trades them in the pre-market and at the open, in and out within minutes, with a small fixed risk and a hard daily loss limit. That puts six demands on the platform: | Need | With TWS alone | With Scalpel | |---|---|---| | A pre-market gapper scanner | Advanced Market Scanner, Top % Gainers with filters | IBKR's scanner over the API, five scans merged into one list | | Level 2 and the tape | Market depth and time and sales windows, with a depth subscription | A Level 2 montage and tape on every desk | | Hotkeys | Global Configuration > Hotkeys, set per window where needed | Default keys for buys, partial sells, breakeven and flatten | | A fixed dollar risk per trade | Work out the shares yourself before each trade | Risk (Cents) presets size from the stop when you press | | Stops that work pre-market | Stop-limit with outside regular hours allowed, which can be jumped | App-monitored stops sent as limit sells | | Dilution and news checks | SEC EDGAR and the news window, by hand | Dilution, catalyst and borrow chips on every row | ## Small-cap momentum trading on Interactive Brokers, need by need ### 1. A pre-market scanner for gappers TWS's **Advanced Market Scanner** (Mosaic: **New Window > Advanced Market Scanner**) can find pre-market gappers: run **Top % Gainers** on US stocks with a $1 to $20 price band, a 10% minimum change and a volume floor, and tick **Auto Refresh**. Scans measured to today's open stay empty until 09:30 ET, and IBKR gives you no float filter through its API. The full settings, scan types and a routine are in [the IBKR momentum scanner setup](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-momentum-scanner). ### 2. Level 2 and the tape The style reads entries off the order book and the tape: buyers lifting the ask, a big seller at a round number getting cleared, the bid stepping up. On IBKR you need live US stock data plus at least one depth-of-book subscription, such as NASDAQ TotalView-OpenView, for a real [Level 2](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#level-2). Without depth you only see the best bid and ask. In TWS, open a market depth window and a time and sales window for the stock, and link them to the same symbol so a new ticker loads in both. ### 3. Hotkeys Momentum moves faster than a mouse. In TWS, hotkeys live under **Global Configuration > Hotkeys**. Learn from the review's experience: some order hotkeys only work in the window they were made for, so test every key in the window you will trade from, in the paper account, before it matters. Keep the set small: a buy, a sell of the full position, and a cancel-all. [TWS hotkeys for day trading](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-hotkeys-day-trading) covers a full setup. ### 4. A fixed dollar risk The style keeps every loss about the same size. That means choosing the dollars first and working out the shares from the stop: shares = dollar risk / stop distance. With $50 of risk and a 25-cent stop on a fictional stock ABCD, that is 200 shares; on WXYZ with a 10-cent stop, 500 shares. In TWS you do this sum before each trade and type the size into the order. Pair it with a daily loss limit you never move: if three losing trades end your day, a bad morning stays small. ### 5. Stops that work in the pre-market This is the gap that costs people the most. Outside regular hours, US exchanges accept limit orders only. A plain stop becomes a market order when it triggers, so it cannot protect a pre-market trade. On IBKR the usual workaround is a stop-limit order allowed to work outside regular hours, but when a thin stock drops through your limit in one print, the order can sit unfilled while the price keeps falling. [Why your stop did not trigger in the pre-market](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/premarket-stop-loss-ibkr) explains this in detail. With TWS alone, many traders simply watch the stop level and sell with a limit order by hand. ### 6. Dilution and news checks A stock that gaps on news is often a stock whose company wants to sell shares into the move. Before you buy, check SEC EDGAR for a fresh [S-3 shelf](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#shelf-registration-s-3), a [424B prospectus](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#424b-prospectus) or an [ATM offering](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#atm-offering), and read the headline itself: an offering is not a reason to buy. IBKR's news window shows the headlines your account's news providers carry. [Checking dilution](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/check-dilution) lists what to look for. ## Where Scalpel fits Scalpel is a desktop cockpit that runs on top of TWS or IB Gateway, on your own IBKR account, and was built around this style. It does not change IBKR's execution or compliance rules. What it changes is the work in between: the scanning, sizing, stops and checks that TWS leaves to you. [The momentum method guide](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/momentum-method) maps each part of the style to a Scalpel feature. ![A table of the six things small-cap momentum trading needs, showing that TWS alone covers the first three with setup and the last three by hand, while Scalpel builds in all six](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/small-cap-momentum-ibkr/needs-matrix.webp) *TWS can cover every need, but the first three take setup and the last three are manual steps before or during each trade. Scalpel builds all six into the desk.* - **Scanner.** IBKR's own scanner over the API, pre-market included, with price, change, relative volume, shares outstanding from SEC filings and the intel chips on each row. - **Level 2 and tape.** Each desk has a DAS-style montage, a time and sales tape and a chart, from your IBKR data. - **Hotkeys.** `Shift`+`1` to `Shift`+`4` buy your four presets, `Ctrl`+`X` sells half, `Ctrl`+`Z` sells everything at the bid, `B` moves the stop to breakeven, and a voice confirms each one. - **Fixed risk.** **Risk (Cents)** sets each buy button to dollars of risk: a $100 button with a 30c stop buys 333 shares. **Settings > Risk > Daily loss ($)** blocks new entries once the day's loss reaches it. - **Pre-market stops.** Every entry arms a working stop, a wider catastrophe net and a take-profit. Scalpel watches them itself; when price trades through your stop in LIVE, it sends a sell limit 5 cents under the last trade, flagged for extended hours, and re-prices it if the market runs away. They only work while Scalpel is running with a live feed, and no fill is guaranteed. - **Dilution and news.** Chips such as **Selling 21h** or **Dilution** on every row, from SEC filings, plus the catalyst from your IBKR news. The dilution entry guard asks for a second press on a buy within 30 minutes of a financing filing. *Screenshot: The IBKR scanner before the open, read the way the criteria do: price, change, relative volume, catalyst chips, shares out and the squeeze score. Only WXYZ and TUVW pass all five. Demo data.* *Screenshot: 07:41 ET, before the open: the PRE badge on the desk, and 400 ABCD from 5.50 with the working stop at 5.38 (-48.00, -1.0R) and the target at 5.74. Nothing is resting at the broker. Demo data.* [The pre-market routine guide](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-routine) turns this into a morning checklist with times. Scalpel is long only: it cannot short, and it does not trade for you. If you short small caps, or you need the fastest possible execution, a dedicated direct-access broker may suit you better than IBKR with any front end. [Scalping on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/scalping-interactive-brokers) weighs that choice. ## The honest part Better tools make the mechanics quicker and the risk rules harder to skip. They do not make this style easy. Most people who try small-cap momentum trading lose money, and the losses often come fast, in the pre-market, on the stocks that looked best on the scanner. If you try it, use a paper account until your results hold up over many trades, risk a small fixed amount per trade, and set a daily loss limit before your first live order. *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **Can you trade like Warrior Trading on Interactive Brokers?** You can trade the small-cap momentum style on IBKR, but TWS needs setup for scanning, hotkeys and pre-market stops. Warrior Trading's own review of IBKR says it suits traders who do not rely on fast-paced hotkey scalping. **What does Ross Cameron say about Interactive Brokers?** His review on warriortrading.com lists IBKR as good for users who don't rely on fast-paced hotkey scalping and not good for momentum day traders who need rapid order execution. It cites hotkey setup, order speed and blocked sells on small caps. **Does a stop loss work in the pre-market on IBKR?** A plain stop order does not, because exchanges accept only limit orders outside regular hours. A stop-limit allowed outside regular hours can trigger, but it may not fill if price drops through the limit. **Can I scan for low float stocks on Interactive Brokers?** Not through the API: IBKR refuses the float filter there. Shares outstanding from SEC filings is the free stand-in, since the float is never larger than shares outstanding. **Is Scalpel affiliated with Warrior Trading?** No. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Warrior Trading, Ross Cameron or Interactive Brokers. It is built around the publicly known small-cap momentum style. **Is small-cap momentum trading profitable?** Most people who try it lose money. It is very difficult and carries a significant risk of loss. Practice in a paper account first and keep your risk per trade small. --- # IBKR Tiered vs Fixed for scalpers: the math on real trades > IBKR Tiered vs Fixed worked out for scalpers: 5, 20 and 50 round trips a day, exchange fees, ECN rebates, the $1 minimum and the 1% cap. Fees checked Oct 2026. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-tiered-vs-fixed By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-09-03, last changed 2026-10-15. 9 min read. **In short:** For a scalper who buys and sells with marketable orders, IBKR Pro Fixed ($0.005 a share, $1.00 minimum, exchange and clearing fees included) is usually cheaper than Tiered on orders above about 150 shares, because Tiered's $0.0035 a share plus about $0.0032 of exchange and clearing fees comes to roughly $0.0067. Tiered wins on small orders, on orders that rest and earn exchange rebates, and once your monthly volume passes 3 million shares. IBKR Lite is not an option for API trading. Commissions are the one cost a scalper pays on every trade, win or lose. On IBKR you pick between two IBKR Pro plans for US stocks, Fixed and Tiered, and the cheaper one depends on how you trade: share size, price, how many round trips, and whether your orders take liquidity or add it. This post puts IBKR's current numbers into worked tables so you can see which way your own trading falls. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers. ## IBKR Pro Fixed vs Tiered: the rates From IBKR's [US stock commissions page](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/pricing/commissions-stocks.php), checked on October 15, 2026: | | IBKR Pro Fixed | IBKR Pro Tiered | |---|---|---| | Per share | $0.005 | $0.0035 up to 300,000 shares a month, then lower | | Minimum per order | $1.00 | $0.35 | | Maximum per order | 1% of trade value | 1% of trade value | | Exchange fees | Included | Added (or a rebate, see below) | | Clearing fees | Included | Added: $0.0002 a share | | Pass-through fees | Included | Added: 0.0735% of the commission | | Regulatory fees | Added | Added | Tiered's per-share rate steps down with your monthly US and Canadian share volume, applied on the shares above each break: | Monthly shares | Tiered rate | |---|---| | 300,000 or fewer | $0.0035 | | 300,001 to 3,000,000 | $0.0020 | | 3,000,001 to 20,000,000 | $0.0015 | | 20,000,001 to 100,000,000 | $0.0010 | | Over 100,000,000 | $0.0005 | The regulatory fees apply on both plans and are tiny on a scalp: the SEC fee of $0.0000206 times the value of each sale (about 4 cents on a $2,000 sell) and the CAT fee of $0.000003 a share. IBKR's page shows FINRA's trading activity fee at zero under a fee holiday from October 1 to December 31, 2026. ## What Tiered passes through: exchange fees and rebates On Tiered you pay the venue's own fee, and that depends on whether your order takes liquidity or adds it: - **Taking liquidity** means your order fills at once against a resting bid or offer: a [marketable limit](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#marketable-limit) buy at the ask, a sell into the bid, a stop-out. Most scalping entries and exits do this. - **Adding liquidity** means your order rests on the book and someone else's order fills it: a buy sitting on the bid, a sell sitting at the ask. IBKR's [Nasdaq fee table](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/accounts/fees/INETstkfee.php) for stocks at $1.00 and up lists $0.0030 a share to remove liquidity and a $0.0013 rebate to add it. NYSE Arca's table lists the same $0.0030 to remove and a $0.0020 rebate to add, for Nasdaq and NYSE-listed stocks. Under $1.00 the removal fee becomes 0.30% of the trade's value and the add rebate drops to zero in regular hours. Two notes from IBKR's own page are worth reading twice. IBKR "typically will not directly pass" enhanced rebates it earns at high volume, so assume the published rebate at best. And it warns traders to understand "the ECN charges for removing liquidity when sending marketable orders for low priced stocks (under USD 2.50)," which is most of the small-cap momentum universe. ## One order, priced both ways Here is a single buy that takes liquidity, at the $0.0035 tier, using the Nasdaq fees above: | Item | 1,000 shares at $2 on Tiered | 1,000 at $2 on Fixed | 300 shares at $10 on Tiered | 300 at $10 on Fixed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Commission | $3.50 | $5.00 | $1.05 | $1.50 | | Exchange fee (remove) | $3.00 | Included | $0.90 | Included | | Clearing | $0.20 | Included | $0.06 | Included | | Pass-through and CAT | $0.01 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | | Buy total | $6.71 | $5.00 | $2.01 | $1.50 | | Sell total (adds the SEC fee) | $6.75 | $5.04 | $2.07 | $1.56 | | Round trip | $13.45 | $10.05 | $4.09 | $3.06 | Per share, a taking order costs about $0.0067 on Tiered against $0.005 on Fixed. At the next tier down ($0.0020) Tiered is still about $0.0052. Only above 3 million shares a month ($0.0015) does a taking order on Tiered drop under Fixed. ## IBKR tiered vs fixed for a scalper: 5, 20 and 50 round trips Now the same trades repeated through a day. "Both take" is the usual scalping pattern. "Sell adds" assumes you buy at the ask and sell resting at the ask (a limit target). "Both add" is a trader who works bids and offers and gets the Nasdaq rebate on both sides. **1,000 shares at $2, cost per day:** | Round trips a day | Fixed | Tiered, both take | Tiered, sell adds | Tiered, both add | |---|---|---|---|---| | 5 | $50.24 | $67.26 | $45.76 | $24.26 | | 20 | $200.94 | $269.05 | $183.05 | $97.05 | | 50 | $502.36 | $672.62 | $457.62 | $242.62 | **300 shares at $10, cost per day:** | Round trips a day | Fixed | Tiered, both take | Tiered, sell adds | Tiered, both add | |---|---|---|---|---| | 5 | $15.32 | $20.43 | $13.98 | $7.53 | | 20 | $61.27 | $81.70 | $55.90 | $30.10 | | 50 | $153.18 | $204.26 | $139.76 | $75.26 | ![Bar charts of daily cost at 20 round trips for 1,000 shares at $2 and 300 shares at $10, comparing Fixed with Tiered when both sides take, the sell adds, or both add liquidity](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/ibkr-tiered-vs-fixed/cost-per-day.webp) *At 20 round trips a day, Tiered costs more than Fixed only when both sides take liquidity. Once the sell rests on the book, Tiered comes in under Fixed at both sizes.* These use the $0.0035 tier for every share. Over a month the busier rows move into cheaper tiers, so here is the same "both take" pattern over 21 sessions with the tiers applied as volume builds: | Pattern, 21 sessions | Shares in the month | Fixed | Tiered, both take | |---|---|---|---| | 1,000 at $2, 5 a day | 210,000 | $1,055 | $1,412 | | 1,000 at $2, 20 a day | 840,000 | $4,220 | $4,839 | | 1,000 at $2, 50 a day | 2,100,000 | $10,550 | $11,423 | | 300 at $10, 5 a day | 63,000 | $322 | $429 | | 300 at $10, 20 a day | 252,000 | $1,287 | $1,716 | | 300 at $10, 50 a day | 630,000 | $3,217 | $3,794 | The gap narrows with volume but Fixed stays cheaper for a pure taker at these sizes. If even one side of your trade adds liquidity, Tiered pulls ahead. These are estimates from the published rates; your statement is the real number, and venue fees differ by exchange and by session. ## Small orders, sub-dollar stocks and the 1% cap The per-order minimums and the 1% maximum change the picture at the edges. **Small share counts favor Tiered.** Fixed charges at least $1.00 an order. Tiered's minimum is $0.35, plus the venue fee: | One buy that takes liquidity | Tiered | Fixed | |---|---|---| | 50 shares at $10 | $0.51 | $1.00 | | 100 shares at $5 | $0.67 | $1.00 | | 150 shares at $5 | $1.01 | $1.00 | | 200 shares at $5 | $1.34 | $1.00 | The crossover sits at about 150 shares for stocks over $1. If you scale out in 50 and 100-share pieces, each piece pays its own minimum, and Fixed charges a full dollar for each. **The 1% cap protects sub-dollar orders.** On both plans the commission cannot exceed 1% of the trade's value, and IBKR applies the cap even when it is below the minimum. IBKR's own examples: 1,000 shares at $0.25 costs $2.50 on Fixed (the cap, not $5.00), and 10 shares at $0.20 costs $0.02. Two catches: - IBKR's footnote to the cap adds "the applicable exchange, ECN and/or specialist fees" on top, so a capped Fixed order is not all-in. A taking order for 10,000 shares at $0.40 hits the $40.00 cap on Fixed, plus about $12 of exchange fee at 0.30% of value. - On Tiered the same order costs $35.00 commission, $12.00 exchange fee and $2.00 clearing: about $49. So on sub-dollar stocks the two plans land close together, and the venue fee, not the commission, is the big number. Orders where the cap applies also do not count toward Tiered's volume tiers. **Modified and partial orders.** IBKR treats a modified order as a cancel and a new order. Its example: 200 shares submitted, 100 fill, you modify, and the next 100 fill: two minimums. An order that stays open overnight is also a new order for minimums. ## What about IBKR Lite? IBKR Lite charges $0 commission on US exchange-listed stocks, but it does not work with the API. IBKR's [third-party platform FAQ](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/third-party-integrations/general-third-party-frequently-asked-questions) says you need a funded IBKR Pro account, and that the message "API support is not available" means you have an IBKR Lite account or your switch to Pro has not taken effect yet. If you trade through TWS hotkeys alone, Lite is a choice; if you use any API tool, it is Pro Fixed or Pro Tiered. IBKR's page also says directed API orders cannot use Tiered, while SmartRouted API orders can use either plan. ## How to choose, and how to switch - **Mostly marketable orders above about 150 shares, under 3 million shares a month:** Fixed is likely cheaper. - **Lots of small orders or scale-outs under 150 shares:** Tiered. - **Many exits or entries that rest on the book:** Tiered, because of the rebates. - **Sub-dollar stocks:** close either way; the 0.30% venue fee dominates. To switch, in Client Portal open the user menu and go to **Settings > Account Configuration > IBKR Pricing Plan**, then pick Fixed or Tiered under IBKR Pro. IBKR's [pricing plan guide](https://www.ibkrguides.com/clientportal/pricingstructure.htm) says requests are processed no later than the Friday after you make them. The cheapest way to decide is to look at your own last month: export your trades, count the orders under 150 shares and the fills that added liquidity, and price them both ways. For the bigger picture, see [scalping on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/scalping-interactive-brokers) and the full [day trading on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers) setup. ## Where Scalpel fits Scalpel trades through your IBKR Pro account over the API, and every LIVE order uses SMART routing, so it works with either plan. In LIVE it books the commission IBKR reports for each fill, so the FEE column and your P&L show your real plan's cost. In SIM, the plan is a setting. Open **Settings > Risk > Commission plan** and pick **IBKR Pro Tiered** (the default) or **IBKR Pro Fixed**. On Tiered, SIM adds the $0.003 exchange fee on fills that take liquidity and $0.0002 clearing on every fill, so the 1,000-share round trip above shows about $13.40 in SIM. SIM leaves out the regulatory fees and does not pay rebates, so on a Tiered account that rests orders your real bill will come in a little lower. The [commissions guide](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/commissions) has the details and a **Custom** option for your own tier. *Screenshot: Settings, Risk: the Commission plan list, on IBKR Pro Tiered.* Practicing in SIM on the plan you are really on is the honest way to see whether a small edge survives its fees. A 10-cent scalp on 300 shares grosses $30; at $4.09 a round trip, Tiered taking both sides keeps about $25.91 of it. Fees checked on October 15, 2026. *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **Is IBKR Tiered or Fixed better for day trading?** It depends on your orders. For marketable orders above about 150 shares, Fixed is usually cheaper until your monthly volume passes 3 million shares. Tiered is cheaper for small orders and for orders that rest on the book and earn exchange rebates. **What are IBKR's Fixed and Tiered commissions for US stocks?** Fixed is $0.005 a share with a $1.00 minimum and a cap of 1% of trade value, with exchange and clearing fees included. Tiered starts at $0.0035 a share with a $0.35 minimum and the same cap, plus exchange, clearing and pass-through fees, and the rate falls as monthly volume grows. **Does IBKR Tiered pay ECN rebates?** Yes, when your order adds liquidity at a venue that pays a rebate, such as $0.0013 a share on Nasdaq for stocks over $1. Orders that take liquidity pay the venue's fee instead, about $0.003 a share. **Can I use IBKR Lite with the API?** No. IBKR says third-party platforms need a funded IBKR Pro account, and API support is not available on IBKR Lite. **Why did I pay two commission minimums on one order?** IBKR treats a modified order as a new order, so if part filled before you changed it, each part can pay its own minimum. Orders that stay open overnight are also counted as new. --- # Scalping through the IBKR API: what the TWS API can and cannot do > IBKR API scalping, from building a trading app on the TWS API: market data lines, Level 2 and tick-by-tick caps, pacing, scanner limits, pre-market stops. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-api-scalping By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-09-23, last changed 2026-10-15. 12 min read. **In short:** You can scalp through the Interactive Brokers TWS API: orders, Level 2, tick-by-tick prints and IBKR's market scanner all work, including in the pre-market. The limits are what shape the tool. A default account gets 100 market data lines, only 3 Level 2 books and 5 tick-by-tick streams at once, 50 API requests a second, and 10 scanner subscriptions of 50 rows each. Stop orders cannot protect a pre-market trade, so a scalping app has to watch its own exits. We built Scalpel, a Rust desktop trading cockpit, on the TWS API. Every quote, Level 2 row, print, scan and LIVE order in it goes through the API socket of TWS or IB Gateway on the trader's own machine. This post is what we learned: the documented limits that matter for a scalper, the undocumented behavior we hit, and the design choices they forced. The scanner findings come from a live TWS session in October 2026; the limits were checked against IBKR's documentation on October 15, 2026. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers. ## How the TWS API works The TWS API is not a web API. Your program opens a TCP socket to TWS or IB Gateway, which must be running and logged in, and those programs talk to IBKR's servers for you. Three consequences follow: - **The API can only do what TWS can do.** IBKR says so plainly in its [API limitations](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/notes-limitations/tws-api-limitations): if a feature is not in TWS, it is not in the API. Every check and every rejection happens in TWS or on IBKR's servers, not in your code. - **A human logs in.** IBKR states that a headless session is not supported: someone types the username and password and approves two-factor. Both programs are built to restart daily, and you re-authenticate once a week ([details](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/architecture/the-trader-workstation/the-ib-gateway)). - **The API starts closed.** You tick **Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients** in TWS and untick **Read-Only API** before any program can place an order. The [enable TWS API guide](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/enable-tws-api) has every setting. Default socket ports are 7496 (TWS live), 7497 (TWS paper), 4001 (IB Gateway live) and 4002 (IB Gateway paper). From the API's point of view TWS and IB Gateway are identical; IB Gateway just has no trading screens. We compare them for day trading in [IB Gateway vs TWS](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ib-gateway-vs-tws). ## IB API market data limits: the 100-line budget Everything you stream costs a market data line, and lines are shared across TWS's own windows and every API connection on the same username. IBKR's [market data lines page](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/general/market-data-subscriptions/market-data-lines/introduction) gives the example: 50 symbols in a TWS watchlist plus 25 on one API connection leaves 25 for a second connection. Go over and requests fail with error 101, "Max number of tickers has been reached". Every user starts with 100 lines. After the first month the allowance is the greater of 100, monthly commissions in USD divided by 8, or equity times 100 divided by $1,000,000 ([how lines are allocated](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/general/market-data-subscriptions/market-data-lines/how-market-data-is-allocated)). For a small account that means 100. The other way up is a Quote Booster pack: IBKR's [market data pricing page](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/pricing/market-data-pricing.php) lists them at USD 30.00 a month for 100 more lines (price checked on October 15, 2026). To see how many lines you are using, press `Ctrl`+`Alt`+`=` in TWS on Windows. ### Level 2 and tick-by-tick are capped much harder Depth of book and tick-by-tick prints get their own, much smaller caps, both tied to your line count. From IBKR's [specialized market data lines table](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/general/market-data-subscriptions/market-data-lines/specialized-market-data-lines): | Market data lines | Tick-by-tick streams | Level 2 books | | --- | --- | --- | | 100 (the default) | 5 | 3 | | 101 to 200 | 10 | 3 | | 401 to 500 | 25 | 4 | | 601 to 700 | 35 | 6 | | 1001 to 1100 | 55 | 10 | Tick-by-tick scales at 5% of your lines. Level 2 is roughly one book per 100 lines, never fewer than 3. The pricing page adds that each Quote Booster pack brings one more depth-of-book symbol, which the table does not show, so after you change anything, check the real count in TWS rather than trusting either page. The depth cap counts unique symbols: several windows or requests on the same stock use one slot. Ask for a fourth symbol on a default account and you get error 309, "Max number (3) of market depth requests has been reached". For a scalper this is the number that decides your layout. A cockpit with one Level 2 per symbol can show three symbols with full depth on a default account. Scalpel runs up to six desks; on a default account the desks past the cap show **Depth unavailable** and keep their quote, chart and tape ([market data guide](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). ### Level 1 is sampled, depth and tick-by-tick are not This surprises people. The ordinary streaming quote you get from `reqMktData` is not every tick: IBKR's docs describe it as "aggregate snapshots taken several times per second", every 250 ms for US stocks. Market depth "is sent without sampling or filtering", and tick-by-tick data is the same feed as TWS's Time and Sales window. That matters for exit logic. A pre-market small cap can print through your level and back inside 250 ms: tick-by-tick sees that print, the Level 1 last price may not. Which one you trigger on is a design choice. Tick-by-tick costs one of only 5 streams on a default account; Level 1 is cheap and ignores single-print wicks. Scalpel's desks use tick-by-tick for the tape, SMART depth for the ladder, and the Level 1 stream for the quote line and the last price its stops check. Two more rules from the [tick-by-tick docs](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/md/live-ticks): no more than one tick-by-tick request per instrument every 15 seconds, and odd lots are not in the depth feed. ## Pacing violations and the 50 requests a second rule IBKR paces requests, not data. A subscription costs one request when you open it, however much data it then streams. The current [pacing rule](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/pacing-limitations/introduction) is your market data lines divided by 2, per second: 50 requests a second on the default 100 lines. What happens when you break it is a setting in TWS and IB Gateway, under **API > Settings**: "Reject messages above maximum allowed message rate vs applying pacing". Ticked, you get error 100, and the third breach ends the API session. Unticked, TWS queues your requests and slows you down quietly ([pacing behavior](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/pacing-limitations/pacing-behavior)). For an app that also places orders, a quiet queue in front of a sell order is not what you want, so do not lean on it: stay well under the rate. Historical data has older, stricter rules for bars of 30 seconds or less ([pacing violations for small bars](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/market-data-historical/historical-data-limitations/pacing-violations-for-small-bars-30-secs-or-less)): - No identical historical requests within 15 seconds. - No six or more requests for the same contract, exchange and tick type within 2 seconds. - No more than 60 requests in any 10-minute period. - BID_ASK requests count twice, and bars this small are only kept for six months. Error 162 is the historical data service error you see when one of these trips. The practical lesson: a trader flipping symbols on a desk can burn 60 history requests in ten minutes without trying. Scalpel loads the 1-minute series first because it is the usual view and the VWAP source, fetches other timeframes in turn, falls back to a shorter span if IBKR rejects the first, and gives background feeds a lighter history (1-minute and 5-minute only) so they do not eat the budget the trader's desks need. ## The IBKR API market scanner: what we found IBKR's [market scanner over the API](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/tws-api/doc/market-scanner/introduction) is the same engine as TWS's Advanced Market Scanner. It costs nothing extra, which is why Scalpel's scanner is built on it ([set up the IBKR scanner](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner)). Here is what we found running it against a live account before the open in October 2026. | What | What we found | | --- | --- | | Rows per scan | 50 at most, as documented | | Simultaneous scans | 10 at a time. The 11th failed with error 322, IBKR's generic "Server error when processing an API client request", not a clear limit message | | Refresh | About every 30 seconds | | What comes back | Contracts only: no price, change or volume. You enrich each one with a market data request, which uses a line | | Pre-market gainers | `TOP_PERC_GAIN` with `priceAbove` and `priceBelow` filters returned real pre-market gainers | | Gap scans before the open | Open-gap scans such as `HIGH_OPEN_GAP` returned nothing: there is no open yet. They fill at 09:30 ET | | Float | Refused. `floatSharesBelow` returned error 10360, "Scan filter floatSharesBelow is not allowed" | | Error 165 | TWS sends it alongside scanner results, sometimes before the data | Three of those rows cost us time. **Float is not available.** For a small-cap momentum scanner that hurts, because float is the first thing a trader asks about. The scanner does accept a shares-outstanding cap (`numSharesBelow`), and shares outstanding is never below the float, so it works as a ceiling. For the number shown next to each name, Scalpel reads shares outstanding from SEC EDGAR filings, which are free. **Contracts only means lines.** A 50-row scan is 50 symbols with no numbers. To rank them live you need quotes, and every quote is a line. Scalpel's list defaults to 30 names for that reason: it leaves room in the 100-line budget for the desks. **Error 165 can end your stream.** Error 165 is officially the "Historical market Data Service query message", and TWS also sends it with scanner results, as an "N items retrieved" notice. Some client libraries treat any error on a scanner request as the end of the stream. The open-source Rust client we use did, except for the "no items retrieved" form, so the 3-minute volume and halted scans never delivered a single row. We carry a one-line patch that treats every 165 on a scanner request as informational. If your scans connect and then go quiet, check this first. A minimal pre-market gainers request in IBKR's Python client looks like this: ```python from ibapi.scanner import ScannerSubscription from ibapi.tag_value import TagValue sub = ScannerSubscription() sub.instrument = "STK" sub.locationCode = "STK.US.MAJOR" sub.scanCode = "TOP_PERC_GAIN" sub.numberOfRows = 50 filters = [TagValue("priceAbove", "1"), TagValue("priceBelow", "20")] app.reqScannerSubscription(7001, sub, [], filters) ``` Scalpel runs five scans side by side (top gainers, 3-minute volume spikes, halted, hot by volume and gappers) and merges them, so it uses half of the 10-scan allowance. Anything else on the same login that runs API scans shares the rest. *Screenshot: The IBKR scanner panel in Scalpel: IBKR names the symbols, live quotes supply the change, ranking and volume between IBKR's refreshes. Demo data.* ## Client ids and multiple connections One TWS or IB Gateway session accepts up to 32 API connections at once, each identified by a client id you choose ([connectivity docs](https://interactivebrokers.github.io/tws-api/connection.html)). Reuse an id that is already connected and TWS turns you away with error 326, "Unable to connect as the client id is already in use". We use that headroom on purpose: one connection per job. | Connection | Client id | Carries | | --- | --- | --- | | Account | 1 | Account summary, positions, P&L | | Orders | 2 | LIVE order placement, order status, fills, commissions | | Desks | 10 and up, one per desk | That desk's Level 2, tick-by-tick prints, quote and bars | | Scanner quotes | 70 | Level 1 for the names on the scanner list | | News | 71 | Headlines on the account's IBKR news feeds | | Scanner | 72 | IBKR's market scans | The reason is head-of-line blocking. Level 2 on an active small cap is a firehose of inbound messages. If orders shared a socket with it, a sell could sit behind a depth burst. On its own connection, an order message never waits for anyone else's data, and a desk that loses its feed can be torn down and rebuilt without touching orders. Each connection reconnects on its own with capped backoff, so one failure does not take down the rest. ![TWS or IB Gateway linked to six API connections by client id: 1 account, 2 orders, 10 and up for desks, 70 scanner quotes, 71 news and 72 scanner](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/blog/tws-api-scalping/connections.webp) *One API connection per job, so an order never waits behind a burst of Level 2 data. Splitting sockets adds no data: every connection shares the same limits.* Two warnings if you do the same. Connections share the account's line, depth and tick-by-tick limits: splitting sockets does not buy you more data. And another API tool on the same machine must not use your client ids, or the two will keep knocking each other off. ## Order types and outsideRth for TWS API day trading The API can place essentially every order type TWS can: limit, market, stop, stop-limit, trailing, brackets, one-cancels-all groups and IBKR's algos. For extended hours, each order carries an `outsideRth` flag, the API version of TWS's "Fill outside RTH" box. Without it, a limit order sent at 07:00 ET waits for the open. Before 09:30 and after 16:00 ET, US exchanges run limit-only sessions: every order needs a price ([extended hours](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#extended-hours)). Scalpel sends only [marketable limit](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#marketable-limit) orders: a buy priced at or above the ask, a sell at or below the bid, with `outsideRth` set when the trader allows extended-hours fills. The same order type works at 06:00 and at 11:00. Two more things from building the order path: - **TWS precautions can hold API orders.** TWS has its own size and price warnings. Under **API > Precautions** you can bypass them for API orders. If you do, put your own caps in the app; Scalpel has a fat-finger notional cap and a position cap. - **Never send an order that waited out a disconnect.** If the order connection drops, an order queued during the gap was priced off a market that has since moved. Scalpel refuses any order that has been waiting more than 2 seconds and tells the trader, rather than sending a stale limit. ## Why stop orders do not work pre-market This is the single biggest constraint for a pre-market scalper, and the reason Scalpel's stops work the way they do. A [stop order](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#stop-order) becomes a market order when it triggers, and there are no market orders before the open. A [stop-limit](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#stop-limit-order) can be set to work outside regular hours, but in a thin pre-market book price can gap straight through its limit, and the order then sits unfilled while the stock falls. We walk through that failure, and what you can do about it in TWS alone, in [why your stop did not trigger in the pre-market](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/premarket-stop-loss-ibkr). The API way around it is an app-monitored exit. The app holds the stop, watches the last trade price, and when price trades through the level it sends a marketable limit sell with `outsideRth` set, which the exchange accepts at any session. In Scalpel's LIVE mode that exit is a sell limit 5 cents under the last trade, re-priced if the market runs away from it ([pre-market stops guide](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-stops)). *Screenshot: Price fell through the stop's first exit: that SELL reads Cancelled, and the re-priced SELL sent a second later is Working. Demo data.* **This can cost you money.** An app-monitored stop only works while the app runs and its data feed is live. If TWS restarts, the network drops or the app closes, nothing at IBKR protects the position, and no fill is guaranteed even when the exit fires. Anyone building this needs a plan for the link going down, and the trader needs to know where to flatten by hand. ## Latency: what actually affects it We will not quote a millisecond figure: it depends on your machine, your connection and the stock. What we can say is where the time goes. 1. **Your connection to IBKR.** TWS connects to an IBKR server region; distance and your ISP matter more than anything in your code. 2. **TWS or IB Gateway in the middle.** Every message passes through a Java application on your machine. IBKR suggests a larger **Memory Allocation** for API users (Global Configuration, General) on a machine that can spare it; a starved TWS stalls. 3. **What you subscribe to.** Level 1 arrives as 250 ms snapshots. If your stop logic reads it, that sampling is your floor. Tick-by-tick and depth are not sampled. 4. **Your own queue.** Pacing, a busy shared socket, or a UI thread that handles every depth message before the next order all add delay you control. Scalpel draws the latest book at most about 16 times a second rather than every update, and keeps orders on their own connection. 5. **The route and the book.** An order goes from TWS to IBKR, through its router to a venue. In the pre-market, the book itself is the bigger risk: thin size means your fill price moves more than any processing delay. For a human scalper reading Level 2, the API path is not the bottleneck. Hesitation, a modal dialog or a mouse is. ## Where Scalpel fits If you would rather trade than build, Scalpel is this design, finished: up to six desks with Level 2, tape and chart, hotkey entries sized by shares, dollars or risk, app-monitored stops dragged on the chart, IBKR's scanner pre-market included, and SIM against the live book. It is long only, uses only IBKR data and free public sources, and never trades for you. It runs next to TWS or IB Gateway on the same computer: [connect Scalpel to Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers) walks through it. If you want a full trading interface without writing code, TWS itself does all of this by hand, and our pillar on [day trading on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers) covers that setup end to end. *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **Can you scalp with the Interactive Brokers API?** Yes. The TWS API gives you orders, Level 2, tick-by-tick prints and IBKR's scanner, including in the pre-market. The constraints are market data limits, pacing, and the fact that broker stop orders cannot protect a pre-market trade. **How many market data lines does IBKR give you?** Every user starts with 100. After the first month it is the greater of 100, monthly commissions divided by 8, or equity times 100 divided by $1,000,000. Quote Booster packs add 100 lines each for a monthly fee. **How many Level 2 books can I stream through the IBKR API?** Three on a default account of 100 market data lines. The cap grows with your lines, roughly one book per 100 lines, and counts unique symbols, so several requests for the same stock use one slot. **What is an IBKR API pacing violation?** Sending requests faster than IBKR allows: by default 50 requests a second, plus stricter rules for historical data such as no more than 60 historical requests in 10 minutes. TWS either rejects the excess with error 100 or slows your requests down, depending on a setting. **Can the IBKR API scanner filter by float?** No. IBKR refuses float as an API scan filter with error 10360. The scanner accepts a shares outstanding cap instead, and shares outstanding can be read from SEC EDGAR filings for free. **Do stop orders work in the pre-market through the IBKR API?** Not as protection. A stop becomes a market order, which exchanges do not accept before the open, and a stop-limit can be jumped in a thin book. Pre-market exits need marketable limit orders with outsideRth set, sent by an app that watches the price. --- # DAS Trader vs Interactive Brokers (and where Scalpel fits) > DAS Trader vs IBKR: yes, DAS Pro runs on an IBKR Pro account from $100 a month. Costs, routing, shorting and hotkeys compared with TWS and Scalpel. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/compare/das-trader By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-09-28, last changed 2026-10-15. 10 min read. **In short:** Yes, you can run DAS Trader Pro on an Interactive Brokers account. As of October 15, 2026, DAS sells "For Interactive Brokers" packages from $100 to $200 a month for non-professional traders, and they need an IBKR Pro account (not Lite). Orders go to IBKR through a FIX connection at your normal IBKR Pro commissions, and DAS supplies the market data. So the real question is not DAS or IBKR, but which screen you put on your IBKR account: DAS, IBKR's own free TWS, or a focused tool such as Scalpel. "DAS Trader vs IBKR" compares two different kinds of thing. DAS Trader Pro is a trading platform: a front end you use through a broker. Interactive Brokers is a broker, and it ships its own free platform, Trader Workstation (TWS). Since DAS can be linked to an IBKR account, many traders end up comparing three setups for the same account: TWS alone, DAS on IBKR, or another front end on IBKR. This page sets out what each costs, what each does better, and who should pick which, including where DAS is plainly the better choice. ## Can you use DAS Trader with Interactive Brokers? Yes. DAS lists Interactive Brokers among its partner brokers, and IBKR documents the link on its own [DAS Trader connection page](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/third-party-integrations/specific-third-party-connection-details/das-trader/introduction). How it works, from those two sources: - **You subscribe with DAS first.** On DAS's [subscription page for Interactive Brokers](https://www.dastrader.com/form-sub-ib.html) you pick an IB Live package and pay DAS. The page says non-professional subscribers must have an **IBKR Pro** account, not IBKR Lite. - **Then you authorize the link.** After paying, you send the authorization to IBKR from DAS's page. IBKR says the link is a manual review on both sides and usually takes 1 to 2 business days once IBKR has the application ([IBKR's DAS FAQ](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/docs/third-party-integrations/specific-third-party-connection-details/das-trader/das-trader-frequently-asked-questions)). Questions about the status go to DAS, not IBKR. - **Orders go through IBKR, data comes from DAS.** IBKR says DAS connects through an aggregate FIX connection for order placement, at the same rates as trading the IBKR Pro account directly. No IBKR software needs to be installed. The market data in DAS is supplied by DAS, not by IBKR, so your IBKR market data subscriptions do not feed it. - **Paper and mobile.** IBKR says DAS works with either the paper or the real account, and the subscription includes the DAS mobile apps (IBKR's firm ID in the app is "IBCO"). DAS's non-professional packages for IBKR clients, as listed on that page: | DAS package | Data included, in DAS's words | Monthly | | --- | --- | --- | | Basic User | Basic Level 1 data for US equities | $100 | | Standard User | Regional, OPRA or OTC Level 1 | $120 | | Deluxe User | TotalView, OPRA or OTC Level 2 | $150 | | Elite User | All books, OTC or OPRA Level 1, imbalance, float, FX | $175 | | Premium Elite | All books, OTC or OPRA Level 2, imbalance, float, FX | $200 | Prepaid terms cost the same per month (12 months of Deluxe is $1,800). Professional packages start at $300 a month, a second IBKR account is a $50 add-on, and the page states that all sales are final. Prices checked on October 15, 2026; check DAS's page before you buy, because packages change. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by DAS Inc. or Interactive Brokers. ## What each one is **DAS Trader Pro** is a direct-access trading platform from DAS Inc., built and tested for Windows. It is licensed through many brokers and clearing firms (DAS's site lists Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab, Wedbush, TradeStation and Clear Street among them), and which features you get can depend on the broker behind it. It trades stocks and options, and it is known for its Level 2 montage, its scriptable hotkeys, direct routes and, at brokers that support it, a locate window for short sellers. **Interactive Brokers** is the broker: it holds your account, executes and clears your trades, and charges commissions (IBKR Pro Tiered starts at $0.0035 a share, Fixed is $0.005 a share, per [IBKR's stock commission page](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/pricing/commissions-stocks.php)). Its desktop platform, TWS, is free with the account and covers nearly everything IBKR trades. IB Gateway is the same program without the trading screens, used by API tools. **Scalpel** is a desktop day-trading cockpit that runs on top of your own IBKR account. It connects through TWS or IB Gateway on the same computer, through IBKR's API. It is built for one style: long-only scalping of US small caps, pre-market first. It costs $299 once. ## DAS Trader vs IBKR TWS vs Scalpel: the comparison table | | DAS Trader Pro on IBKR | IBKR TWS alone | Scalpel on IBKR | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Monthly platform cost | $100 to $200 non-pro (DAS's IB packages) | $0 | $0 ($299 once) | | Market data | Included in the DAS package, supplied by DAS | IBKR subscriptions, billed by IBKR | The same IBKR subscriptions as TWS | | Broker | IBKR Pro (also many other brokers) | IBKR, Pro or Lite | IBKR, Pro or Lite | | Hotkeys | Scriptable: routes, prices, size formulas | Built-in hotkeys tied to order presets | Fixed actions you rebind: four buy presets, scale-outs, breakeven, trail, cancel, flatten | | Level 2 | DAS montage; TotalView on Deluxe and up | Market Depth and BookTrader windows | DAS-style montage built from IBKR SMART depth | | Routing choice | Direct routes at DAS brokers; on an IBKR link, check with DAS which destinations are enabled | SMART, or pick an exchange as the destination | IBKR SMART only, no route setting | | Shorting and locates | Yes; locate window at brokers that support it | Yes, against IBKR's own borrow inventory | No: long only by design | | Pre-market stops | Several stop types; check how each exits in the limit-only sessions | Plain stops cannot protect pre-market; stop-limits can be jumped | App-monitored stop that exits with a limit 5 cents under the last trade | | Sizing by risk | Possible with a hotkey script | Not from a hotkey | Built in: Risk (Cents), Risk (ATR), Risk (Low) presets | | Platform OS | Windows, plus mobile apps | Windows, Mac and Linux, plus IBKR's mobile app | Windows 10 and 11, and Macs with Apple silicon | | Learning curve | Steep: scripting and setup | Steep: a very large program | Narrow: one style, keys work out of the box | | Price model | Monthly subscription, sales final | Free with the account | One payment, lifetime license, 7-day refund | A few notes behind the table: - **Level 2 is not the same feed everywhere.** DAS's Deluxe package carries Nasdaq TotalView from DAS's own servers. Scalpel's montage is built from IBKR's SMART depth, so each row is a venue (NSDQ, ARCA, EDGX), not the firm behind the order; [reading the players from venues](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/read-the-players) explains what you can and cannot infer from that. Which IBKR subscriptions you need for depth in TWS or Scalpel is covered in [IBKR Level 2: which subscription and how to read it](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ibkr-level-2). - **Pre-market is limit-only.** Before 09:30 ET and after 16:00 ET, US exchanges accept [limit orders](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#limit-order) only. That applies to every platform, which is why any pre-market stop must exit with a limit order to be accepted at all ([pre-market stops](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/premarket-stops)). - **IBKR Lite works with TWS and Scalpel, not with DAS.** If you are on Lite, DAS means switching to Pro first. ## Where DAS Trader is the better choice Be clear on this before you buy anything: for several kinds of trader, DAS is the right tool and Scalpel is not. - **You short.** Many day traders rely on short selling, and Scalpel cannot do it at all: every sell is capped to the shares you hold ([why Scalpel is long only](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/long-only)). DAS shorts, and at brokers in its network that offer it, has a locate window for hard-to-borrow names. Whether those locate tools work on an IBKR link is a question for DAS; on IBKR, borrow comes from IBKR's own inventory. - **You want direct routing.** Picking ARCA or EDGX yourself, or hitting one specific venue: DAS is built around that, through direct-access brokers. Scalpel sends every order with IBKR's SMART router and has no route setting. - **You script your hotkeys.** DAS hotkeys are small scripts: set a route, price off the bid or ask, compute size from a dollar risk and a stop, send. If you want to build your own logic key by key, DAS gives you a language. Scalpel's keys are fixed actions you can rebind, not a scripting system. - **You trade options, or with another broker.** DAS covers options and works with many brokers. Scalpel trades US stocks only, through IBKR only. - **You learned on DAS.** If your process, or a course you follow, is built on DAS and its hotkeys, the monthly fee may simply be the cost of not relearning. ## Where TWS alone is enough If cost is the deciding factor, start with TWS. It is free, it does everything IBKR offers (shorting, options, futures, directed routing, bracket orders held at the broker), and a non-professional Level 2 setup on IBKR costs far less than a DAS package. As of October 15, 2026, [IBKR's market data page](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/pricing/market-data-pricing.php) lists the US Securities Snapshot and Futures Value Bundle at $10 a month (waived in a month with $30 of commissions), the US Equity and Options Add-On Streaming Bundle at $4.50, and NASDAQ TotalView-OpenView at $16.50, all non-professional prices. The cost of TWS is setup time. Hotkeys depend on order presets you configure per window, size is set in shares rather than risk, and the layout takes work. [TWS hotkeys for day trading](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-hotkeys-day-trading) walks through a working set, and the [complete IBKR day trading setup](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers) covers the account, data and order types. ## Where Scalpel fits Scalpel is a DAS alternative for one kind of trader: long-only, scalping US small caps, mostly in the pre-market, on an IBKR account they already have. It takes the parts of a DAS-style desk that style needs and builds them on IBKR's data: - **A DAS-style montage per desk.** Up to six desks, each with Level 2, the time and sales tape, a chart and an order panel for one symbol. - **Sizing by risk on the key.** Four buy presets, `Shift+1` to `Shift+4` by default, sized by shares, dollars or risk. A $500 Risk (Cents) preset with a 30 cent stop buys 1,666 shares of ABCD, worked out at the instant you press ([fixed dollar risk](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/trade-fixed-dollar-risk)). - **Pre-market stops that can exit.** A working stop, a catastrophe net and a take-profit, dragged on the chart and watched by the app. When price trades through the stop, Scalpel sends a sell limit 5 cents under the last trade, flagged for extended hours. These are not orders resting at IBKR: they only work while Scalpel runs with a live feed, and no fill is guaranteed. - **Scanner and intel on free sources.** A momentum scanner on IBKR's own market scanner (pre-market included), plus borrow, dilution and catalyst reads from SEC EDGAR, FINRA, Nasdaq and your IBKR news. - **SIM and LIVE.** Practice against the live book with IBKR commissions, then switch to real orders without a restart. *Screenshot: One Scalpel desk: the desk header, the intel strip, the quote, the Level 2 montage with the tape on its right, the chart, the order bar, and orders and positions. Demo data.* What it gives up, by design: no shorting, no options, no route choice, no hotkey scripting, and stops that live in the app rather than at the broker. It also needs TWS or IB Gateway running on the same machine, where DAS needs no IBKR software at all. ## What a year costs: a worked example Take a non-professional trader who wants live US quotes plus Nasdaq depth, on an IBKR Pro account, before commissions: | Setup | First year | Each year after | | --- | --- | --- | | DAS Deluxe User on IBKR | $1,800 | $1,800 | | TWS with IBKR data ($10 + $4.50 + $16.50 a month) | Up to $372 | Up to $372 | | Scalpel with the same IBKR data | Up to $671 ($299 + $372) | Up to $372 | "Up to" because IBKR waives the $10 bundle in any month with $30 of commissions. Commissions are IBKR's in all three cases. The packages are not identical: DAS's Deluxe also carries OPRA or OTC Level 2, and the IBKR bundles carry more than this trader needs. Prices checked on October 15, 2026. ![Bar chart of a year's platform and data cost: DAS Deluxe on IBKR $1,800 every year, TWS with IBKR data up to $372, and Scalpel up to $671 in the first year and up to $372 after](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/compare/das-trader/year-cost.webp) *A year of platform and data for a non-professional trader with live US quotes and Nasdaq depth, before commissions. The TWS and Scalpel bars are upper limits, because IBKR waives the $10 bundle in any month with $30 of commissions.* ## Who should pick which - **Pick DAS Trader Pro** if you short, need locates, want direct routes, write your own hotkey scripts, trade options from the same screen, or already know DAS from a course. On IBKR, it means IBKR Pro and a monthly package; with another broker, compare that broker's DAS pricing and locate costs. - **Stay on TWS alone** if you trade many asset classes, want bracket orders held at the broker, need Linux or an Intel Mac, or want to spend nothing beyond IBKR's data fees. It takes more setup, but nothing else on this page is cheaper. - **Pick Scalpel** if you trade long only, mostly small caps in the pre-market, already have an IBKR account, and want a keyboard-first desk with risk sizing and pre-market stops for a one-time $299 ([pricing](https://scalpeltrade.com/pricing)). If you are not sure, its 7-day refund and SIM mode let you test it on the live book first. Whichever you pick, this style of trading is hard. Most people who try fast small-cap scalping lose money, whatever the platform. *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **Can I use DAS Trader with Interactive Brokers?** Yes. As of October 15, 2026, DAS sells Interactive Brokers packages from $100 to $200 a month for non-professional users. You need an IBKR Pro account, and orders go to IBKR through a FIX connection at your normal IBKR Pro commissions. **How much does DAS Trader cost with IBKR?** DAS's non-professional IBKR packages are $100, $120, $150, $175 and $200 a month, depending on the data included, as checked on October 15, 2026. Professional packages start at $300. Commissions are charged by IBKR on top. **Do I need IBKR market data to use DAS Trader?** Not for DAS itself. IBKR says the market data in DAS is supplied by DAS, not IBKR. You only need IBKR subscriptions for the data you use in TWS or other IBKR-connected tools. **Does DAS Trader work with IBKR Lite?** DAS's subscription page says non-professional users must have an IBKR Pro account, not Lite. TWS and API tools such as Scalpel work with either. **Is TWS as good as DAS for day trading?** TWS can do the same jobs and costs nothing, but it takes more setup: hotkeys depend on order presets and the layout needs work. DAS is faster to work with for many scalpers, at a monthly fee. **Is there a cheaper DAS Trader alternative for IBKR?** TWS itself is free. Scalpel is $299 once and gives a DAS-style montage, risk-sized hotkeys and pre-market stops on IBKR data, but it is long only, uses SMART routing only and does not trade options. --- # Scalpel vs TWS: what changes when you add Scalpel to TWS > Scalpel vs TWS: Scalpel runs on top of TWS, so you keep your IBKR account, routing and data. What changes, what TWS still does better, who should stay. Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/compare/tws By Scalpel Team. Published 2026-09-13, last changed 2026-10-15. 8 min read. **In short:** Scalpel is not a replacement for TWS: it runs on top of TWS or IB Gateway, through the API, on the same computer. You keep your Interactive Brokers account, SMART routing, fills, market data and commissions. What changes is the screen you trade from: one keyboard-first desk per stock, buys sized by risk, stops you drag on the chart that can exit in the pre-market, a momentum scanner with borrow and dilution reads, a SIM mode on the live book, and voice callouts. Everything outside long US stocks (shorting, options, futures, forex, bracket orders at the broker, mobile) stays in TWS. Traders searching for a TWS alternative for day trading usually like Interactive Brokers and dislike Trader Workstation: the window juggling, the hotkey setup, sizing in shares by hand, stops that do nothing before 09:30 ET. This page compares TWS alone with TWS plus Scalpel, says plainly what Scalpel does not do, and lists who should stay on TWS alone. Scalpel is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Interactive Brokers. ## Scalpel vs TWS: it is TWS plus Scalpel Scalpel has no route into your account of its own. Interactive Brokers only lets outside programs in through the API that TWS and IB Gateway serve, so one of the two must be running and logged in on the same machine, with the API switched on. IB Gateway is TWS without the trading screens: it uses far less memory and serves the same API ([IB Gateway vs TWS for day trading](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/ib-gateway-vs-tws)). IBKR allows one trading-platform session per username, so there are three ways to run: | Setup | What runs | Cost | | --- | --- | --- | | Scalpel instead of the TWS screens | IB Gateway plus Scalpel | Nothing extra; the lightest setup | | Scalpel alongside TWS | TWS with the API on, plus Scalpel | Nothing extra; you keep every TWS window | | Both fully open at once | TWS on one username, IB Gateway for Scalpel on a second | Market data is billed per username, so the second login needs its own subscriptions | ![A stack diagram: Scalpel on top adds the desks, risk sizing, pre-market stops, scanner, SIM and voice; it talks to TWS or IB Gateway over the API on the same computer; Interactive Brokers below keeps the account, routing, fills, commissions, market data and positions](https://scalpeltrade.com/images/compare/tws/stack.webp) *Scalpel and TWS or IB Gateway run on the same computer, linked by the API. Your account, routing, fills, commissions, data and positions stay with IBKR, and everything outside long US stocks stays in TWS.* ## What you keep - **Your account and your money.** Scalpel never holds funds. LIVE orders go to your IBKR account and show in TWS like any other order. - **Routing and fills.** Every order goes to IBKR with SMART routing, which looks for the best price across venues. There is no route setting in Scalpel. - **Commissions.** IBKR charges its usual rates. In LIVE, Scalpel books the commission IBKR reports for each fill in its FEE column, so your P&L is net of real fees. - **Market data.** Scalpel uses the subscriptions already on your IBKR username: live US stock data for quotes, the tape and charts, and a depth feed such as NASDAQ TotalView-OpenView for Level 2. No extra feed, no charting subscription ([which data you need](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). - **Your positions.** LIVE positions reconcile from IBKR when Scalpel connects. A position closed in TWS closes in Scalpel too, and the header can show either the whole account or only Scalpel's trades. ## What changes ### One keyboard-first desk per stock TWS gives you separate windows (Level 2, time and sales, chart, order entry) that you link by color group and arrange yourself ([a TWS day trading layout](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/tws-day-trading-layout) shows how). Scalpel gives you up to six desks side by side, each a complete station for one symbol: a DAS-style Level 2 montage with the tape beside it, a candlestick chart, an order bar, and orders and positions. One desk is focused at a time and takes your keys. *Screenshot: The cockpit in SIM: the header, four trader desks each with Level 2, the tape, a chart, an order bar and orders and positions, the + rail for more desks, and the status bar. Demo data.* The hotkeys work out of the box: `Shift+1` to `Shift+4` buy with your four presets, `Ctrl+Z` sells the whole position at the bid, `Ctrl+X` sells half, `B` moves the stop to breakeven, and `Esc` flattens everything. Every key is rebindable, and trading keys never fire while you type in a field. ### Sizing by risk TWS hotkeys send a share size from the order preset. Scalpel's buy presets can be shares, dollars or risk. With a risk preset, the share count is worked out when you press, from the live price and the stop distance: a $500 Risk (Cents) preset with a 30 cent stop buys 1,666 shares of ABCD, so a stop-out costs about $500 plus slippage and fees ([sizing presets](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/sizing-presets)). ### Stops that work in the pre-market Before 09:30 ET and after 16:00 ET, US exchanges take [limit orders](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#limit-order) only. A plain stop at IBKR becomes a market order when it triggers, so it cannot protect a pre-market trade, and a stop-limit can be jumped when price gaps through its limit. Scalpel arms a working stop, a wider catastrophe net and a take-profit on every entry, drawn on the chart, where you drag them. They are watched by the app, not resting at IBKR. When price trades through the stop, Scalpel sends a sell limit 5 cents under the last trade, flagged for extended hours, and re-prices it if the market runs away ([how stops work](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/how-stops-work)). *Screenshot: 400 ABCD at 5.50: the stop at 5.38 reads -48.00 (-1.0R), the target at 5.74 reads +96.00 (+2.0R), and the entry line +80.00 (+1.7R) at a 5.70 last. Demo data.* **This can cost you money.** App-monitored stops only work while Scalpel is running with a live feed. If your computer sleeps, crashes or loses its connection, nothing protects the position. No fill is guaranteed: in a fast drop price can run past any limit. ### Scanner and intel TWS has a powerful Advanced Market Scanner you set up yourself. Scalpel runs five of IBKR's own scans over the API (top gainers, volume spikes, halts, hot by volume, gappers; pre-market included), merges them into one list ranked live, and adds high-of-day, running-up and setup scans on top. Next to each name it shows borrow, dilution and catalyst reads from free sources: IBKR's borrow file and news, SEC EDGAR filings, FINRA short interest and Nasdaq's Reg SHO list. ### Practice, guards and sound - **SIM against the live book.** IBKR's paper account is a separate login with simulated fills. Scalpel's SIM fills against the live book you are watching, with IBKR-style commissions, and switches to LIVE without a restart. - **Risk guards.** A daily loss limit that blocks new entries, a fat-finger cap and a position cap in front of every order. - **Voice and tape sound.** Spoken callouts for fills, exits and stops, and an optional tape sound that plays the prints so you can hear the flow while you watch the book. ## TWS alone vs TWS plus Scalpel | | TWS alone | TWS plus Scalpel | | --- | --- | --- | | Cost | Free with the account | $299 once, lifetime license | | Account, routing, commissions | IBKR, SMART or a chosen exchange | IBKR, SMART only | | Market data | Your IBKR subscriptions | The same subscriptions, nothing extra | | Layout | Linked windows you arrange | Up to six desks, one symbol each | | Hotkeys | Tied to order presets you configure | Defaults that work out of the box, rebindable | | Size per press | Shares from the preset | Shares, dollars or risk at the instant you press | | Stops | Orders resting at IBKR | App-monitored, dragged on the chart | | Stops with the computer off | Yes, held by IBKR | No: Scalpel must be running | | Pre-market stop exit | Stop-limit that can be jumped | Limit 5 cents under the last trade, re-priced | | Practice | IBKR paper account | SIM on the live book, no restart | | Audio | Alert sounds | Voice callouts and tape sound | | Shorting | Yes | No: long only | | Options, futures, forex, bonds | Yes | No: US stocks only | | Platforms | Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile | Windows 10 and 11, and Macs with Apple silicon | ## What TWS does that Scalpel does not Scalpel is specialized on purpose. Everything below stays in TWS: - **Shorting.** Scalpel is long only: every sell is capped to the shares you hold ([long only](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/long-only)). - **Options, futures, forex, bonds and crypto.** Scalpel trades US stocks only, and none of these are planned. - **Orders held at the broker.** Brackets, OCA groups, conditional orders and IBKR's algos rest on IBKR's side and keep working with your computer off. - **Route choice.** TWS lets you pick an exchange as the destination; Scalpel always uses SMART. - **Portfolio and account tools.** Risk analysis, reports, funding and everything else in TWS and Client Portal. - **Mobile and other platforms.** IBKR's mobile app, and TWS on Linux and Intel Macs. Scalpel runs on Windows and on Macs with Apple silicon only. - **Automation.** Scalpel has no auto trader and never trades for you. ## Requirements **Before you start:** - An Interactive Brokers account with live US stock data, plus a depth subscription for Level 2. - TWS or IB Gateway running and logged in on the same computer as Scalpel. - The API switched on: in TWS, **Configure > API > Settings > Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients**; in IB Gateway, **Configure > Settings > API**. - The socket port in TWS or IB Gateway matching **Settings > Connection > Port** in Scalpel (7497 for TWS by default, 4001 for IB Gateway). - Windows 10 or 11. Both TWS and IB Gateway force a daily re-login unless you set auto-restart, and both ask for two-factor approval at login. The step-by-step is in [connect Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers), and the wider account setup in [day trading on Interactive Brokers](https://scalpeltrade.com/blog/day-trading-interactive-brokers). ## Who should stay on TWS alone - **Short sellers**, and anyone whose playbook includes shorts. - **Options, futures and forex traders.** - **Swing traders and investors** who want stops resting at the broker while the computer is off. - **Traders who need Linux, an Intel Mac or mobile** as their main screen today. - **Traders who want direct routing** to a chosen exchange. - **Anyone who is happy with their TWS setup.** If your hotkeys, layout and stops already work for you, there is nothing to fix. TWS plus Scalpel is for one kind of trader: long-only, scalping US stocks, often small caps in the pre-market, who wants a keyboard-first desk, sizing by risk and pre-market stop exits on the IBKR account they already have. It is $299 once with a 7-day refund ([pricing](https://scalpeltrade.com/pricing)). Start in SIM and stay there until your results are consistent: this style of trading is hard, and most people who try it lose money. *Trading carries a significant risk of loss. Nothing here is financial advice.* ## Questions **Does Scalpel replace TWS?** No. Scalpel connects to your Interactive Brokers account through the API that TWS or IB Gateway serves, so one of them must be running and logged in on the same computer. With IB Gateway you can skip the TWS screens entirely. **What is a good TWS alternative for day trading?** It depends on what you trade. For long-only scalping of US stocks, a front end such as Scalpel runs on top of your IBKR account. For shorting, options or direct routing, TWS itself or a platform such as DAS Trader Pro fits better. **Do I need to pay for market data again to use Scalpel?** No. Scalpel uses the IBKR market data subscriptions already on your username. If you run TWS and IB Gateway at once on two usernames, the second username needs its own subscriptions. **Can I still use TWS while Scalpel is running?** Yes. Run TWS with the API on and Scalpel connects to it, so you keep every TWS window. Trades you place in TWS show up in your account as usual. **Are Scalpel's stops held at Interactive Brokers?** No. They are watched by Scalpel and fire a real exit order when price trades through, so they only work while Scalpel is running with a live feed. In return they can exit in the pre-market, where a plain stop at the broker cannot. **Can I short or trade options through Scalpel?** No. Scalpel is long only and trades US stocks only. Use TWS for shorts, options, futures and forex.