When adding a new chart or HOT widget, the last seelected symbol will be used to populate the chart or HOT.

Changing a Symbol

Once you have a widget on the page, you can change the symbol using the entry field in the toolbar. You can search for an exchange symbol, a name of a commodity, or a CQG symbol in the entry field. Use the arrow keys or click one of the results in the list.

Easily change a symbol when a widget is in focus

Easily change symbols in single-symbol widgets by simply typing when the widget you want to change is in focus (highlighted with blue tab). You no longer have to click in the symbol entry field to enter a symbol or to use autosuggest.

In addition, easily change chart interval by typing "," + interval abbreviation and enter any interval. For example, ",1" will change the selected chart to a 1 min chart, ",d" for daily, etc.

Linking Windows

If linking is on in any other widgets, you will see the link group color show up in the list. If you already have a quote board with linking turned on, and you're planning on pushing symbols to this widget, you can select the link color instead of entering a symbol. You can enable linking at any time in the tabs.

See this article for definitions of order types, durations and special order modes. 

Price Scale Interactions

Placing orders via Drag & Drop

• Use the order size control to choose order size
• Click on a price in the price scale
• Use arrow keys to move price selection
• Drag and drop to place a stop or limit order
• The order will show up in the price scale
• Click on the order in the buy/sell column to see Order Info and modify or cancel.
• Right-click on the order to cancel, if preference is turned on.

Placing orders via Buy/Sell buttons

• Use the order size control to choose order size
• Click on a price in the price scale
• Use the order placement Buy/Sell buttons
• The order will show up in the price scale
• Click on the order in the buy/sell column to see Order Info and modify or cancel.
• Right-click on the order to cancel, if preference is turned on.

Placing orders via the Buy/Sell columns

• Set order entry preference.
• Use the order size control to choose order size
• Click in the Buy/Sell columns next to the desired price in the price scale
• The order will show up in the price scale
• Click in the lower half of the cell to place an additional order at that price
• Double-click on the order in the buy/sell column to see Order Info and modify or cancel.
• Right-click on the order to cancel, if preference is set.

Compressing and expanding the price scale

For symbols for less liquid markets, to hide prices without resting orders:

• Click the left button to compress the scale. The first click will eliminate prices between the best bid and ask. A second click will eliminate prices between resting orders in the DOM book.
• Click the right button to expand the scale.

Button Layouts

When you log on from your tablet, you'll get the desktop layout with some special features for tablets. First, we've created some tablet-specific pages with just a few widgets on them. You can access these from the + button next to the page tabs.

You can configure the trading button location for HOT as well. Go to the HOT task menu and place the buttons where they are most comfortable to you.

Customization options

Customization options available in the widget task menu in the upper right.

• Separate bids and asks: Makes the depth of market above market and below market into 2 separate columns
• Show order size history: Shows buttons for order size presets and sizes for recently placed orders for quick access
• Highlight Best Bid/Ask: Best Bid/Ask can be highlighted with an outline. Access the option via the task menu
• Compress B/A: in markets with a spread between the best bid and ask, this option will hide the spread between best bid and ask
• Recent trade sequence: shows a series of dots to the left of the price scale with the recently traded prices
• Additional info: shows last trade, last trade volume, net change, total volume for the day, and bid/ask spread

The Spreadsheet Trader is an all-in-one window for those wanting to see quotes and market data as well as trade multiple instruments.

• Easily populate the Spreadsheet Trader using lists, or adding indiidual symbols.
• Add columns using "Manage columns..." in the task menu like QSS.
• Show depth of market by expanding a symbol row. Increase and decrease the number of visible prices using the +/- buttons.
• Set order size in the order size column.
• Set duration and stop type in the toolbar.
• Place orders by clicking on the Buy/Sell buttons OR drag and drop a price to the Buy/Sell columns.
• Place stop orders by using the buttons or drag and drop.
• Drag and drop orders to modify price.
• Double-click stacked orders. Drag from the stacked order popup to modify and order to a different price.

Friendly name display

Symbol descriptions are available as a display style in the symbol column for QSS and Spreadsheet trader. Access this feature in the task menu for these widgets.

Trading Toolbar

A trading toolbar has been added to the Spreadsheet Trader. Access this feature in the task menu.

• Selecting a symbol in the Spreadsheet Trader will push the symbol to to the toolbar.
• Price, size, and order parameters can then be easily edited in the toolbar. And an order can be initiated from the toolbar.
• Clicking on a price in the spreadsheet will push the symbol and the price into the toobar.

Scale compression

For less liquid markets, scale compression buttons have been added to the Spreadsheet Trader.

• Expand a symbol to show the depth of market.
• Clicking the left compression button will remove prices without any resting orders.
• Clicking the expand button on the right will expand the scale to show all prices.

Slide Trader is an order routing interface that offers three slide controls for selecting the quantity of an order: Lots, $ cost, and percentage of available cash.

To access Slide trader there are two options.

First option, right-click the symbol in the quote board and choose to Buy or Sell and then select Slide Trader (the third tab) in the widget.

Second option, from the main menu select Trading and then select Slide Trader.

The Slide Trader widget opens using the most recently selected symbol from the Quote Board or a chart.

There are 3 tabs and tapping/clicking on different tabs on the right will allow you to select your order size using the slider rounded to the [natural]value on each tab. The user can also double-click/tap on the tab and type in a number.

Below, the Lots slider is selected and sliding the knob will increase or decrease the number of lots for the order.

Below, the Cost Slider is selected. The cost of the order is based on the number of lots selected times the notional value of the share (margin is not used). Sliding the knob will increase or decrease the number of lots and the cost.

The final Slide Trader feature is basing the number of lots as a percentage ratio of the number of lots times the notional value of the contract or share compared to the available cash. Sliding the knob shows the percentage of available cash used for the order.

You can view order information in CQG Desktop on the HOT grid and anywhere you see an order listed: Orders & Positions windows, orders drop-downs in HOT, etc.

In the order popup and in the HOT grid, you can see an information icon for each order.

Click the icon to open a dialog where you can copy or send the order information. You can also modify or cancel an order from here.

You might be wondering where the pencil icon went to initiate modifying an order.

In the order popup (both in buy/sell columns and at the top of HOT), simply click an order to open the Modify Order dialog.

Server-side bracket orders can bring significant peace of mind when trading.

Brackets must be enabled in preferences.

• Once the option is enabled in preferences, in the HOT, go to the OCO dropdown and select 'Bracket mode'.
  
• The control will then show BRKT and the number of ticks for the target profit order and stop loss order.
• Click on the BRKT to enable the mode for your next order.
  
• When you place your next order, the confirm will show options for the bracket order, and you can
  • toggle target profit and stop loss OCO orders on/off independently
  • alter the number of ticks away from the original order to place the OCOs
  • select available order types
    
• Here's a video of the workflow and to show the brackets in action:

OCOs

Use OCO functionality in the HOT to protect a position.

• Initiate the OCO mode by clicking the Start button next to the OCO label.
• Place the stop loss and target profit orders by either drag and drop or using the trading buttons.
• Click the Stop button to submit the OCO orders. When one of the orders fills, the other will be cancelled.

Filled Order Workflow

In the Fill report and in the Orders widgets, you can easily add a stop-loss order, or add OCO orders to bracket your fill.

• In the fill report popup, access order actions from the dropdown.
• You can launch the order info dialog, duplicate the order, place a stop loss or place two OCO orders with a target profit and a stop loss order.

In the Orders widget, access these order actions from the dropdown triangle.

CQG offers a suite of Smart Orders that includes trailing limit orders.

A trailing limit order tracks the market, automatically adjusting its price level position in the exchange’s order book.

For a buy order, as the best bid/offer/trade (depending on your settings) moves up, your order moves up with it based on the trailing offset. When the best bid/trade/offer trade moves down, your order holds. When the best bid/offer/trade matches your order price, the order executes.

For a sell order, as the best bid/offer/trade moves down, your order moves down with it.

For example:

• You’re trading EP.
• The trading preference is set to Current Bid on buys, Current Offer on sells.
• The current bid = 2270.50.
• You place a buy trailing limit = 2269.50, 4 ticks from bid, which is a trailing offset of 100.
• (Offset is determined by where you place the order. Tick size = .25, so 4 ticks = 100 offset.)
• If the market moves up a tick, your order moves up a tick. Your order always maintains the trailing offset as the bid moves up.
• As the bid comes down, your order stays put.
• When the bid comes down enough to match the price of the order, the order is executed.

Placing these orders requires an enablement from CQG and from you in Smart Order Preferences.

Modify size or cancel trailing limit orders as you would for any orders on the DOM. You cannot change the price of trailing orders.

To enter trailing orders

1. Click the Trailing Order drop-down arrow and select Trailing Limits and/or Trailing Stops, like this: 
   
2. Click on the main part of the split button it shows up in orange, indicating that the mode is 'ON': 
   
3. Place your order.

CQG offers a suite of Smart Orders that includes iceberg orders. 

An iceberg order is a limit day or GTC order that has both a total quantity and a display quantity that is shown publicly on the order book. These orders are supported on Globex, Ice, Montreal, and BrokerTec.

Add the V Qty column to the Orders widget to quickly identify the visible quantity for iceberg orders across many accounts.

To turn on the iceberg orders duration

Make the icebergs visible in the duration dropdown in Smart Order Preferences. This can be done for all symbols or individual symbols.

To enter iceberg orders

1. Select ICBG from the duration drop-down menu ​​
   ​​
2. Place your order. This confirmation opens: 
   
   
3. If necessary, change the quantity or percent that you want displayed.
4. Place the order. You see the total quantity or percent of your order, but only the display quantity is visible on the book.

Go Market command for working orders

Go Market will convert a working limit or stop order to a market order. In the Orders, HOT, and Working Orders dropdown in toolbars, click on the triangle next to an order and select Go Market from the menu of order actions.

Placing Limits above Market

• When selecting a price above market, you have the option to place a buy limit order as well as a buy stop order.
• You can set the preference, per symbol, for the range of ticks for forcing a limit or stop when placing orders via drag and drop.
• To find the limits vs. stops preference, open Preferences and search for Limits.
• This applies to HOT (Hybrid Order Ticket) and trading from the chart.

Sweeps

Sweep mode enables trades into the opposite side of the market and takes all resting orders in the book up to your price. Since functionality like this has high impact, it must be purposely turned on in preferences.

Symbols must be explicitly added to be included in sweep mode.

Once a symbol is added to the sweep list, clicking the DOM column will place a sweep order into the market.

The software will always force a confirmation window for a sweep order to prevent unintended orders. The order size in the confirmation shows cumulative size up to the price that was selected. Yellow text shows the warning. Sweeps can be turned off at any time in preferences.

Post-only orders

Post-only orders are available to certain markets. A post-only limit order ensures the limit order will be added to the order book and not match with a pre-existing order. If a order would cause a match with a pre-existing order, the post-only will be canceled. This allows for more control for not placing aggressive orders and paying higher fees.

Tap the order dropdown display to cancel or go flat if there are working orders.

Tap the position display to liquidate or go flat if there is a position.

Display Multiple Accounts or All Accounts

For orders, positions, and account widgets, open the account filter in the widget toolbar to choose the accounts you want to view, or select All accounts.

Using account linking from the Account widget

If you are a broker or manager of many accounts, you can use the linking functionality to improve workflow.

• Add the Account Summary Widget (Trade > Account Summary)
• Set the Account Summary widget to all accounts
• Link the Account Summary widget to the Orders widget and HOT.
• Selecting an account in the Account Summary widget will push that account to the Orders widget and HOT.
• Clicking that account again, will restore the Orders widget to show all accounts.

Here are pages on mdemo and on production that have this setup:

• https://mdemo.cqg.com/shared/p45381bbae179-a843-4830-a2a4-04de004d1714
• https://m.cqg.com/shared/p7252925a03bf6-56bb-4a0d-ac15-9cb2eec02290

Highlight an account

In the Accounts widget, select an account and click on the color icon in the toolbar to select a color.

Quick filter in Accounts, Orders and Positions widgets 

In the toolbars of each of these widgets, use the "Type to filter" field to narrow the table of data by symbol, status, duration, or any numeric field. 

Historical Order Search

From the filter dialog in the Orders view, you can now select from historical presets or select a data range to see orders within 30 days.

Manage Columns in QSS, Orders, Positions, Accounts

• Go to the task menu for any of these views --> Manage Columns.
• The 'Manage Columns' dialog will appear with 2 tabs: "In Window" and "+Column".
• Reorder and remove columns in "In Window"
• Add columns in "+Column" by selecting columns and hit the "Add" button.

Filter by any column in QSS

• Click on the filter icon in the toolbar in the upper right of the QSS window. It will reveal a filter bar below the column headers.
• Click on the filter icon in the column you want to filter, then select a condition from the dropdown.

From the Trade menu in the left bar, select Download fill report... to download today's fill report. You'll then be prompted to select an account. Click Save report and a .csv file will be downloaded on your computer.

The Spread Builder is an easy-to-use interface where strategies can be built.

User-Defined Strategies (UDS) are available in CQG One.

• 00:51 UDS Options Bull Call Spread
• 02:36 Adding to quote board, creating an alias
• 03:00 Exchange Traded Futures Spread
• 04:00 Custom Options Spread

All UDS created will be added to a dynamic list available in the Symbol dialog. 
When opening a list, look for the User-Defined Strategies list.
 

Contact your broker/FCM for access

• CQG Algo website
• CQG Algo help files
• Detailed Algo parameters

The CQG XL Toolkit has been upgraded to include functionality to place batch orders. A batch order is a list of orders that will include the accounts, symbols, action (buy or sell), qualifiers such as market, limit or stop orders and other important details. The XL Toolkit permits the user to place the orders as parked or sent directly to the CQG Gateway. In addition, Algo Orders can be included in the batch orders. The Algo Orders and the parameters (as a CSV file) can be used. This functionality is detailed later in the post.

First, in order to use the XL Toolkit the user must contact their FCM and request the XL Toolkit enablement. You can download the XL Toolkit here. Once the XL Toolkit is installed you Logon using your trading credentials.

Notice in the image above there is a greyed out button "Place Orders." This button is used to send the orders once the spreadsheet has this function "=CQGXLPlaceOrder()" with all of the Obligatory Parameters entered. The function is a subset of the XL Toolkit's Orders and Positions functions.

Enter this function in an Excel cell:

=CQGXLPlaceOrder()

Click the "fx" parameter in the formula toolbar and this dialog opens.

This table details the full list of the function arguments (not all are required):

The second argument (Account ID) is found using the XL Toolkit. Select Account data and then Account ID and Account Name, From the output select the appropriate Account ID and you can reference the cell's location in the Functions Arguments dialog.

This sample downloadable spreadsheet with more details is available here.

Using Algo Orders from Desktop or CQG One for Batch Orders

The XL Toolkit Batch Order functionality can place Algo Orders.

This table lists the Algo Orders and a brief description:

More information detailing CQG Algos is available here.

The dialog states that the exact name of the Algo strategy must be used.

Algo orders have parameters which must be included in the batch order as a CSV file. The CSV file is saved to the hard drive.

Here are the steps to creating the parameters CSV file. Basically,

1. Place a parked configured Algo Order using the CQG Algo Order Ticket
2. Copy the parameters from the Order information window
3. Paste it into Excel and save it as a CSV file.

Therefore, open the CQG Algo Order Ticket. Log in, select "Parked" and select the Algo you want. This example is using the CQG Iceberg.

Set the parameters for the Algo Order. Place the Parked Algo Order.

Note: Above, you can set the Start Time and the End Time as part of the Algo Order parameters. The time zone used by the Algo Orders Engine is UTC time (Coordinated Universal Time). It is converted from local time to UTC. Therefore, when using your CSV parameters file with Start and End Times the time zone to use is UTC.

Select the parked order, right-click then select Order Info.

The highlighted text is the parameters information used. Select copy to clipboard.

Open a blank Word document and "paste merged formatting"

The parameters are CQG_MaxQty 10 and CQG_MinQty 5. However, notice that Word displays the parameter name and the value on separate rows. For the Excel CSV file the parameter name has to be the first cell in a row and the parameter value has to be in the next cell in the same row.

Here are the steps in Word to format the correctly format parameters.

CQG_MaxQty
10

CQG_MinQty
5

Select the parameters and replace paragraph returns with tabs.

Returns this:

CQG_MaxQty 10 CQG_MinQty 5

Select the above and replace the "tabs and CQG" with "paragraph returns and CQG".

New formatted parameters can be C&P into Excel and saved as a CSV file.

CQG_MaxQty 10

CQG_MinQty 5

Save the file as a CSV file to the C Drive. Then enter the file's path in the cell for Algo Params.

Once your spreadsheet is completed, then to send the orders in go to the XL Toolkit on the Excel Ribbon and select "Place Orders."