Beginner's Guide To E*Trade Pro: Advanced Features

The E*Trade Pro platform boasts numerous advanced analysis tools, including:

• Nasdaq TotalView - Shows all quotes and orders at every price level in the Nasdaq market center, plus displayed orders at each price level for Nasdaq-listed securities.
  
  
• SIAC - Shows quotes and orders for listed securities (provided by the NYSE-owned Securities Industry Automation Corp.).
  
  
• Options Montage - Shows full market depth for the options exchanges.
  
  
• NYSE OpenBook - Shows the full limit-order book for NYSE-listed securities (available by subscription).
  

E*Trade Pro API
E*Trade's open XML-based Application Programming Interface allows traders to use industry-leading trading software to execute trades directly through E*Trade. No additional software is needed. This feature offers E*Trade Pro users an additional level of customization and control - whether developing custom solutions or just looking to expand functionality with third-party applications. A list of providers can be found on the E*Trade website.

Strategy Builder
Traders have access to a variety of pre-defined strategies and the ability to customize strategies by opening the Strategy Scanner window (click on the Strategy Scanner icon in the Tools ribbon), shown in Figure 37. From here, users can select from the existing strategies, or create a new one by clicking on "Strategy" at the top of the window and selecting "Strategy Wizard."

Figure 37: The E*Trade Pro Strategy Scanner window.

SEE: Five Minute Investing: How To Evaluate A Trading Strategy