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Session Preferences

The trading hours for equities, options, and futures vary considerably. Investor/RT handles this variability by allowing the user to define multiple trading "sessions." Each session has a number and a name, a start time, stop time, and a "post time". The "start time" is the time of day that trading begins for the instrument. The "Stop Time" is the time of day that trading ends. "Posting" is the process of recording closing prices into the Investor/RT database. "Post Time" is the time of day, typically just after the session stop time, that "Posting" will take place. Normally, posting occurs each weekday (Monday through Friday). Users located more than eight hours offset from New York time, will find it necessary to adjust the posting days, but for most users, make sure that Monday through Friday checkboxes are checked.

Each time you setup (define) a new instrument to Investor/RT, you must specify the session for the instrument. The session for the instrument affects the operation of Investor/RT in many ways. The session defines the trading hours for the instrument and this time span is reflected in intra-day charts of the instrument, for example.

The session preferences dialog allows the user to specify start time, stop time, and post time for the sessions the user wishes to track. A list of trading sessions with associated start and stop times is provided with the software. The default time zone as shipped is Eastern Time Zone. If you do not reside in the Eastern U.S. time zone it is imperative that each session you use be configured to your local time. For example, if you reside in the Pacific US Time Zone, the start and stop time for session 0, the NYSE session, should be specified as 6:30 am to 1:00 pm, the local hours during which the NYSE trading session is open.

As each session is selected, its start time, stop time, post time and Posting Days are displayed. The user can adjust the times by clicking on them and then editing. The tab key advances through the different fields. The "Post Time" is the time of day, usually just a few minutes after the close time, at which Investor/RT records (posts) the closing prices in the historical database. Posting is initiated automatically for each session for which there are instruments assigned. When posting takes more than a few seconds, a progress box is used to inform the user that posting in underway.

Editing Sessions

The New, Rename, and Delete buttons may be used to create, rename, or delete sessions. However, a session may NOT be deleted if there are instruments assigned to the session. A line above the Session selection box displays the number of symbols being tracked during the selected session. Every instrument must be assigned a trading session. Deleting predefined sessions is not recommended though they may be renamed.

A user tracking the stock market might require only the 0 (U.S. Stocks) session. A user tracking a mixture of stocks, options, futures options, commodities, etc. might need a variety of trading sessions, one for each market being monitored.

A new session may be defined by pressing New. The "Untitled" label can be changed using the Rename feature. Set the start time, stop time, and post time as desired, then save by closing the dialog. Generally, is it unnecessary to create a new session, instead it is more convenient to simply rename one of the existing ones that is currently unused.

One Symbol, Multiple Sessions

A user may wish to track a ticker symbol during several trading sessions. For example, US Treasury Bonds may trade in three or four different sessions. Each session can be separately tracked by entering the desired T-Bonds futures symbol multiple times, assigning a different session number to each entry.