QT Information Systems, Inc.

QT's Quote Board

Introduction

Quote Boards allow you to organize your quotes in a grid format. This grid format allows for a maximum number of contracts and price data to be displayed within a given area. Quote Boards can be populated with futures symbols, option symbols and even spread symbols. Right-clicking on the symbol in the Quote Board allows for a multitude of actions, like triggering charts, options or contact details. Finally, the "Thermometer" is a handy feature that tells you at a glance if markets are up or down for the current session.

Creating a Quote Board

Let’s create at blank Quote Board in a new workspace.

1) Create a blank workspace.

2) Create a new Quote Board. This can be done in many different ways, but here is the quickest way: From the Shortcut Bar, click on the icon highlighted in yellow below.

3) Here is your empty Quote Board:

Using & Understanding Quote Boards

Entering Symbols

Individual Cells – click on an empty cell (an active cell is highlighted by a thick black box), type in the symbol, and press enter. That’s all there is to it!!!

Calendar Strips – type a root symbol, then from the pop-up month list, select calendar strip. By default the calendar strip is entered left-to-right in a row (root symbol examples are ZC – for corn or ZM – for soybean meal).

Arithmetic Spreads – spreads symbols such as ZCK9 – ZCZ9 can be entered.

Deleting a single symbol – you must right-click on the symbol box. The pop-up menu presents you with the option to delete. It merely deletes the symbol, it does not delete the cell itself.

Adding/Deleting Rows or Columns – there are buttons in the Quote Board drop menu and main tool bar to add or delete rows or columns. Make sure you select the row or column you want to delete. The selected row or column will be highlighted in gray.

Figure 1 - Column Select Indicator

Figure 2 - Row Select Indicator

Contract Cell Abbreviations

O - Open
H - High
L - Low
T- Last Trade
Delta - Net Change
D - # of minutes delayed (if D is not displayed, you have live quotes)
F – Fast Market Indicator
S – Settlement Indicator

Understanding the Thermometer

The Thermometer gives a quick visual cue of where the market is within the day’s range. The color on the lower portion of the bar represents the day’s low price to the last trade, while the upper color represents the day’s high price down to the last trade. The small, colored triangle just left of the Thermometer represents the day’s open price.