26-09 Release Notes: Chart Period Controls, Journal Trade Results, Strategy Metrics

TradeTool Platform

Release Notes

September 14, 20265 updates · 5 fixes · 1 change
Charts

Chart Period Controls

Interval and Timeframe are now set independently, giving you more flexibility when setting up your charts.

What's new

  • Interval determines how each bar or candle is displayed — Daily, Weekly, Monthly, 1 Min through 60 Min, 2 Hours and 4 Hours.
  • Timeframe determines how much historical data is displayed — 1 Day through 10 Years.
  • Extend By 10, 30, 60 or 90 periods is now available within the Timeframe menu.
  • Your selections are sticky — they remain in place until you change them.
Interval menu open on the Chart tab
The Interval menu sets how each bar or candle is drawn.
Timeframe menu open, incompatible options faded
The Timeframe menu sets how much history is shown, with Extend By at the bottom.

How the two menus work together

Compatible selections are shown normally, while unavailable combinations are faded. Selecting a 1 Min Interval, for example, allows Timeframes of 1 Day, 3 Days or 1 Week.

About Favorites

With this release, Interval and Timeframe are two separate dropdowns rather than one multi-level menu. As part of that change, chart Favorites have been removed for now. They will return in the next release, and your saved Favorites will be restored with them.

Helpful hint

Save your favorite Interval and Timeframe combinations as Chart Profiles for quick access. You can overwrite an existing profile or save the settings as a new one — for example, “Weekly 1 Year.”

Save chart profile dialog
Saving a new chart profile from the Chart toolbar.
Journal

Enhanced Trade Results in the Journal

The Trade Journal provides a more complete view of your trade results — from entry through close, including adjustments and expirations along the way.

How to open it

From the Life of Trade view, click the Gain/Loss value on the far right of a completed trade.

Journal Life of Trade view with an arrow pointing at the Gain/Loss value
Click the Gain/Loss value at the end of the row to open the trade detail.

What you'll see

  • Trade performance at a glance — Profit/Loss, % of Target and trade duration.
  • Visual trade history — entries, adjustments and exits shown directly on the chart, including OCO Stop and Limit orders when applicable.
  • Risk & Return — compare the original trade plan with the actual outcome, including Reward and Return on Risk.
  • Performance Evaluation — identify the factors that contributed to or detracted from the trade.
  • Position & Plan details — see how the actual execution and results compared with the original plan.
  • Options Trade Analysis — review key Greeks and volatility metrics, including Delta, Theta, Vega, Gamma, IV and IV Rank.

The tabs you see depend on the type of trade.

Stock trades

Summary · Risk & Return · Position & Plan
Stock trade Summary tab, Price view, with numbered callouts
Summary tab, Price view.
Stock trade Summary tab, Performance view
Summary tab, Performance view.
  1. Overview tabs — Summary, Risk & Return, Position & Plan.
  2. Trade summary — symbol, trade status, position, account and tags.
  3. Results — Profit/Loss, % of Target and duration of trade.
  4. Evaluation — color shows whether a factor contributed to or detracted from the trade.
  5. Price / Performance — toggle between the two chart views.
    • ACandlestick chart with position entry, adjustment and close — plus OCO Stop and Limit, if applicable.
    • BCumulative activity across the trade duration.
  6. Summary of performance — a plain-language recap of the result.

Risk & Return

Risk & Return sets the plan against the outcome. In this bracket order, 10 shares filled at $503.41 — below the $503.44 order price. Six days later the $528.66 target was reached and the close executed at $528.67, and the $490.90 stop was cancelled automatically. A planned Reward/Risk of 2.01 came in at 2.02.

Risk & Return tab for the CAT stock trade

Position & Plan

Position & Plan breaks the result down line by line — here, a better entry, a better close, and a stop that never had to fill.

Position & Plan tab for the CAT stock trade

Options trades

Summary · Risk & Return · Greeks & IV
Options trade Summary tab, Price view, with numbered callouts
Summary tab, Price view.
Options trade Summary tab, Performance view
Summary tab, Performance view.
  1. Overview tabs — Summary, Risk & Return, Greeks & IV.
  2. Trade summary — symbol, trade status, position, account and tags.
  3. Results — Profit/Loss, % of Target and duration of trade.
  4. Evaluation — up to three primary drivers of the trade.
  5. Price / Performance — toggle between the two chart views.
    • ACandlestick chart with position entry, adjustment and close.
    • BCumulative activity across the trade duration.
  6. Summary of performance — a plain-language recap of the result.

Risk & Return

For this $10 bull put spread: max profit $120 against max risk $880, held 22 days for $5.45 per day and a 13.6% return on risk. Cushion shows how far below the break-even point the trade reached.

Risk & Return tab for the FDX Bull Put

Greeks & IV

Greeks & IV tab with Entry, Exit and Change columns
The Greeks & IV tab reports the position's exposures alongside the volatility backdrop it was traded into.
MetricWhat it tells you
Net DeltaDirectional exposure — roughly what the position gains or loses per $1 move in the stock.
Net ThetaPremium in dollars per day that the position collects or pays for each day it is held.
Net VegaWhat the position gains or loses per one-point change in implied volatility.
Net GammaHow fast Delta itself moves as the stock moves — negative for credit spreads and short premium.
Trade IVThe implied volatility of your own legs — what you actually sold or bought.
Stock IVThe underlying's mean implied volatility, with 30-day historical volatility shown beneath it.
IV − HVVolatility risk premium — how far implied sat above or below what the stock has actually been doing.
IV RankWhere implied volatility sat within its own one-year range, 0–100.
Options

Strategy Metrics on the Option Chain

Build a multi-leg strategy on the Option Chain and the figures that decide whether it is worth taking are calculated as you go.

The callout bar sits directly beneath the legs and recalculates as you add, remove or reprice them — so you can weigh a structure before committing to it. Below it, the payoff diagram plots profit and loss across the price range, with a separate curve for each date between today and expiration.

Iron Condor on the Option Chain with the callout bar highlighted above the payoff diagram
An Iron Condor — short the 235 call and 210 put, long the 245 call and 200 put, all expiring Oct 16.

What the callout bar reports

FieldWhat it showsThis example
MaxPMaximum profit — the most the position can make.$398
MaxRMaximum risk — the most it can lose.$602
BEBreakeven price on each wing, lower and upper.206.02 / 238.98
R/RReward measured against risk.0.66 : 1
CreditNet premium received — shown as Debit when you pay to enter.3.98
TotalCost to enter the trade; here, the credit collected.398.00
BP EffectBuying power the position ties up while it is open.602.00
Trading

Reward/Risk on the Order Ticket

The Reward/Risk ratio you set from the chart now carries through to the Order Ticket, so it stays in view while you finalize the order.

Set it from the chart

Click Trade from the chart to set up a Bracket Order. Set a Profit Target and Stop Loss around your entry price, and the dialog reports the resulting Risk, Reward and Rwd:Risk.

Trade From Chart dialog with Rwd:Risk 2.16:1 highlighted
Trade From Chart, with the Profit Target and Stop Loss set around an entry of $81.46.

Then finalize on the ticket

The Order Ticket now carries that same figure as Reward To Risk, printed with the order summary — so it stays in front of you while you review, stage or submit, rather than being left behind on the chart.

Order Ticket showing Reward To Risk: 2.16:1 beneath the order summary
The Order Ticket, showing Reward To Risk: 2.16:1 beneath the entry and exit summary.
Accounts

Almost Real Virtual Accounts

Built from the ground up to give you the most realistic experience possible.

Our new Virtual Accounts are designed to make practice trading more realistic — from the moment an order fills through expiration, assignment, dividends, and margin calculations. Whether you're learning the platform, testing a strategy, or practicing before putting real money at risk, your Virtual Account now gives you a much better picture of how trades can actually affect an account.

Available starting levels: $10k, $100k and $250k.

Add Account screen with the Brokerage dropdown listing Trade Tool Virtual 100K, 10K and 250K
The new Virtual accounts in the Add Account brokerage list.

What's great about these accounts

  • Realistic Fills — fast, market-based fills with potential price improvement, even on spreads.
  • Accurate Margin & Buying Power — Reg-T margin and buying power are recalculated as your positions and orders change. Margin Interest is calculated at 10% for impact when used.
  • Option Expiration & Assignment — options expire, exercise, and assign as they would in a live account, including cash-settled index options.
  • Dividends — eligible positions now reflect dividend activity.
  • Realistic Account Outcomes — margin calls, reduced buying power, and negative equity can occur when market conditions warrant them.
Fixes

Change Log

  • FixedTrend Drawing Tool — adjusting a drawn trend line.
  • FixedRectangle Annotation — functionality restored.
  • FixedLine Cloning — thickness now carries through to the cloned line.
  • FixedPrice Slices — Tab key behavior.
  • FixedScan Filters — filters now clear.
  • ChangedBracket Orders — now function and display as a single order on the chart.
TradeTool Platform — Release Notes · September 14, 2026Questions? Office Hours run Wednesdays and Fridays.

Greeks & IV Tab Explanation


Greeks & IV Explained

The Greeks & IV tab helps you understand why an options trade performed the way it did.

Instead of showing Greeks only when you enter a trade, the Journal compares them at Entry and Exit. Think of it as a before-and-after view of your trade.

Net Delta — Direction

Delta shows how sensitive your position was to movement in the underlying stock.

  • Positive Delta benefits from an upward move.
  • Negative Delta benefits from a downward move.
  • A move toward zero generally means directional exposure decreased.

Comparing Entry to Exit helps show whether stock movement became more or less important as the trade progressed.

Net Theta — Time Decay

Theta estimates how much the position gains or loses from the passage of time each day.

  • Premium-selling strategies generally benefit from positive Theta.
  • Premium-buying strategies generally pay Theta as time passes.

Rather than showing only how the daily Theta rate changed, the Journal identifies whether time decay was collected or paid during the trade.

Net Vega — Implied Volatility

Vega measures how changes in implied volatility affected the position.

  • Long options generally benefit when IV rises.
  • Short-premium positions generally benefit when IV falls.

The Journal summarizes whether volatility:

  • Worked in your favor
  • Hurt the trade
  • Faded as the position approached expiration or lost remaining premium

Net Gamma — Delta Sensitivity

Gamma measures how quickly Delta can change as the underlying moves.

Higher Gamma means your directional exposure can change more quickly, particularly as expiration approaches.

For most trade reviews, Gamma provides additional context about how sensitive the position became to price movement.

Understanding Volatility

Trade IV

Trade IV is the implied volatility associated with the option contracts in your trade.

It reflects the volatility being priced into the specific strikes you bought or sold.

Stock IV

Stock IV represents the broader implied volatility of the underlying stock.

Comparing Trade IV with Stock IV can help show whether your specific options were priced with more or less volatility than the stock’s overall option market.

Stock HV

Historical Volatility (HV) measures how much the stock actually moved over the previous 30 days.

Think of it this way:

IV = expected volatility
HV = actual recent volatility

IV − HV

IV − HV compares the volatility the options market was pricing with the volatility the stock actually experienced.

  • Positive: IV was higher than HV.
  • Negative: HV was higher than IV.

For premium sellers, a positive difference can indicate that options were pricing in more movement than the stock had recently been delivering.

IV Rank

IV Rank shows where the stock’s current implied volatility falls within its own 1-year range, from 0 to 100.

  • A higher IV Rank means volatility is relatively high for that stock.
  • A lower IV Rank means volatility is relatively low.

This gives IV some context. A 30% IV may be high for one stock and low for another.

Reading the Results

The Change column helps you quickly see what happened between Entry and Exit.

Some rows show a numeric change, while Theta and Vega use words such as collected, paid, worked, hurt, or faded to make the result easier to interpret.

Colors provide another quick reference:

  • Green — helped the trade
  • Red — hurt the trade
  • Gray — neutral or informational

A negative number is not automatically bad. For example, Delta moving closer to zero may be favorable for a short-premium trade.

Putting It All Together

When reviewing the Greeks & IV tab, ask yourself:

Did price movement help or hurt?
Look at Delta.

Did time work for or against me?
Look at Theta.

Did changes in volatility help or hurt?
Look at Vega and Trade IV.

Was volatility relatively high or low when I entered?
Look at IV Rank and IV − HV.

Taken together, these numbers help answer the most important question:

Did the trade work for the reason I expected it to?



Journal - Trade Results


Trade Details

The Journal allows you to view your trade results, including a visual outline of the position from Open to Close, including any Adjustments and Expirations.

Start in the Life of Trade view.

Click on the Gain/Loss value on the far right of the trade entry




Stock Journal Entry


  1. Overview Tabs:  Summary, Risk/Return, Position & Plan
  2. Trade Summary:  Symbol, Trade Status, Position, Account & Tags
  3.  Results:  Profit/Loss, % of Target, Duration of Trade
  4. Evaluation: Color represents a contributing or detracting factor in the trade
  5. Price/Performance
    A. Candlestick chart with position entry/adjustment/close – and OCO Stop/Limit, if applicable.
    B. Cumulative activity for trade duration
  6. Summary of Performance



The Risk & Return Tab outlines the trade results.

In this bracket order example:

10 shares were purchased at a lower entry price ($503.41) than the order price of $503.44.
6 days later, the Target of $528.66 was reached, and the close order was executed at $528.67

The Stop Order ($490.90) was cancelled automatically.

The original plan outlined a 2.01 Reward:Risk ratio.  Due to the lower entry price and higher close price, the result was a slightly higher R/R of 2.02.

The Position and Plan tab offers a breakdown of the trade results.

In this example,  the stock trade was executed at a better price and reached it’s target price to close, which was also at a better price.  The Stop order was cancelled.

The result shows a slightly better than expected Reward: Risk ratio


Option Journal Entry


  1. Overview Tabs:  Summary, Risk/Return, Greeks & IV
  2. Trade Summary:  Symbol, Trade Status, Position, Account & Tags
  3.  Results:  Profit/Loss, % of Target, Duration of Trade
  4. Evaluation: Up to 3 Primary Drivers  of the Trade 
  5. Price/Performance
    A. Candlestick chart with position entry/adjustment/close
    B. Cumulative activity for trade duration
  6. Summary of Performance



The Risk & Reward Tab summarizes the trade outline and result.

In this example:
The $10 Bull Put Spread resulted in Max Profit of $120 and Max Risk of $880
Duration: 22 days; profit per day: $5.45 ($120/22)
Return on Risk: 13.6%  (120/880)
Cushion:  How much below the break-even point the trade reached

Metric What it tells you Change column shows
Net Delta Directional exposure — roughly what the position gains or loses per $1 move in the stock Signed number
Net Theta $/day — premium the position collects (+) or pays (−) each day it’s held collected / paid
Net Vega $ per IV point — what the position gains or loses per 1-point change in implied volatility worked / hurt / faded
Net Gamma How fast Delta itself moves as the stock moves — negative for credit spreads and short premium Signed number
Trade IV The implied volatility of your own legs — what you actually sold or bought Signed number
Stock IV The underlying’s mean implied volatility, with HV (30-day historical) shown beneath it Signed number
IV − HV Volatility risk premium — how far implied sat above (or below) what the stock has actually been doing Signed number
IV Rank Where implied volatility sat in its own 1-year range, 0–100 Signed number



26-06 Release- Bid/Ask Percent Data

Bid/Ask Spread – Premium Percentage


What do these columns represent?

The values represent the Bid/Ask spread percentage for the At-The-Money strike for each Expiration.

The percentage background color ranges from green, gray, yellow, and red, which represents the most liquidity to least for that ATM Expiration



Spread Trade example: 

Bull Put

1.  The negotiation slider dynamically calculates the percentage of the position premium (debit or credit) that the bid/ask spread comprises when the slider is moved between the Mid (0.00%) and Natural (Max %).

2.  This value confirms the Spread value.  In this example, the value is 15.  The strikes are 200/215:


Multi-Leg Example: 

Iron Condor

1.  The negotiation slider dynamically calculates the percentage of the position premium (debit or credit) that the bid/ask spread comprises when the slider is moved between the Mid (0.00%) and Natural (Max %).

2.  The Put/Call Premium is calculated and tied to the “Bid”.

3.  The Outer legs and Body spread values.


Change Log

  • ADUR display resolved
  • Repaired snap quote issue with Tradier
  • SPLG>SPYM display data corrected


26-06 Release Notes: Bid/Ask data

Bid/Ask Spread – Premium Percentage


What do these columns represent?

The values represent the Bid/Ask spread percentage for the At-The-Money strike for each Expiration.

The percentage background color ranges from green, gray, yellow, and red, which represents the most liquidity to least for that ATM Expiration


Change Log
  • ADUR display resolved
  • Repaired snap quote issue with Tradier
  • SPLG>SPYM display issue corrected


Intraday Charts displaying Pre/Post Market Activity


Intraday extended-hours charting enables users to visualize price movement beyond standard market hours, providing a more complete picture of how news, earnings, and overnight activity impact their setups. This helps reinforce timing, entries, and the real-world behavior of the markets.


Extended Trading Hours

Pre and Post-Market activity can be displayed on Intra-Day charts:

First, click on the Gear icon as shown.

Then, toggle  “Show Pre-Post Trading bars” to the On position, as shown.

Finally, “Save”.



Journal Auto-Reconcile


Journal Auto-Reconcile

The auto-reconciliation in the Trade Journal aligns trades and results—allowing students to focus on analyzing performance instead of managing data. Since consistent review is key to improving as a trader, this streamlines the learning process.

Start in the Reconcile View of the Journal:

Next,  click the button.

The dialog box  to the left will appear:

 

Click “Yes”

The display will list the resulting action for each expiration.

You can scroll to review.

The arrow icon appears on Journal Tabs that can be edited. 

Click on the icon, confirm you want to make changes.

When completed, “Save”

The display will list the resulting action for each expiration.

You can scroll to review.




26-03 Release Notes: Journal Auto-Reconcile, Extended Trading, New Charting Indicators


Platform Release Summary

This release helps you see more of the market, spend less time tracking trades, and apply your strategies with greater confidence—with extended-hours charting, automated journal reconciliation, and new technical indicators.


Journal Auto-Reconcile

The auto-reconciliation in the Trade Journal aligns trades and results—allowing users to focus on analyzing performance instead of managing data. Since consistent review is key to improving as a trader, this feature makes the process significantly easier and more accurate

Start in the Reconcile View of the Journal:

Next,  click the button.

The dialog box  to the left will appear:

 

Click “Yes”

The display will list the resulting action for each expiration.

You can scroll to review.

The Reconcile view will clear and all Journal Tabs will update to reflect the action resulting from each Expiration.

The arrow icon (shown) allows editing – including early assignment of options.

Note:  This icon will *only* appear on Journal Tabs where the function is permitted.

Example: Stock Positions will not display the icon.




Extended Trading Hours

Pre and Post-Market activity can be displayed on Intra-Day charts:

First, click on the Gear icon as shown.

Then, toggle  “Show Pre-Post Trading bars” to the On position, as shown.

Finally, “Save“.


Additions:  New Charting Indicators

Chande Momentum Indicator (CMO)
Measures the strength of price movement by evaluating both gains and losses, providing a more balanced view than traditional oscillators.

  • Above +50: Indicates overbought conditions (potential selling opportunity)
  • Below -50: Indicates oversold conditions (potential buying opportunity)

Summary: Helps identify when price movement may be overextended and due for a reversal.

Chaikin Money Flow (CMF)
An oscillator measuring buying and selling pressure by analyzing money flow volume over a set period, rather than cumulatively.

  • Positive values: Indicate buying pressure (accumulation)
  • Negative values: Indicate selling pressure (distribution)
  • Default setting: 20-period (typically 20 days)

Summary: Helps identify whether money is flowing into or out of a security over a defined timeframe.

Directional Movement Index (DMI)
A trend indicator that measures both the direction and strength of a trend using three lines: ADX, +DI, and -DI.

  • +DI above -DI: Indicates an uptrend
  • -DI above +DI: Indicates a downtrend
  • ADX: Measures trend strength (regardless of direction)
  • Default setting: 14-period

Summary: Helps identify trend direction and the trend’s strength

Ultimate Oscillator
A momentum indicator that combines three timeframes to provide a more balanced view of market strength and reduce false signals.

  • Higher values: Indicate stronger buying pressure
  • Lower values: Indicate stronger selling pressure
  • Used to identify overbought/oversold conditions and potential trend reversals

Summary: Helps confirm momentum and spot potential turning points with greater reliability.


Change Log

  • Improve OHLC appearance
  • Repair drawing annotations on extended chart
  • Reconciliation mode functionality fixed


Bracket Order Adjustment

Adjust Limit and/or Stop Orders from the Chart


  1.  Click on the Limit (or Stop) Order Dashed Line
  2.  The Modify Order Price dialog box will appear
  3.  Either move the dashed line to the new position, this will temporarily show up as a solid line.  OR enter the new price in the dialog box.
  4.  Click Modify



Once modified, the Limit order becomes a dashed line at the updated price.