Hi fellow traders.
I would like to share with anyone who may find this useful or perhaps provide a helpful ‘head start’ into the world of Hot Keys.
When I began to learn day trading and the importance of using hot keys, I created an editable PDF file which I would refine and develop as my trading progressed.
To this day I still refer back to this chart as a constant reminder of my complex hot-key layout.
One very nice thing about the PDF I am providing here is the fact that all the comment text boxes and red square boxes are ‘live and editable’. You can use this file as a head start to customize your preferred hotkeys vs. creating one from scratch. (Bit of a time saver) You will find that as you evolve your hotkeys, you will revise your PDF on the fly continuously making it more detailed and accurate for your desired use.
Just a note; All I did here was take a photo of my actual keyboard and added some black space around it. I then saved a .jpg file and converted it to a PDF file.
A few things I would like to point out here in hopes to answer some possible questions.
This layout I am providing here is simply how I ‘personally’ have found to work for ‘my’ for my trading style. Yours can of course differ.
- The text boxes Highlighted in ‘yellow’ represent the very active hotkeys I use most commonly
- The colored stickers on the keyboard (purchased from a dollar store) are something I did to help me learn with clarity/confidence under pressure. Once you have used them for a while you will most likely find that you do not need colored stickers. Your hotkeys become natural to you. That day will come.
- The hotkey scripts I am providing are based on using DAS trader version 5.3.0.5 (and in particular IB as my broker). Please note to ensure that you test out all your hotkeys in simulation mode before you go live. Make changes as necessary.
- From my understanding and experience using hotkeys in DAS Trader Pro 5.3.0.5. Hotkeys associated with ‘stop order’ like actions DO NOT work in pre-market environments. (I do not know why). So use at your own discretion and ensure to test out all of them in the simulator environment.
Perhaps now that I have done this, it might be nice for other fellow traders to share their hotkey layout and what works well for them. Be nice to see other trading styles.
Happy trading everyone! And good luck! 😉
Uploaded; April 20 2019
Revision: 0
DAS HotKey Layout and Shortcut Scripts REV0.pdf