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Add Market Data

When you first open TWS, a sample Quote Monitor displays several sample lines of data. Before you trade an asset, you’ll want to be able to see streaming data for the asset. A market data line represents an individual ticker, and displays the product type, order destination, ask and bid prices, and any other defining attributes. You can add a market data line by typing a symbol directly into the Contract column of the Quote Monitor.

Enter security definitions by entering the exchange contract class or contract symbol in the Contract field. Enter forex pairs using the syntax xxx.yyy in the Contract field.

To add market data to the Quote Monitor

Click in the Contract field in an empty row.
Enter an underlying symbol and press ENTER.
Select an asset type from the picklist on the trading screen.

If you choose Smart as the exchange (rather than selecting Directed and then picking a destination) the market data is aggregated and the default order routing is Smart. From a display perspective, ticker lines that use aggregated Smart data do not display Smart in the data line. TWSwill only show the exchange if you elect to direct route. When you create an order, regardless of the market data selection you can modify the order routing destination on a per-order basis using the Destination field.

Option Selector

In the Contract Selection box, select a contract(s) and click OK. For assets requiring right, expiry and strike price, use the Selector box. In-the-money contracts are highlighted. Use the Smart dropdown to choose a single exchange.

Note: Notes about Market Data use

A market data line is considered “active” when visible.
Each alarm that you set always uses one line of market data whether or not you are viewing the asset that contains the alarm.
Market data requested through an API has top priority, followed by data requested by alarms, and finally basic market data display. This means that if you are viewing a trading page that includes 100 lines of market data, and you also have price-activated alarms set for 6 other contracts, those 6 contracts will receive market data, and your trading page will only show data for 94 contracts.
The option chains in the OptionTrader do not count against available market data lines.

For details on market data fees and allocation rules, see the Market Data and News Subscriptions overview on the IB web site.

If you add a market data line for a derivative instrument, will ask if you want the underlying symbol added to the page. If you answer yes, it will be included above its derivative.