You can set up alerts to trigger certain actions when a stocks in your portfolio meets certain criteria.  You can have more than one alert per stock symbol. QuoteTracker can alert you in a variety of ways when an alert is triggered.  You can access the alert function through the Alerts menu, the MENU button, by right clicking on a symbol or by clicking on the button on the main screen.

 

There are two methods (tabs) for entering alerts:

Alerts: On this screen you enter and view the alerts in detail.  Everything you need is available on this screen including all alert types and triggering actions, dealing with one alert for a symbol at a time.

Quick Alerts: On this screen, you are presented with a list of all your available symbols in your portfolios and you can quickly enter or modify several alerts for each symbol.  Not all alert types are available and you can not specify the action to be taken.  To fine tune the alert, you would go to the Alerts tab.

 

Setting up Alert Defaults:

This tab is used to set up the default actions that will be used for the alerts when they trigger.  The defaults are set by Alert Type that are available from the Defaults for Alert Type list.  Alert types in this list are created either on the Alerts tab or as a Paintbar alert.  These defaults will be used when a new alert is created.  You can make changes to the specific alert at any time. Subsequent changes to the alert defaults will not effect the alerts already entered.

 

This screen is used to setup defaults for the type of alerts when they are triggered. It does not select an alert type as the default:

 

 

Select the Alert Type and the action(s) to be performed when that alert is triggered:

 

Timeout: When an alert triggers and the row is highlighted, it will remain so until acknowleged by turning off the alert (right click menu on the symbol).  You can enter a timeout value (in seconds) for this to be done automatically. The highlight will start to fade and turn itself off, and be ready for the next alert to be triggered.

Trigger if Crossed: This only appears if the option is applicable to the Alert Type.  If this box is checked,the alert will only trigger if the value is actually crossed on the way up or down (depending on the Alert Type)  If unchecked, it will trigger any time the condition exists.  For example, on a High Price alert that is set to 10, the alert would not trigger unless the price is initially 10 or below then hits 10 or above.  If it unchecked, the alert will trigger anytime it is 10 or above even if it never was 10 or below.

Highlight Row: Highlights the row of the symbol that triggered the alert.  Note the ! to the right of the symbol that notifies you of an alert.  The yellow ! appears next to the symbol to indicate that an alert has triggered whether you choose to highlight the row or not:

 

 

 

Popup Alert: Pops up an alert box indicating the type of alert that was triggered:

 

 

This a standard system alert window. You can add to or replace the text description shown when you setup the alert on the detail screen.

 

Turn Off:   Resets the alert, turning off the Highlighted Row and Flashing Window.

You can also Turn OFF the alert by selecting that option from the Alerts menu

or from the  right click menu on the symbol that triggered the alert.

Edit: Takes you to the entered alert to allow you to view and modify the alert.

Disable: Leaves the alert in the system, but will not alert you until you enable it again.

Delete:        Removes the alert from the system.

Portfolio: Brings up the screen. to allow you to modify your portfolio.

Go to News: This button only shows for a news alert and will bring up the News screen.

Link: Places this symbol in any Linked Windows of the selected color group that are open.

Trade: Sets up the symbol to be traded in the Trade Panel.

Close: Closes the Popup Alert box.

 

Flash Task Bar Icon:   Flashes the QuoteTracker icon in the Windows task bar.

Audio:   Select a Standard Windows audio sound to be used (make sure the sound you select is associated with a sound in the Windows Control Panel Sound applet) or a Custom wav file you want to use.  Click  on the ... button to browse for a wav file.  Click the Test button to hear the sound.

Email Alert:   Select the Email Template you want to use to send an email or select ---No Email Alert--- from the available templates drop down list.

 

The following options apply to all alert types:

Auto-Save when Editing Alerts:   Checking this option will save your alerts on the Alerts screen without having to click on the Save Alert button

Alert Popups - do not interrupt if not active:   Checking this box will bypass the alert popups if the program is not the active one - i.e. it does not have focus.  This is equivalent to a "Do Not Disturb" option.

Prompt for Alert Deletes:   Checking this option will pop up a confirm dialog when you delete alerts.  If not checked, they will be deleted without prompting.

Show Alert Editor when defining Trendline Alert:   This option applies only to trendline alerts set on the Intraday Chart. Checking this option will pop up a confirm dialog when you delete alerts.  If checked, the Detail Alerts window will open to complete the settings for the alert, otherwise the preset defaults as defined on this screen for the alert will be used  ("above" if the line is drawn above the current last price and "below" if the line is drawn below).  Of course, you can always edit the alert at any time directly on the Detail Alerts screen.

Indicate set alert next to symbol name even if not triggered: This option when checked displays the alert ! next to a symbol that has any alerts set even it has not yet triggered.  The ! will be in gray. When the alert triggers it will change to yellow in addition to any other trigger actions specified.  Uncheck this box so that only triggered alerts (in yellow) are indicated.

 

Duplicate Alert Threshold:   Select the minimum time (in minutes) between triggers for the same alert for a symbol so as not to trigger an alert again.  Set this to 0 to always alert you on duplicates.  Set this to a high number, such as 999, to never alert on duplicates.

Check Alerts Every X seconds:   Alerts are checked every 2 seconds, by default.  Select how often you want the alerts to be checked in seconds.  This setting will not cause any alerts to be missed.  It only delays checking and possible triggering and is used to minimize system load.

Maximum # of Visible Alert Popups:   To avoid screen clutter, you can specify the number of popups to dipslay on your screen at one time.  This does not disable the alert - it just prevents the popup from appearing if you already have the number of popups specified on the screen at the time the alert triggers.  All other trigger actions such as sound, etc. are not affected.

Alert Indicator Fade Period:   The bright yellow ! that shows up next to the symbol in the portfolio when an alert triggers will fade in color after the number of seconds specified. This can be used to indicate how recent the alert is.

 

To view all the alerts triggered in the current session, select to view the Alert Log from the Alerts menu.  Right click anywhere on the Log for options to Print, Save or Copy the Log: