Educational events fill up quickly, so we encounter this situation a lot. If you're trying to register for a full Branch Seminar, it's best to call your branch office directly and ask to be put on their waiting list. That way, if a spot opens up, your branch manager will have your name and number handy to alert you to the opening.

If a User Summit is full, it's best to check back periodically and see if registration has re-opened. When we have a lot of interest beyond our room capacity, we work with the host hotel to get more space, if possible, so we can re-open registration to accommodate our clients. We also experience cancellations on occasion, and we re-open registration to fill seats vacated by clients who cancel.

If you live close to the hotel hosting our User Summit, you are welcome to stop by and see if we have any open seats on the day of the event. We can't guarantee you a spot because our registered guests will be seated first, but we will do our best to get you in!

Courtney Monroe

Scottrade Customer Education Analyst

Yes. Scottrade offers systematic purchases and redemptions, which can help you take advantage of your dollar-cost averaging strategy. You choose the month, date and dollar amount to be transacted. The dollar amount must meet the fund minimum subsequent investment amount set by the fund, which can be obtained on the Value Line Profile, or $100, whichever is greater.

Systematic redemptions may be transacted by using either dollars or shares. Redemptions using shares may not be transacted for fewer than five shares. Redemptions using dollars may not be transacted for less than $100. A $2 fee will apply to each systematic purchase of a no-load fund not participating in the no-transaction fee program. You can request a Mutual Fund Systematic Trade Authorization Form by downloading it from the Forms Center or by calling your local Scottrade branch office.

Please allow 10 days from the time your broker receives the form for your systematic purchase or redemption to be initiated. A shorter period of time may result in your first transaction date being missed. For more information about systematic purchases and redemptions on mutual funds, visit the Mutual Fund FAQ.

Patrick Breyne
Scottrade Mutual Funds Manager

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of mutual fund carefully before investing. A prospectus contains this and other information about the fund and is available through www.scottrade.com or through a Scottrade branch office. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

Definitely! Scottrade Mobile is versatile enough for use on any Web-enabled mobile device, but there is a quick trick for iPhone^TM mobile digital device users to make the site even more convenient. To put a Scottrade Mobile icon on your iPhone^TM mobile digital device home page:

1. Go to m.scottrade.com using your phone's browser.
2. Click the "+" symbol at the bottom of the page.
3. Select "Add to home page".
4. It will suggest you name it "Scottrade"; just click "ok" or "add".

The icon will then appear on the home page of your iPhone^TM mobile digital device, just like the other apps and shortcuts you have stored.

Patrick Rodman
Scottrade Product Specialist

Placing market orders after hours can be risky for that very reason. A lot can happen outside of normal trading hours, and prices can be significantly higher or lower than the previous day's closing price. For example, a major news story, national or world event, or some other factor affecting a particular company or industry may cause stock prices to rise or fall.

One option to consider is placing a limit order instead of a market order. If you specify your buy or sell price, you will not be surprised with a transaction you weren't expecting. But, the downside is that your order execution isn't guaranteed with a limit order because the stock may not reach the price you specified.

Brett Schulte
Scottrade Active Trader Product Specialist

Answer:

TJJ,

We have several ways for you to learn more about ScottradeELITE. First, I highly recommend our ScottradeELITE webcasts, which can be found at http://www.scottrade.com/MediaContent/WebCast.asp.

These webcasts allow you to see the basics of any given ELITE window. Scottrade has also done some advanced podcasts to allow Scottrade clients to find more ways to use the tools provided by ScottradeELITE.

In addition to webcasts, Scottrade has a demo version of ScottradeELITE. This virtual trading experience allows you to try the program out without risking any of your hard-earned money.

The third item I'd like to mention is the ScottradeELITE tutorial, available from http://www.scottradeelite.com. This tutorial walks clients through each ScottradeELITE window, showing you how to use the product.

The last item I'd like to point out is the Knowledge Center. For ScottradeELITE-specific Knowledge Center content, you can either left click on the question mark in the upper right hand corner of any ScottradeELITE window, or left click on the Help menu at the top of the main ScottradeELITE window and then left click on Knowledge Center.

I hope these tools give you a good foundation for working with and understanding ScottradeELITE.

Brett Schulte
Scottrade Active Trader Product Specialist

GHT,

ScottradeELITE does allow clients the ability to quickly place trades using the keyboard. We call this feature Hot Keys.

To access Hot Key setup, open ScottradeELITE, left click on System in the menu at the top of the screen, and left click on Hot Key Setup. Once the Hot Key Setup screen is open, you can see what the default Hot Keys will do. Holding down the Control, Shift and F2 keys at the same time, for instance, will cause an Order Entry window to open up that already has the Order Type prefilled to Market and the Sell button highlighted for you to left click. In addition to placing orders, you may also open various window types within ScottradeELITE. As you can see from the screen shot above, these include Chart windows, Level II windows, Full Quote windows and others.

You can also customize the existing alerts or add new alerts to the list. I would like to show you how to add your own custom alert as a part of the answer to your initial question. Left click on the Add button at the bottom of the window. The window below will appear.

In the Action Type drop-down menu, select Stock Order Entry. Market Side, Quantity and Order Type, which had all previously been grayed out, should now be available to change. Choose the market side, quantity and order type you wish to use. When you are finished customizing the Hot Key parameters to your satisfaction, left click on OK. The window will disappear, and your new Hot Key will appear at the bottom of the list in the Hot Key Setup window. The Hot Key will be highlighted at this time. Simply press the key combination you wish to use, and you will lock in that key combination for the particular order action.

Brett Schulte
Scottrade Active Trader Product Specialist

WTS,

This is a question we hear a lot at Scottrade. The answer is almost always yes, but the way to get this to happen differs quite a bit from computer to computer.

The most common way to maximize ScottradeELITE across multiple monitors is to first make sure the program is not already maximized on one monitor. Look just to the left of the X in the upper right hand corner of the ScottradeELITE window. If you see two small overlapping squares, ScottradeELITE is already maximized in one window. Left click once to make the ScottradeELITE window smaller. Then left click and hold on the ScottradeELITE window's title bar and move the window to the far upper left hand corner of your monitor system. At this point, move your mouse over the bottom right corner of the ScottradeELITE window. You should see your mouse pointer change to two arrows pointing in opposite directions. When you see this, left click and hold, and then move your mouse down and to the right until all monitors are covered by the ScottradeELITE window.

In some cases, the above method will not work. This is because your multiple monitor system uses software which does not support the hold and drag method of expanding a window. In these cases, please consult the manual or Web site for your particular multi-monitor software for the alternative method they use.

Brett Schulte
Scottrade Active Trader Product Specialist

Dear R.G.,

Many Scottrade clients ask if they are able to export ScottradeELITE chart data to Microsoft Excel since by default the information is saved in a text file. Luckily, ScottradeELITE chart data CAN be viewed and saved in Microsoft Excel. Here's how to do so, once you have a chart window open within ScottradeELITE with the data on your screen:

1. Left click on the Tools button along the top of the Chart window.
2. Left click on Export Chart Data. A "Save As..." dialog window will appear.
3. In the "File name:" field, type in the name you want the file to have FOLLOWED BY ".csv". For example, I would type in "brett.csv" in the "File name:" field to name my file.
4. Make sure you are saving the file to where you want it on your computer and left click on the "Save" button.
5. Double left click on the new file you created in Step 4, and you should see your chart data in Microsoft Excel.

So why does this work? It works because the chart data information which ScottradeELITE outputs is in a comma-delimited format. Choosing to save this information as a .csv (comma delimited) file allows it to be read and formatted correctly within Microsoft Excel without any work on your part.

Brett Schulte
Scottrade Active Trader Product Specialist

Dear S.G.,

Thank you for the question. We actually added this function to the chart window with our latest upgrade. Customers can now add a new plot window within the same chart. The new window will populate just below the main window.

To add a symbol to a new plot window, type +(symbol) in the symbol entry field in the chart window. See the example here:

View Graphic

The above example will result in the following chart window:

View Graphic

You can also add multiple symbols to a new plot window by typing +(symbol,symbol). See the example here:

View Graphic

The above example will result in the following chart window:

View Graphic

Again, thank you for the question. We hope you enjoy this new feature within ScottradeELITE!

Justin Gunderson
Active Trader Product Specialist at Scottrade

Any specific securities, types of securities, or research tools mentioned or shown are for demonstrative purposes only. Investors should not construe such information as investment advice.

Dear R.C.,

Thank you. I am glad to hear you found them helpful.

We received several similar requests for a "library" of Quick Tips and articles. There is not one place where you can view all the Quick Tips together. However, the newsletter will be going through a redesign to improve the functionality and archiving of the articles. Part of the redesign is to better organize the Quick Tips so you can easily search through all of them.

You can use the drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner of the newsletter to view other issues and other Quick Tips. Below are some Quick Tips we have provided in past newsletters that readers have found especially helpful.

Sincerely,

Jesse Pettis
Customer Education Specialist at Scottrade