Yes, you can check your positions without leaving the order page while you're placing a stock order. This is also true for the process of placing options orders from the Scottrade Trading Website. When you're placing a stock or options order, the right side of the order page contains an 'Account Balance Summary' box. Beneath the summary of your account balances, are three boxes labeled from left to right as 'Open Orders', 'Positions', and 'Alerts'. To view your positions, left-click on the middle box labeled 'Positions'. The Positions box will then expand to show you a summary of your positions without navigating away from the order page or interfering with your ability to place an order.

Oscar Pineda-Madrid

Retail Web Services Trading Analyst

Yes. Quarterly and weekly options are available for trading on the OptionsFirst platform. These series have to be turned on under the Tools icon at the upper right of the Options Chain. The platform allows you to choose if you wish to show or hide the quarterly and weekly options. This allows you to eliminate clutter on your option chains and streamline the data you see.

Josh Sampson

Scottrade Options Education Specialist

Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Detailed information on our policies and the risks associated with options can be found in Scottrade's Options Application and Agreement, Brokerage Account Agreement, and Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options (available at your local Scottrade branch office or from the Options Clearing Corporation at 1-888-OPTIONS or by visiting www.optionsclearing.com). Market volatility, volume, and system availability may impact account access and trade execution. Supporting documentation for any claims will be supplied upon request.

Good until Canceled (GTC) and Good until Date (GTD) orders allow you to specify the time duration of certain trades. They are referred to as Time in Force designations for trades and can be applied to any buy or sell order that is entered with a limit, stop, stop-limit, and any advanced order type.

A Good until Canceled (GTC) order will remain in effect until it is executed, until you cancel the order, or until the last business day of the month following the month in which the order was entered, whichever occurs first. For example, if a GTC order was placed on Feb. 11, 20XX, the order would remain open until the last business day of March 20XX, unless the order was filled or cancelled prior to the end of the month. See the Knowledge Center for a complete order cancelation schedule for GTC orders.

A Good until Date (GTD) order allows you to enter a specific date and time of day when you would like for your order to expire. GTD trades have a maximum duration of 90 calendar days. The expiration date entered must be a market day and cannot be a holiday or weekend. The time of day entered must be between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. ET in half-hour increments only.

Mitul Nakum

Scottrade Trading Infrastructure Manager

There is no after-hours market for options. The options market will trade until the standard market on the underlying closes. Some broad-based indexes trade until 4:15 p.m. ET. For example, if the index/ETF trades until 4:15 p.m. on the standard market, the options on these underlying securities will trade until 4:15 p.m. as well.

Josh Sampson

OptionsFirst Education Specialist

Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Detailed information on our policies and the risks associated with options can be found in the Scottrade OptionsFirst Options Application and Agreement, Brokerage Account Agreement, and by downloading the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options and Supplements (PDF) from The Options Clearing Corporation, or by requesting a copy from your local branch office. Market volatility, volume, and system availability may impact account access and trade execution. Supporting documentation for any claims will be supplied upon request.

The short answer is, it's not. Your Scottrade account is in no way connected to your membership in the Community. Although only Scottrade customers are allowed to join the Community, we do not ask for any information regarding your Scottrade account at any point of your membership. For your privacy and protection, both your username and your account password for the Community are required to be different from the username and password associated with your Scottrade trading account. The Community provides you with a safe, relaxed and exciting way to discuss your trading experiences with other Scottrade customers while maintaining the complete anonymity of your personal and financial information.

Nina Card

Customer Education & Community Supervisor

Yes, non-standard options can be traded online. Non-standard options are options on stocks that have gone through a stock split, reorganization, merger or other corporate action. Contracts that have a non-standard deliverable will be designated on the Option Chain by an asterisk behind the series description. They will also be set apart because the series will be highlighted in blue. The deliverable of the contract will be displayed by clicking on this blue series link.

Josh Sampson

OptionsFirst Education & Acquisition Specialist

At Scottrade, advanced orders cost the same amount as basic orders. That means you can set up a trailing stop order, a conditional order with multiple conditions, a one cancels other (OCO) or one cancels all (OCA) order, or a OCO or OCA with conditions, all for the price of placing one trade. For securities priced $1 or more, placing one of these complex, multi-part orders online will still only cost you $7.

If you'd like to learn more about advanced orders and how to place them at Scottrade, watch our Order Types Tutorial, or read about advanced orders in the Knowledge Center.

Amy Walther

Retail Web Services Trading Analyst

Look for the "Export" button in the top right corner of your positions window. When you click "Export", OptionsFirst will automatically create an Excel file containing the information from the window you've selected. Notice that you'll also find the Export button in your Orders window.

Josh Sampson

OptionsFirst Education & Acquisition Specialist

When the markets experience extreme volatility and heavy volume (this is often referred to as "Fast Market Conditions"), industry-wide slowness can occur for orders being executed and reported back. When markets experience these conditions, execution and report times across the industry can be significantly slower than under normal circumstances. In these market conditions, orders are executed on a best-efforts basis.

Regardless of market conditions, Scottrade rigorously monitors the execution our customers receive. We strive to provide you with a consistent, quality execution experience. During periods of high market stress, Scottrade is even more cognizant of our obligation to provide a quality experience at the trade execution level.

In some cases, orders can be busted by the Exchanges, pursuant to NASD Rule 11890. If you have questions about orders you placed, please contact your local branch office. You can also learn more about any trades affected by reading NASDAQ's announcement at http://ir.nasdaq.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=467549.

Matt Billings

Scottrade Director of Trading Services

There's a simple shortcut for closing out stock or options positions from anywhere in your account where your positions are listed (your home page, positions page, or the positions widget on the trading pages). Closing out a position means selling all of the stock you own in a particular company, buying to cover all of the stock you sold short in a particular company, or exercising an option contract.

From the positions list, simply click the quantity listed for a position, and you will be automatically directed to an Order Entry page that's pre-filled to close the position.

Oscar Pineda-Madrid

Retail Web Services Trading Analyst

Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Detailed information on our policies and the risks associated with options can be found in the Scottrade Options Application and Agreement, Brokerage Account Agreement, and by downloading the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options and Supplements (PDF) from The Options Clearing Corporation, or by requesting a copy from your local branch office. Market volatility, volume, and system availability may impact account access and trade execution. Supporting documentation for any claims will be supplied upon request.