Hotkeys: speed without the fat finger

[Shadow Trader]

Clicking buttons costs time. A mouse movement of half a second matters when a setup lasts ten seconds.

Hotkeys let a scalper buy, sell, close and adjust stops with keystrokes. Setting them up takes an hour and pays back quickly. Fixed lot sizes assigned to different keys, such as one key for a standard size and another for half, remove the need to type anything before entering.

Safety matters more than speed. Poorly placed hotkeys cause accidental orders, especially when typing elsewhere or when the platform window has lost focus. Using a modifier key, like holding shift for execution, reduces the risk.

A practical test: practise on demo for a week, then count accidental orders. The number should be zero before going live.

Another habit is a key combination to close everything instantly. Used rarely, but in an emergency it saves seconds.

Which actions have hotkeys, and has a misfire ever happened?