Current Market Activity

Your first activity after you log into ChemConnect’s Chalkboard trading platform will normally be to check the current market activity.

 

The Chalkboard Market window displays real-time information, meaning what you see is what is available to trade at this moment.  The Market window is displayed so that the price of the highest bid and lowest offer are side by side to allow easy comparison.  The price and volume units of measure to the left of the bid column further define each order.  Index-based prices are led by a “+” or a “-“.

 

In addition, the positions can be filtered to meet your specific date, location and/or term needs.  For example, you could set your filter to show only Propane in Conway for the current month.

 

 

Display Current Positions

 

When you first log into Chalkboard, you will automatically see the current Market window.  You are able to open another current Market window, as needed, to suit your specific requirements.  If you wish to open more than one Market window at a time, you will have to minimize each window in order to view one completely.

 

 

 

Define Market Headings

 

T:  Transaction Type.  This column displays the type of position:  Physicals, Financial Swaps (SW) or Multi-Leg positions such as Exchange (EX) or Buy/Sell (B/S).

 

Product & Spec:  This column displays the name of the commodity traded.

 

Location:  This column displays the short name of the specified trading point.

 

Term:  This column displays the short description on the date range the product will be delivered.

 

V-UOM:  Volume-Unit of Measure

 

P-UOM:  Price-Unit of Measure

 

Index:  This column displays the name of an index if you used a particular one for pricing, such as the Chalkboard Weighted Average or CIF ARA.  If the price is FIXED, then it will be blank.

 

Market Bids/Pay Comments:  This column displays any comments that relate to your posting that you type into the field.

 

Market Bids/Pay Volume:  This column displays the quantity of a specific product a party is willing to buy.  Quantities are not rolled up (summed by price); however, if there is more quantity at different prices, it will show up in market depth.

 

Market Bids/Pay Price:  This column displays the maximum price a party is willing to pay for a specific product at a specific location and term.

Market Offers/Collect Price: This column displays the minimum price a party is willing to sell a specific product at a specific location and term.

 

Market Offers/Collect Volume: This column displays the quantity of a specific product a party is willing to sell.  Quantities are not rolled up (summed by price); however, if there is more quantity at different prices, it will show up in market depth.

 

Market Offers/Collect Comments:  This column displays any comments that relate to your posting that you type into the field.

 

 

Define History Optional Column Headings

 

Last Trade:  This column displays the time stamp for the last transaction that occurred.

 

Last Volume:  This column displays the volume at which the last trade occurred.

 

Number of Trades:  This column sums up the total number of trades for that particular commodity and location.

 

Total Volume Traded: This column sums up the total volume of barrels at which a trade was completed.

 

Price Change/Arrow:  This column displays the difference between the last trade and the first trade of the day and the arrow simply indicates whether or not the price is up, down or the same.

 

 

Define Market Colors

 

When you log into ChemConnect’s Chalkboard, the colors are as follows:

 

Item

Description

Color

 
Market Background

 

Background color of the Type, Product & Spec, Term, V-UOM, P-UOM, and Index

 

 

White

 

 
Market Bids/Pay Background

 

The background color of the bid comments, volume and price

 

 

Light Blue

 

 

Market Offers/Collect Background

 

 

The background color of the offer price, volume and comments

 

 

Pink

 

 

A subscriber’s company’s orders

 

 

Any order placed in the Market by your company

 

 

Blue

 

 

A subscriber’s personal order

 

 

Any order placed in the Market by you

 

 

Blue & underlined

 

 

A subscriber’s related company’s orders

 

 

Any order placed in the Market by a related company

 

 

Fuchsia

 

 

An order on the Market for 15 minutes or less  

 

 

Any order placed in the Market by a related company or  any company for 15 minutes or less

 

 

Bold

 

 

Negotiations

 

 

Any position that is in negotiation mode

 

 

Red

 

 

Multi-Leg positions

 

 

Any two-sided deal (B/S or EXC) where the bid and offer columns are linked together

 

 

Green

 

 

 

Display Market Depth

 

The Market window shows any positions that are a one-sided position (bid or offer) in a  bid/ask format.  This feature allows each line item that matches the same parameters to be “stacked” on top of each other in a queue.  The only price and volume showing on the Market window is the best price, depending on whether or not it is the highest bid or lowest offer.

 

Market depth is signified by a “+” or “-“ indicator on the left of the Term column.  You can view all of the positions by clicking on the “+” indicator, thus opening the queue.  You do have the option of  viewing all of the orders (open depth) or viewing only the highest bid or lowest offer posted (closed depth) upon logging onto Chalkboard.

 

What

How

 

Display Market Depth on the Market window

 

 

Click on the “+” indicator located to the left of the Term listed

 

Set Market Depth default option

 

 

  1. Click on the Settings menu option on the Market window

  2. Click on the Settings menu option within the new dialog that was opened

  3. Click in the small box to the left of:  Automatically expand depth on login and when new depth created

  4. A small checkmark will appear in the box to activate this feature

 

 

Save Market Depth default option

 

 

  1. Click on the Save button

  2. Click on the Close button to return to the Market window

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filter Market Information

 

You can restrict the information you see using the Filter option on the Market window.  The system will show you the active positions for the selection combinations you specify.

 

When you are through changing filter criteria and if that filter is active within your Market window, the positions on the Market window are refreshed to display only what you have requested.  Your filter and sort remain active until you change them, even after you log off the trading application and return days later.

 

What

How

 

Open the filter window

 

 

  1. Right-click on the Product & Spec column heading on the Market window

  2. Click on the Filter option

 

 

Set the filter criteria

 

 

  1. Click on the New Filter button

  2. Click in the Filter Name field and choose a name for the filter you wish to create

  3. Click on the drop down arrow and scroll up or down the list until you find the  new Class, Transaction, Product, or Location you wish

  4. You may choose more than one location at a time for the same Class, Transaction Type, Product by selecting one location in the dropdown list and then by holding down the SHIFT key

  5. Click on the double-arrows pointing right toward the Select Filter Items box

  6. You may create as many different filters you wish to be a part of your particular filter name

  7. You can use the scroll up and down arrows to the right of your selections to change the order of your Filter criteria that you have created the filter list

 

 

Edit or delete a filter

 

 

  1. Right-click on the Product & Spec column heading on the Market window

  2. Click on the Filter option

  3. Click on the Edit or Delete link to the right of the filter name under My Filters heading

 

 

Select a filter for the Market window

 

 

  1. Right-click on the Product & Spec column heading on the Market window

  2. Click on the Filter option

  3. Click on the filter name you wish to view under the My Filters heading

 

 

Save the new filter

 

 

  1. Click on the Save button on the Filter Edit window

  2. Click on the Close button on the Market Filter window

 

 

Please Note:  Once you select a filter from your list, the class, transaction, product, and/or location you have chosen for that filter are the ONLY items you will see on your Market window.   If you would like to see all the products that you have access to, you can select the ‘All Market Activity’ public filter available to you as a default in your filter menu.