Trade Flash is a thinkorswim gadget that displays trade-related events (a.k.a. flashes) as they happen. These flashes include third-party analyst up/downgrades, block trades, trade imbalances, events on the trading floor, and more. Like all other gadgets, Trade Flash can be displayed as a section of the left sidebar or a separate window (see the Left Sidebar article for details).
How to use Trade Flash:
1. Add the Trade Flash gadget to your left sidebar. To do so, click on the 'plus' button below the left sidebar and choose Trade Flash from the menu. Alternatively, you can replace an already active gadget with Trade Flash by clicking its Show actions menu button
and choosing Switch gadget in the menu.
2. You can choose a symbol or a watchlist to view the flashes for. To pick a symbol, use the symbol selector. To pick a watchlist, click on the 'gear' button next to it.
3. In the main gadget area, Trade Flash displays a feed of events sorted by time, newest first. Symbols that appear in the feed are highlighted: clicking on any of them will re-direct you to the Trade tab so that you can take action on a flash. Right-clicking on a symbol will open the Symbol Actions menu that enables you to send orders, create alerts, and view more in-depth info.
4. You can select the kinds of flashes you would like to be displayed. To do so, click on the Select categories icon and activate the desirable categories.
5. Consider linking Trade Flash to a watch list using the color-coded clipboard available from the 'clip icon' menu . If Trade Flash is linked to a watchlist with the same color code, clicking through the watchlist will immediately display the corresponding symbols in Trade Flash.
6. Flashes are displayed in the gadget throughout the U.S. trading day and disappear shortly thereafter.