Monitor
A monitor is a watchlist: a table of the shares and other symbols that matter to you, with live bid, offer, and change updating in one place.
Following a dozen shares by opening a dozen quote pages is slow, and the whole point of a live price is to see the move as it happens. A monitor puts the symbols you choose in one table with the columns you want, typically bid, offer, last trade, change on the day, and volume, all updating without a refresh. A glance tells you which name has moved and by how much, and a click opens that symbol's full quote, chart, or Level 2 book.
You can keep several monitors, each with its own name, so the shares you own, the shares you are considering, and a sector you are watching can be separate lists. The columns can be set separately for a wide screen and a phone, so the phone version stays readable. Marking a symbol on its quote page adds it to your bookmarks monitor without leaving the quote. You can also share a monitor read-only, so someone else can watch the same list.
A monitor only stores the symbols. It does not know how many shares you hold, what they cost, or what they are worth. That record is your portfolio. The two are different tools: a monitor is for watching prices; a portfolio is for knowing what you own.
Questions
Is a monitor the same as a portfolio?
No. A monitor watches prices for symbols you choose and records no quantities. A portfolio records what you own and values it.
Can I share a watchlist with someone?
Yes, read-only. The other person opens it from Follow and sees your symbols with live prices, but cannot change the list.
Related pages
| Quote | A monitor is a row of figures per symbol. The quote is the full page for one symbol: bid, offer, last trade, change, chart, news, dividends, and discussion. |
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| Portfolio | A portfolio records the quantities you own, what they cost, your cash, and your profit and loss. A monitor only watches prices, with no quantities. |
| Chart grid | The chart grid takes a monitor's symbols and draws a chart for each, so you see the shape of every price on the list at once instead of one row of numbers. |
| Follow | A monitor another member has shared with you is opened from Follow. It is read-only: their list and their symbols, with live prices. |