Getting Started with Strikeline: Your First Week of Smart Trading

Introduction: Why Strikeline?

Welcome to Strikeline, your intelligent trading companion designed to bridge the gap between professional-grade market analysis and everyday investors. Whether you're a seasoned trader looking for better tools or someone taking their first steps into active investing, Strikeline offers a comprehensive platform that combines real-time market data, AI-powered insights, and seamless brokerage integration.

Built on the foundation of Alpaca Markets—a modern, commission-free trading platform—Strikeline brings institutional-quality analytics to your mobile device or desktop. The application doesn't just show you numbers; it interprets them, identifies opportunities, and helps you make informed decisions with confidence.

What sets Strikeline apart is its holistic approach to trading:

• AI Copilot: An intelligent assistant that reads your accounts, positions and watchlists, analyzes market conditions, and tailors its recommendations to the risk tolerance and time horizon in your AI Profile
• Advanced Analytics: Strikeline's technical analysis on every symbol and position—channel detection, support/resistance levels, targets, stops and a signal with its rationale—on the Elite plan
• Options Intelligence: Option chains with the Greeks, strategies filtered by your objective, and each strategy's legs, credit or cost, and probability of profit
• Portfolio Management: Real-time position tracking, margin and leverage, sector allocation, and performance analytics
• Market Scanning: Top Opportunities, a daily scan ranked on technical quality and fundamentals, plus daily setups on your own watchlists (Pro and Elite)

This guide will walk you through your first week with Strikeline, from initial setup to placing your first trade. By the end, you'll have a fully configured trading environment, a curated watchlist, and the confidence to execute your investment strategy.

Strikeline transforms complex market data into actionable insights, putting institutional-grade trading tools in the palm of your hand.

Let's get started.

Setting Up Your Account

Your journey with Strikeline begins with creating your account. The process is designed to be quick and straightforward, getting you from signup to trading in just a few minutes.

Creating Your Strikeline Account

1. Download the Application: Strikeline is available for iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac. Visit your platform's app store or the official Strikeline website to download the latest version.

2. Sign Up: Launch the application and tap Sign Up. You enter your full name and email address—there is no password to create. If you want to look around first, Try the demo opens Strikeline with sample data.

3. Email Verification: Strikeline emails you a code; enter it in the app to confirm your address. Signing in later works the same way: enter your email and the code you're sent, or scan the QR code shown on a device that's already signed in.

4. Set a Passcode: Choose a local passcode for this device, and turn on biometrics if your device supports them.

5. Configure Your AI Profile: Tap your profile photo at the top of the navigation panel (or AI Profile on the Outlook toolbar) to tell the copilot how to tailor its advice for the selected account:

   • Risk Tolerance: Conservative, moderate, or aggressive
   • Time Horizon: Short (under a year), medium (1-5 years), or long (5 years and more)
   • Option Strategies: The structures the AI may suggest—covered calls, cash-secured puts, long calls and puts, vertical spreads
   • Allocation Targets: Your target split across conservative, regular and high-risk holdings, and a cap on any single position

   Each account keeps its own settings, and you can change them anytime as your experience and goals evolve.

6. Enable Notifications (Pro and Elite): Allow push notifications so Strikeline can alert you to:

   • Price movements in your positions and watchlists
   • Order fills and expired orders
   • Pattern setups found by the scanner
   • Contract expiration warnings

Choosing a Plan

Strikeline has three plans. Free covers stock trading through Alpaca, your portfolio, watchlists, the asset deep-dive and action queues; the copilot runs on your own AI provider key, with a 14-day trial of the bundled AI. Pro ($9.99 a month or $99.99 a year) adds options trading from the option chain, the bundled copilot on Claude Opus 5.5, thesis checks, Top Opportunities, daily setups and alerts. Elite ($24.99 a month or $249.99 a year) adds Strikeline's technical analysis, full reports, the daily market writeups, advanced watchlists and strategies. The Automation add-on ($14.99 a month) runs 0DTE agents and thesis auto entry. Fundamentals, news, insider activity and earnings on asset pages come from FMP and need your own FMP key, which you enter in Settings → General Settings.

Desktop vs. Mobile

Strikeline offers a seamless experience across all devices. Many users prefer:

• Mobile for quick position checks, alerts, and simple trades on the go
• Desktop/Tablet for detailed analysis, with side panes that keep the copilot or the day's setups open next to the main view

Your accounts, watchlists and alerts sync through Strikeline's server, so you can start research on your desktop and execute trades from your phone without missing a beat. Copilot conversations stay on the device where you had them.

Security Best Practices

• Enable Biometric Authentication: Use Face ID, Touch ID, or fingerprint unlock for quick, secure access (Settings → Privacy & Security)
• Review Your Devices: Periodically check Settings → About Strikeline → My licences, which lists the devices using your licence, and release any you no longer use
• Keep Your App Updated: Phones update through the app stores; the desktop app checks for updates from Settings

Connecting Your Alpaca Trading Account (Paper vs. Live)

Strikeline integrates directly with Alpaca Markets, a regulated broker-dealer that offers commission-free trading with a modern API infrastructure. To execute trades, you'll need to connect your Alpaca account to Strikeline.

Understanding Paper vs. Live Trading

Alpaca provides two distinct trading environments:

Paper Trading (Simulated)

• Uses virtual money
• Executes against real market data and pricing
• Perfect for testing strategies without financial risk
• No real money is ever at stake
• Ideal for beginners and strategy validation

Live Trading (Real Money)

• Connects to your funded Alpaca brokerage account
• Executes real trades with real money
• Requires identity verification and funding
• Subject to pattern day trader rules and margin requirements

Our Recommendation: Start with paper trading for at least a week, even if you're an experienced investor. This allows you to familiarize yourself with Strikeline's interface, test your strategies, and build confidence before committing real capital.

Creating Your Alpaca Account

1. Visit Alpaca Markets: Go to alpaca.markets and click Sign Up
2. Complete Identity Verification: For live accounts, you'll need to provide:
   • Social Security Number or Tax ID
   • Government-issued ID
   • Address verification
   • Employment and financial information
3. Generate API Keys:
   • Log into your Alpaca dashboard
   • Create a new API key pair (you'll see an API Key ID and a Secret Key)
   • Important: Copy both immediately—the secret key is only shown once!

Connecting Alpaca to Strikeline

1. Open Strikeline Settings: Tap the settings button in the navigation panel and open Account Manager
2. Add Trading Account: Tap Add new account
3. Select Environment:
   • Choose Paper for simulated trading
   • Choose Live for real money trading
4. Enter API Credentials:
   • Paste your API Key ID into Account Key
   • Paste your Secret Key into Account Password
   • Leave Sync with Server on; notifications and alerts need it
5. Verify Connection: Strikeline will test the connection and display your account balance and buying power

Managing Multiple Accounts

Strikeline supports multiple connected accounts, which is perfect for:

• Running both paper and live accounts simultaneously
• Managing separate strategies (e.g., conservative long-term + aggressive day trading)
• Tracking family members' accounts

Switch between accounts anytime using the account switcher on the Outlook and Positions toolbars.

Security Notes

Your API keys are stored encrypted. With Sync with Server on, Strikeline's server uses them to keep your account in sync and to run the alerts and automation you set up. You can revoke access anytime by deleting the keys from your Alpaca dashboard.

Your watchlist becomes your command center—a curated collection of opportunities that align with your investment goals and risk tolerance.

Building Your First Watchlist

A well-curated watchlist is the foundation of effective trading. Rather than getting lost in thousands of available securities, your watchlist focuses your attention on opportunities that match your strategy and criteria.

What Makes a Good Watchlist?

The best watchlists are:

• Focused: 10-30 securities you can realistically monitor
• Diverse: Spread across sectors, market caps, and asset classes
• Aligned: Match your trading style and time horizon
• Dynamic: Regularly updated as opportunities evolve

Creating Your First Watchlist

1. Navigate to Watchlists: Tap Watchlists at the foot of the navigation panel
2. Create New Watchlist: Tap Create new watchlist and give it a descriptive name:
   • "Tech Growth Opportunities"
   • "Dividend Income"
   • "Swing Trade Candidates"
   • "Earnings Plays"
3. Add Securities: You have several options:

Manual Search

• Open the watchlist and tap Add symbols
• Search by ticker symbol (e.g., "AAPL") or company name ("Apple")
• Tap Add on the ones you want

Browse Assets

The Search screen offers ready-made lists, each with + Add to watchlist:

• Popular Screeners: Server-maintained screens of the market
• Top Opportunities: Today's highest-scoring scanner setups (Pro and Elite)
• Strategy Setups: Today's 200-day reclaim, correction and momentum matches (Pro and Elite)

Ask the AI

• Tap Ask AI on the watchlist and ask the copilot what fits your profile or what's missing from the list
• The copilot adds a symbol to the list when you ask it to
• On Elite, an AI mandate lets the AI manage the list's membership and weights from a plain-language focus

Understanding Watchlist Views

Once you've added securities, your watchlist displays:

• Current Price: The latest trade
• Day Change: Dollar and percentage movement
• Daily Setups: Strikeline's scanner setups for the symbols on the list (Pro and Elite)
• Alerts: Rules that fire when a member moves

Organizing Multiple Watchlists

Most successful traders maintain several watchlists:

• Active Trades: Positions you currently hold
• Potential Entries: Securities you're monitoring for entry signals
• Long-Term Holds: Core portfolio positions for periodic review
• Earnings Calendar: Upcoming earnings plays
• Options Candidates: High IV stocks suitable for options strategies

Strikeline syncs your watchlists with Alpaca, so they're accessible from any trading platform or device.

Setting Up Alerts

Alerts are a Pro and Elite feature, and come in two kinds:

1. Price alerts on a symbol: Tap Alert on the asset's toolbar and set a price; the alert fires when the last trade or the daily close is at or above, or at or below, your level
2. Watchlist alerts: Open the watchlist's Alerts and add a rule that fires for any member that:
   • Moves up or down by a percentage
   • Trades unusual volume
   • Makes a 52-week high or low
   • Breaks a level

Each watchlist rule fires at most once per member a day. Alerts keep you informed without requiring constant screen time.

Understanding the Dashboard

The Strikeline dashboard is your mission control—a comprehensive overview of your portfolio, market conditions, and opportunities. Let's explore each section so you can navigate with confidence.

Main Navigation

The navigation panel lists Outlook, Positions, Action Queue, Wheels, Thesis checks, Position news, Orders and Balances, with Watchlists and Chat History at its foot. Wheels, thesis checks and position news have their own guides; the four core pages and the copilot are below.

1. Outlook (Home)

Your personalized landing page showing:

• Portfolio Summary: Account equity and buying power
• Equity Curve: Your account value over 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months or the year to date
• For Your Attention: Account insights that need a look
• Market Environment: Market cycle, money flows and breadth; tap through for the daily market writeup (Elite)
• Expiring Soon: Option contracts nearing expiration
• Scanner Track Record: How the daily scanner's past picks worked out
• Watchlist Setups: Today's setups on your watchlists, and your watchlists themselves

What to Watch: The market environment is particularly valuable—the copilot reads the same regime dashboard when it frames its recommendations.

2. Positions

A detailed view of your current holdings:

• Position Cards: Each showing symbol, quantity, current price, and P/L for the day and since you opened it
• Market Widgets: Market regime, international flow and alternative assets above the list
• Account Summary: P/L, net liquidation value, margin utilization, leverage, and allocation by sector
• Trade Setups: Scanner setups for what you hold, with signal, target, stop and rationale
• AI Report: A written review of the account (Elite)

Pro Tip: Tap any position to drill down into:

• Detailed price charts with your entry price
• The position's orders
• For options, the Greeks, days remaining and a Roll action
• The option chain for the underlying
• Close Position when you're ready to exit

3. Orders

Track all your trading activity:

• Open Orders: Pending orders you can cancel
• Order History: Completed fills with execution prices and timestamps
• Saved Orders: Orders you saved to place later
• Filters: Narrow the list with the order filter

4. Balances

Financial overview of your account:

• Available Cash: Cash for trading
• Buying Power: Including Reg T, option and non-marginable buying power
• Current Equity and Position Market Value
• Margin Details: Initial and maintenance margin, and the risk on each
• Pending Transfers: Money moving in or out

5. AI Copilot

Your intelligent trading assistant opens from Ask AI on the Outlook, Positions, asset, option chain and watchlist screens:

• Chat Interface: Ask questions in natural language
• Context Awareness: The AI knows which asset, position, option chain, watchlist or report you're viewing
• Tool Integration: Can pull live data ("What's my largest position?" "Show me high-IV stocks in my watchlist")
• Conversation History: Chat History reopens past conversations on this device

Chart Views

Throughout the app, you'll encounter interactive charts:

Timeframes: Switch between 1 Day, 1 Week, 1 Month, 3 Months, Year-to-Date, and 1 Year

Chart Types:

• Line Chart: Clean price movement
• Candlestick: OHLC (Open, High, Low, Close) data for technical analysis
• Volume: Bars showing trading volume under the price

Chart Settings:

• Simple moving averages (20, 50 and 200 days)
• Bollinger Bands
• VWAP
• RSI (14) panel
• Support, resistance, target and stop lines from Strikeline's analysis

Interaction: Drag across the chart to see the exact values at any point in time.

Light, Dark and Wide Layouts

Strikeline follows your system's light or dark theme. On larger screens, the Outlook and Positions pages open side panes—scanner metrics or setups on the left, the copilot on the right—next to the main view.

Understanding Status Indicators

Live Data: The ring around your profile photo and the cloud button in the navigation panel show the live connection:

• Blue: Connected and streaming
• Green: Paused
• Gold: Connecting
• Red: Offline (viewing cached data)

Tap the cloud button to pause or resume the live connection. The dashboard updates automatically during market hours, ensuring you're always working with current information.

Placing Your First Trade

You've set up your account, connected to Alpaca, built your watchlist, and familiarized yourself with the dashboard. Now it's time to execute your first trade. We'll walk through the entire process step-by-step.

Before You Trade: Do Your Homework

Successful trading starts with research, not execution. For any security you're considering:

1. Review the Technical Analysis: Tap the asset in your watchlist to view:

   • The chart with moving averages and RSI
   • Support and resistance levels (Elite)
   • Channel analysis with quality score (Elite)
   • The signal, trend and rationale (Elite)

2. Check the Fundamentals: With your FMP key set, the asset page shows:

   • Earnings: the next date, estimated EPS and estimated revenue
   • Analyst ratings from Strong Buy to Strong Sell
   • Valuation bands: the share price at each P/E and P/S multiple
   • Upcoming earnings date (avoid surprises!)

3. Read the News: The asset page's Related News lists recent stories on the company, and Related Securities links to related names

4. Consult the AI: Ask your copilot:

   • "What do you think about buying [SYMBOL]?"
   • "What's the risk/reward on [SYMBOL]?"
   • "Show me options strategies for [SYMBOL]"

The Trade Entry Form

Once you've decided to trade, tap Buy or Sell on the asset's toolbar:

Step 1: Choose Action

• Buy: Open a new long position or add to existing
• Sell: Close a long position or open a short position (if margin account)

Step 2: Select Order Type

Market Order:

• Executes immediately at current market price
• Guaranteed fill (during market hours)
• Price may vary slightly from quote (slippage)
• Best for: Liquid stocks, urgency, small positions

Limit Order:

• Executes only at your specified price or better
• May not fill if price doesn't reach your limit
• You control the maximum price paid (buy) or minimum price received (sell)
• Best for: Larger positions, volatile stocks, patient entries

Strikeline warns you when a buy limit sits above the current price, or a sell limit below it.

Step 3: Specify Quantity

Enter the number of Shares. Strikeline displays the Estimated total for the order and your position in the symbol.

Step 4: Set Time in Force

• Day: Order expires at market close if not filled
• Good till canceled: Order remains active until filled or manually canceled

Recommendation: Use Day for market orders, Good till canceled for limit orders you're willing to wait on.

Step 5: Review and Execute

Execute Trade sends the order to Alpaca straight away—there is no separate confirmation screen, so check the side, type, quantity and estimated total first. Save Order keeps it to place later instead. If an order fails, or you're offline, Strikeline offers to save it.

After Order Submission

Immediate Feedback:

• The order appears in your Orders page with its status

Order Fills:

• Market orders typically fill within seconds during market hours
• Limit orders fill when market price reaches your limit
• You'll receive a notification when the order fills (Pro and Elite, if enabled)

Viewing Your Position:

• Once filled, the position appears in your Positions page
• P&L updates in real-time during market hours

Your First Trade: A Recommended Approach

For your very first trade, we suggest:

1. Use Your Paper Account: Zero risk while you learn the mechanics
2. Choose a Liquid Stock: Pick something from the S&P 500 with high volume (Apple, Microsoft, etc.)
3. Start Small: Trade 10-20 shares or $100-200 to get comfortable
4. Use a Limit Order: Practice setting a reasonable limit price (slightly below ask for buys)
5. Set a Reminder: Check back in an hour to see if it filled
6. Review the Execution: Look at the fill price, timestamp, and how it impacted your portfolio

Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Trading During First/Last 15 Minutes: Volatility is highest at open/close
❌ Market Orders on Illiquid Stocks: Can result in terrible fills
❌ Ignoring Position Size: Concentration risk is real
❌ Forgetting to Set Stops: Always have an exit plan
❌ Emotional Trading: Stick to your strategy, don't chase or panic

Practice Makes Perfect

Spend your first week executing 3-5 paper trades. Focus on:

• Both order types (market and limit)
• Various position sizes
• Different market conditions (trending vs. choppy)
• Reviewing outcomes and learning from each trade

Once you're comfortable with the mechanics and consistently making good decisions, you're ready to transition to live trading.

Next Steps and Best Practices

Congratulations! You've completed your first week with Strikeline. You have a connected account, a curated watchlist, a solid understanding of the dashboard, and you've executed your first trades. Now let's talk about building sustainable success.

Week 2: Deepen Your Skills

Explore Options Trading (Pro and Elite, if appropriate for your experience level):

• Navigate to any stock in your watchlist and tap Options
• Browse the option chain by expiration date or by strike price
• Pick an objective to see the strategies that fit it, each with its legs, credit or cost, and probability of profit:
  • Generate Income or Sell a Covered Call
  • Hedge Existing Position or Repair a Losing Position
  • Speculate on Price Movement, Play Volatility, or trade a bullish or bearish spread
• Study the Greeks (Delta, Gamma, Theta, Vega, Rho) and what they mean for each contract
• Execute your first paper options trade (start with covered calls on stock you own)

Use the Market Scanner (Pro and Elite):

• Check Top Opportunities in Search daily
• Each setup carries its type, direction, target, stop, risk/reward and confidence
• Check the Scanner Track Record on Outlook to see how past picks resolved
• Add promising setups to your watchlist for monitoring

Engage with the AI Copilot:

• Ask for daily market analysis: "What's the market regime today?"
• Request position reviews: "How's my portfolio looking?"
• Get trade ideas: "Show me swing trade opportunities"
• Seek education: "Explain implied volatility" or "What's a put spread?"
• Review conversation history to track your learning journey

Developing Your Trading Routine

Successful traders follow consistent routines. Here's a framework:

Before Market Open (15-30 minutes):

1. Check overnight news and futures
2. Review your positions and any overnight fills
3. Scan your watchlists for gaps or unusual pre-market activity
4. Check the economic calendar for major announcements
5. Set alerts for key price levels
6. Plan your trades for the day (entries, exits, position sizes)

During Market Hours:

1. Avoid trading the first 15 minutes (let volatility settle)
2. Execute planned trades when setups trigger
3. Monitor positions but avoid over-trading
4. Set price alerts so you don't need to watch constantly
5. Take notes on trades (entry rationale, emotions, outcome)

After Market Close (10-20 minutes):

1. Review the day's trades and P&L
2. Update your watchlist (remove dead setups, add new opportunities)
3. Check earnings calendar for upcoming reports
4. Set limit orders for next day if appropriate
5. Journal what worked and what didn't

Risk Management Best Practices

Position Sizing:

• No single position should exceed 5-10% of portfolio (lower for volatile stocks)
• Maintain sector diversification (no more than 20-30% in one sector)
• Keep 20-30% cash for opportunistic trades

Stop Losses:

• Set mental or actual stop losses on every position
• Common approaches:
  • Fixed percentage (e.g., 7-8% below entry)
  • Technical levels (below support, below moving average)
  • Volatility-based (2× ATR below entry)
• Don't move stops lower (except to lock in profits)

Taking Profits:

• Have a plan before entering: "I'll sell half at +20%, let the rest run"
• Use trailing stops to protect gains
• Don't be greedy—a profit is a profit
• Consider scaling out (sell in increments)

Diversification:

• Spread across market caps (large, mid, small)
• Include different sectors (tech, healthcare, finance, consumer, etc.)
• Mix growth and value stocks
• Consider adding bonds, commodities, or international exposure

Continuous Learning

Use Strikeline's Learning Tools:

• Reports: Account, positions and asset reports with Strikeline's written analysis (Elite), and Ask AI on any report
• Scanner Track Record: Study which setups have resolved best
• Position Analysis: Learn from the AI's recommendations on your holdings
• Past Conversations: The copilot recalls what it concluded about a stock before and tells you what has changed

External Resources:

• Read market commentary from reputable sources
• Follow experienced traders (but verify everything)
• Study technical analysis patterns and indicators
• Understand fundamental analysis (P/E ratios, earnings growth, etc.)
• Learn about macroeconomic factors (interest rates, inflation, GDP)

Advanced Features to Explore

Action Queues:

• Let the AI propose multi-step trading strategies
• Review and approve each action before execution
• Useful for complex options strategies or portfolio rebalancing

Reports (Elite):

• Generate account, positions and asset reports
• Ask the copilot about any report
• Review advanced portfolio analytics

Alerts and Automation:

• Set up watchlist alert rules that cover every member of a list
• Save orders to place later
• Track a view with a thesis check, or run a wheel on stock you own; the Automation add-on lets 0DTE agents and thesis checks enter trades on their own, and on Elite runs the wheel and strategies in Auto mode

Transitioning from Paper to Live Trading

When you're ready to trade with real money:

1. Verify Consistent Profitability: At least 20-30 paper trades with positive expectancy
2. Understand Your Win Rate: Know what percentage of trades are profitable
3. Start Small: Begin with 10-25% of your intended capital
4. Maintain Discipline: Emotions are different with real money—stick to your rules
5. Keep Paper Trading: Continue testing new strategies on paper before going live

Final Thoughts

Trading is a skill that develops over time. Your first week is just the beginning of a learning journey. Focus on:

✅ Process over profits: Good decisions compound over time
✅ Risk management: Protecting capital is priority #1
✅ Continuous learning: Markets evolve, so must you
✅ Emotional discipline: Follow your plan, not your feelings
✅ Patience: Wait for high-quality setups

Strikeline provides the tools, data, and intelligence—but you provide the discipline and decision-making. Use the AI as a copilot, not an autopilot. Verify recommendations, understand the rationale, and take ownership of every trade.

Welcome to smart trading. Your journey starts now.