Introducing Alert Triggers Order (ATO) feature on Kite

Imagine you are tracking a stock currently priced at ₹500. You believe that if the stock drops to ₹480, it could be a good time to buy, as you expect it to bounce back. But you can’t keep checking the market all the time. So to make it easier for you to monitor price movements, we introduced the Alerts feature on Kite, which lets you create alerts based on various parameters such as price, OHLC, volume, open interest, and more and notifies you whenever your alert condition is met.

However, once an alert is triggered, you have to manually place an order. There may be times when you might miss the notification or fail to place the orders, causing you to lose the opportunity to take the trade. To help with this, we are now introducing the Alert Triggers Order (ATO) feature on Kite web.

With ATO, you can link a basket of orders to an alert, and as soon as the alert is triggered, your orders are placed on the exchange. This saves you time and ensures you don’t miss out on opportunities.

This is just one way to use ATO. You can also apply it to other scenarios, such as:

Investing in stocks or ETFs based on index levels: Let’s say you want to invest in ETFs when the Nifty 50 index drops to 23,000. Instead of checking the index level every day. You can set an ATO for when the index reaches 23,000. Once your condition is met, the order to buy these ETFs will be placed on the exchange, without you needing to take any action.

Taking positions in F&O contracts: Suppose you’re trading index options, and want to enter a short straddle trade when Nifty hits 25000, you can set the alert for Nifty 50 at 25000, and link orders to sell both call and put contracts when this price level is reached.

Using ATO for risk management: Imagine you’re holding positions in multiple stocks or F&O contracts and want to exit when an index or a stock rises or falls below a certain level. You can easily create an ATO to protect your profits or minimise your losses in such cases.

ATOs can be created using the same parameters as alerts. Learn more about Kite alerts and uses.

To place an ATO:

1. Hover over an instrument and click on More icon.
2. Click on Create alert / ATO.
3. The default alert name will be the instrument’s name. Enter a different name if preferred.
4. Click on Alert Triggers Order (ATO).
5. Select the data point, instrument, mathematical operator, and price. Price can be entered manually or increased or decreased by the arrows. The price can also be set as a percentage of the last price.
6. Search for the instrument to be added to the basket and click on B (Buy), S (Sell) or +.
7. Enter the parameters in the order window, such as price and order type and click on Add to basket. Up to 20 instruments can be added to the basket to be linked to an alert.
8. Modify the quantity or the price. To select the market price, click on the options icon, then on the pencil icon, and select Market.
9. Click on Create.

You can also check out this video to learn more.

Market price protection

All market orders in ATO are placed with market price protection. This ensures your order gets executed at the best possible price available, while also reducing the risk of sudden price changes. Unlike a regular market order, which can go through at any price, market price protection converts your market order into a limit order if the price moves too far away from your preferred price (also called the protection range).

This way, you don’t end up buying or selling at a price that’s very different from what you intended. If the price moves outside of the protection range, there’s a risk that not all of the shares you wish to buy or sell will be executed. The remaining quantity will remain open as a limit order.

The market protection percentage is calculated as per the below table:

Example scenario

Consider that a stock is currently trading at ₹90.

1. Buy order: You place a market price protection buy order for 100 shares.
2. Protection range: The system establishes a protection range, i.e., 2% above the current price since the price is less than 100. As a result, the protection limit price is set at ₹91.80.
3. Order execution: The order attempts to execute immediately, buying shares at ₹91.80 or below, ensuring the best available price within that limit.
4. Limit order placed: If the order cannot be filled for 100 shares within this range, the remaining quantity will remain open as a limit order at ₹91.80.

ATOs can also be created for a particular instrument by visiting kite.zerodha.com/orders/alerts and then clicking on New alert.

ATOs can only be placed in NSE equity, NSE F&O, BSE equity, and BSE F&O segments.

Alerts will be disabled automatically if there’s a corporate action for the instrument that changes the price by more than 2%, such as extraordinary dividends, bonuses, splits, or rights issues.

By default, orders have a Day validity and are cancelled if not executed by the end of the trading day. This validity can be changed from the order window. Learn more about Day orders and IOC orders in trading.

You will receive push and email notifications when an ATO is triggered and the order is executed. Once an ATO is triggered and placed, you can check its status via email or in the Alerts section.

Note: 

• ATO feature is currently available on the Kite web and will soon be available on the Kite app.
• If you create an ATO on the web, it will show up on the app as a simple alert.
• If you modify the ATO on the Kite app, it will be converted into a simple alert.