How to Trade After Hours With Thinkorswim

If you’re a thinkorswim customer like me, I’m sure you’ve been overwhelmed at least a few times with the sheer number of features available on the thinkorswim platform. Well, right before my stupid Activision (ATVI) trade, I realized I couldn’t remember how to trade after hours! It took me a few minutes to figure it out – just long enough to lose a little money!

So for your benefit and mine, I’m going to explain how to place a stock trade after hours with thinkorswim in five easy steps.

In this hypothetical trade, I’ll be buying Microsoft (MSFT).

1) Click the “Trade’ tab and type in a ticker:

Since I’m buying, I'm going to click on the ‘Ask’ of $23.60.

2) Look at the ORDER ENTRY TOOLS section near the bottom of the screen:

3) Click on the word DAY on the right side of the screen. You’ll see a drop-down menu with the choices DAY, GTC, and EXT. Select EXT, which stands for extended:

4) Enter your limit price in the Price column, and click the Confirm and Send box at the bottom right hand of the screen.

You should see the Order Confirmation Dialog:

5) If you like what you see, click Send and you’re on your way!