BESTDirect™

BEST Direct™ Broker The Fast, Simple, Reliable way to trade

BESTDirect 8™

Sign up for a Simulated Trading Account

Take the new BESTDirect™ 8 for a test run by signing up for a BEST TEST simulated trading account.

To install BEST Direct 8™, click on the download link above, save the application on your system, then double click on the BD8Install.msi file and follow the installation instructions on your screen.

If you already have a simulated trading account, then you may go ahead and download the applicatoin above and follow these directions for insallation:

Requirements

Equipment Requirements (Click here to expand)

The recommended minimum hardware specifications, for a machine dedicate to running only the trading platform, are:

  • Pentium 4 PC running at 2.4 gigahertz
  • 1 gigabyte of RAM
  • A video card with its own memory (or more PC memory if the video uses shared memory)

BestDirect 8 does require the Microsoft .Net Framework version 2.0. If your PC does not have it, you can install it by clicking this link (22.4 MB).


For Windows Vista Users (Click here to expand)

Before the program is installed please do the following:

  1. Go to "Start --> Control Panel".
  2. Open the "User Accounts and Family Safety" option.
  3. Click on "User Accounts"
  4. Click on the last option on the window called "Turn User Account Control On or Off"
  5. Click Continue on the Permission Window
  6. Un-Check the box next to "User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer"
  7. You will be prompted to restart your computer.
  8. Upon startup, install or reinstall and run Best Direct™ 8.
  9. Once the install is complete and running you may go into the User Account option and turn the feature back on if needed.

Download Application

Download the latest version of BESTDirect™ 8:

Download BEST Direct™ Online Trading

Installation and Overview

When you start the application you will see a dialog window that requests the following information:

  • Account Number: (enter the account number that you received when you signed up for a demo account) (or click here to sign up: link to signup form)
  • Access Key: (enter the access key that you received when you signed up for a BEST Test demo account)
  • ID Name: Anything you want
  • IP Address: 12.36.73.195
  • Port Number: 2000

Then click on the "Log On" button. Once you are logged in, you can refer to the online Help menu to get started, or refer to the features overview below.

When you are first logged in, you will see a blank screen. The toolbar on the top of the application enables you to call up windows. Here's a brief overview of some of the key windows/functions of the platform. You can also view the Help menu on the toolbar.

File Menu:

  • Save Workspace lets you name a customized desktop setup so that you can have different views to call up when you logon. Load workspace simply allows you to select form a save workspace.
  • Setup lets you select default orders size, whether you want a confirmation window to appear, whether you want fill notifications to appear, whether or not you want to play sound.

Log Off

  • Similar to BEST Direct, you will see a Log Off confirmation message that displays the number of working orders and open positions under your account.

New Window Menu:

  • BEST Direct Classic: Brings up a trading layout that is very similar to the existing BEST Direct platform
  • Balances Summary: gives you a single window to view account status information for all customers under your broker account.
  • Depth of Market: Shows price dome with Get Flat, Del Bids, Del All, Del Asks buttons.
  • Order Summary: this order history window lets you filter by specific products. You can click on column headers to change how information is sorted. Right clicking inside a table lets you customize the columns you see by going to the "columns" selection. (This functionality works the same for other tables in the platform.)
  • Position Summary: displays for all accounts under your broker account, or for any individual account.
  • Quote Window: allows you too add individual products, or you can use the "Fill" button to generate a quote list for all products in your order summary or position summary windows.
  • Strategies: Another version of the depth of market window, the strategies dome lets you set trailing stops and profit targets. Checking the "Enable" box will attach a strategy box to the price dome.
  • Trade Window: Brings up a position summary, Trade Panel (New orders, cancels, replaces, OCO orders), Account Status, and Working Orders. If you have your customer accounts loaded, you can either change the account number in the account box to switch to a different account, or click inside the account box and use your arrow keys to scroll up or down through accounts.

The dropdown help menu includes more detailed information about all the platform. You can access the help menu from any wiindow by pressing [F1].

Video Tutorials

Questions or Demo Account Extension

If you experience any technical problems or would like to request an extension of your existing demo account, please send an email to customerservice@bestdirectsecurities.com with BEST Direct 8 in the subject line.