CHARM Android Simple Manual
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CHARM Android

A very simple manual for getting started without getting lost.

You can use CHARM Android for normal manual trading. CHARMie is optional. Try CHARMie only if you want the CHARM helper and CHARM trailing controls.

1. What You Get For Free

  1. You can make an Alpaca paper trading account for free.
  2. Paper trading is practice trading. It is not real money.
  3. Alpaca says the first paper account starts with a $100,000 balance by default.
  4. You can start or reset Paper practice at $1,000,000 for FREE if you set that amount in Alpaca.
  5. You can keep using the Paper account for practice as long as you want while Alpaca provides paper trading.
  6. You can also open a live Alpaca brokerage account if Alpaca approves you.
  7. Live trading uses real money. Be careful.
Paper money is pretend, even if it says $1,000,000. Live money is real. Do not mix them up.

2. Pick Paper Or Live

Paper Account

Use this first. It is free practice trading and can be set to $1,000,000 in Alpaca. You can learn the buttons without risking real money.

Live Account

Use this only when you understand the app. Live means real orders and real money.

3. Setup And Get Started

  1. Install CHARM Android on your phone.
  2. Open the app.
  3. Create your startup password if the app asks for one.
  4. Go to Settings.
  5. Go to Keys.
  6. If you already downloaded your key file, tap FETCH KEYS.
  7. If you do not have keys yet, follow the next section and make them in Alpaca first.
  8. After the keys load, go back to the main screen.
  9. Choose Paper first.
  10. Tap refresh or wait for the account to load.
  11. When the account appears, you are ready to practice.
Start with Paper. Paper is practice. Learn the app before using Live.

4. Make Alpaca Keys

  1. Go to Alpaca on your desktop computer.
  2. Make Paper keys for your Paper account.
  3. Make Live keys for your Live account.
  4. Keep the Paper keys and Live keys separate.
  5. Do not type the keys into the phone by hand unless you really have to.
Why? The keys are long. One wrong letter can break the login and cause a 401 error.

5. Use The Easy Key File

  1. On your desktop, open Notepad.
  2. Line 1: paste the Paper API Key ID.
  3. Line 2: paste the Paper Secret Key.
  4. Line 3: paste the Live API Key ID.
  5. Line 4: paste the Live Secret Key.
  6. Save the file as LACCESS.KEY.
  7. Email LACCESS.KEY to yourself.
  8. Open the email on the phone.
  9. Download the attachment.
  10. Open CHARM Android and tap FETCH KEYS.

6. What CHARMie Does

  1. CHARMie helps load your keys from the file.
  2. CHARMie helps keep Paper keys and Live keys in the right place.
  3. CHARMie helps you avoid typing long keys on the phone.
  4. CHARMie can help with CHARM trailing controls if you choose to use them.
  5. CHARMie watches your stocks using CHARM rules when you turn CHARM on.
  6. You can buy a stock, put CHARMie in charge of the CHARM trail, and leave the screen.
  7. CHARMie keeps watching while you are working, sleeping, eating, traveling, or on vacation.
  8. If a stock moves up, CHARMie is designed to help protect part of that move instead of letting you give it all back.
  9. If the stock keeps running, CHARMie gives it room to keep going instead of making you guess the exact top.
  10. This is the big potential: CHARMie may help you stay with a winning move longer than you normally would.
  11. CHARMie can help because people get busy, nervous, greedy, or distracted.
  12. CHARMie may help catch a sell point you would normally miss by watching the CHARM trail for you.
  13. If you do not want CHARMie, you can still use normal manual app functions.
CHARMie does not promise profit. It is a helper designed to watch CHARM trailing rules, help protect gains you might normally give back, and help leave room for more when a stock keeps moving in your favor. The goal is to improve winning trades by keeping the watch steady when a human would normally stop watching, sell too soon, or hesitate. CHARM controls CHARM only. Normal manual buy, sell, close, and order tools can still work without buying CHARMie.

7. First Safe Test

  1. Start with Paper mode.
  2. Check that the account loads.
  3. Try a small practice buy.
  4. Check History.
  5. Try a small practice sell.
  6. Only try Live after Paper makes sense to you.

8. If Something Goes Wrong

  1. If you see 401, the keys are probably wrong or in the wrong place.
  2. If Paper fails, check the first two lines of LACCESS.KEY.
  3. If Live fails, check the last two lines of LACCESS.KEY.
  4. If FETCH KEYS cannot find the file, download it again from email.
  5. If you made a new paper account, make new paper keys.

9. Downloads

Use these free instructions whenever you need them.

Download This Manual Download Key Setup Guide Open Getting Started