How to Set a Market Alert for a BMO InvestorLine Self-Directed Account

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If you have a self-directed investing account with BMO InvestorLine you can set Market Alerts to help you keep aware of major shifts in the market. These Alerts are sent as email messages. You will be told which stocks are the current biggest gainers or losers; which stocks are showing the largest change in volume of trading; which stocks have reached new extremes in pricing and more.

You can also set Stock Alerts. For more information please see How to Set a Stock Alert for a BMO InvestorLine Self-Directed Account Including Price Alerts.

Here’s how to set a Market Alert.
Sign in to your BMO InvestorLine account.

Setup the General Settings for your Email Market Alerts from BMO InvestorLine

Note: If you have already set up your account to send Stock Alerts, these general settings are already created.

  1. Click on the Quotes & Tools tab near the top of the screen.
  2. Select Alerts.
  3. In the Email text field, type the email address where the alerts should be delivered. Be cautious. Do not use a work email address if this violates your terms of employment.
  4. Click on the word Sample to review what an Alert will look like in HTML, Text and Abbreviated Text formats.
  5. Click on the appropriate radio button to select the format of Alert you want to get.
  6. If desired, turn off alerts during non-trading hours by setting a period of time during which no alerts will be sent. You cannot use this function to turn off alerts between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET on business days.
  7. To temporarily stop receiving alerts for 1 or more days, you can set a Vacation Hold on your alerts.
  8. Review your selections. If they are correct, click on the Save button.
  9. You will receive a message at that email address confirming you have set it to receive Alert email messages.

How To Set a Specific Market Alert with BMO InvestorLine

Next, you need to set for which criteria you wish to receive Market Alerts.

From the Quotes & Tools tab, select Alerts.

Click on the Market Alerts tab.

Click on the Add Alert button.

Select any of the following items. Where necessary, make the appropriate selection from the drop-down list.

  • Stocks on the move – Daily list of percentage [select gainers; losers; gainers and losers] on the [select NYSE; NASDAQ; AMEX; TSX] with a Frequency of [Morning 9:30-10:30 am ET; Midday 12:30-1:30 pm ET; after market close 4-5 pm ET]
  • Most active stocks – List of most active stocks based on the volume of shares traded on the [select: NYSE; NASDAQ; AMEX; TSX] with a Frequency of [Morning 9:30-10:30 am ET; Midday 12:30-1:30 pm ET; after market close 4-5 pm ET]
  • Breakouts – Daily list of stocks with high volume that are trading [select: above previous day’s range; below previous day’s range; above and below previous day’s range] on the [select NYSE; NASDAQ; AMEX; TSX]. This report is delivered at market open.
  • New extremes – Daily list of stocks reaching a new [select: 52 week high; 52 week low; 52 week high or low] on the [select NYSE; NASDAQ; AMEX; TSX] with a Frequency of [Morning 9:30-10:30 am ET; Midday 12:30-1:30 pm ET; after market close 4-5 pm ET]
  • Gaps – Daily list of stocks that have opened at least 1% [select: higher; lower; higher or lower] than the previous day’s close on the [select NYSE; NASDAQ; AMEX; TSX]. This report is delivered at market open.
  • Stock split announcement – Daily list of splits on the NASDAQ, AMEX, NYSE, and TSX exchanges. This report is delivered at market open.

Review your selections. If they are correct, to set the Alert click on the Save button.

You will receive the message: Your alerts have been set.

Click on the Close button to dismiss the message.

Changing a Market Alert for an InvestorLine Account

You can also review all of your Market Alerts. From the Quotes and Tools tab, click on Alerts. Click on the Market Alerts tab. All of your current Alerts will be displayed.

To change the details for a specific Alert, or to Cancel the Alert, click on Edit.

Further Information

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