These settings are saved remotely and used on any computer to run Spark on.
For users taking both ASX and NZX, this option determine which exchange is searched first when entering a code without a suffix.
For example, when NZX is the default exchange, then entering SPK will choose Spark on NZX, and you will need to type SPK.A to see Spark on ASX.
Furthermore, stocks that are not from the default exchange will have their exchange shown as a suffix on their code.
When this option is set, CXA orders and trades are merged into ASX stocks.
When this option is not set, CXA is a separate exchange to ASX.
See Consolidation.
This option determines how long the current price, change, high, or low flash for when they change.
Enter a number of seconds between 1 and 60.
This option determines how long all other flashes and movements take.
Enter a number of seconds between 1 and 60.
Spark aligns prices to 1 tenth of a cent.
Some prices, for example mid point trades, may result in prices with significant figures to 1 100th of a cent which may cause the decimal point in such prices to not align with other prices in the same column.
Setting this option will align all prices, but they will be shifted to the left.
Setting this option makes it more convenient to adjust the speed of depth replays and to move back and forward with the arrow keys.
When set, Left and Right move forward and back, they do not change the stock to the previous/next stock in the speedlist.
On depth charts Spark shows the last trade along with up to 5 other recent trade prices if they occur in quick succession.
Set this option to remove the recent trade prices and only show the last traded price.
When this option is enabled, the last sale price label smoothly moves between prices as trades occur.
When it is disabled, it immediately jumps to the latest price. On the other hand, the movement of last sale price line is slightly delayed so that it will not appear to move if the stock trades at multiple prices within a very short period.
This can make it easier to read the price if the stock trades at many different prices quickly.
This option is enabled by default.
When enabled the % held short figure is shown after the buy/sell indicator in quotes.
This option is disabled by default.
Spark can calculate the percent held short using the same shares issued figure that ASIC uses in its report, or it can use the ASX figure which may be more accurate.
The ASIC figure is used by default.
See Short Selling for more.
Toggle between the Spark's classic mixed light and dark look, or go all dark.
These settings are specific to each computer you run Spark on.
When this option is set, Spark windows will have a normal operating system titlebar.
When this option is not set, the titlebar is hidden, increasing useful space.
The window can be moved by dragging the menubar. Minimize, maximize, and close buttons are available top right.
When this option is set, the menubar will automatically hide when you maximize the window, increasing useful space.
You can reveal the menubar by moving your mouse to the top of the screen.
When this option is set, Spark will only draw every second frame.
For example, if your monitor is 60Hz, then Spark will only update the screen 30 times per second.
This can help reduce CPU usage on slower machines.
This option causes Spark to redraw the whole screen on every update, instead of only drawing the parts of the screen that changed.
On very fast GPUs, this can actually improve performance.
Changing this option requires a restart.
This option is provided in case of GPU crashes caused by buggy graphics drivers.
Performance will be very slow, but the system's software renderer should not crash.
When software rendering is chosen, PDFs will not be displayed in Spark. They will be launched in an external PDF viewer when clicked on.
Changing this option requires a restart.
By default, Spark formats cells that currently have no data as blanks.
e.g. AuctionPrice when the stock is not in auction.
Microsoft Excel will generally convert blank values to zero which may be convenient but it could cause unexpected results. e.g. if you test whether a blank value is less than some positive number, then the test will succeed.
When this preference is set, empty values are sent as the error #N/A which you can test for in Excel by using the function ISNA().
This option is provided to allow Spark 1 users to compare Spark 2's DDE services.
You must enable this option if you run Spark 1 and Spark 2 at the same time, otherwise both applications will attempt to register the same DDE service and you cannot predict which one your DDE clients connect to.
Changing this option requires a restart.
Setting this option will start a crash handler that will catch any Spark crashes and send information to us that will help us determine the cause of the crash.
Changing this option requires a restart.
Click this button to remove all of Spark's data files.
Only available in the Preferences tab of the Login dialog.
If you selected "Remember Me" when you logged in, then clearing this option will wipe those login details and you will be asked for your username and password the next time you login.
Spark can stream data using a fast native protocol, or using standard HTTP.
Use this option to control which protocol Spark uses:
If Auto is selected, then the Native or HTTP will be highlighted to show which is currently in use.
If you have trouble connecting, then you may need to change this setting to workaround a firewall or proxy.
Changing this option requires a restart.
See Legacy Preferences.