Order Behavior

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Order Behavior
This page documents the behavior of TradersPost when receiving different types of strategy signals.
The details on this page are written under the context of buying and selling stocks. The behavior for other asset classes can vary depending on how your strategy is configured.
Buy
{
    "ticker": "TSLA",
    "action": "buy"
}
If there are open orders for TSLA, they will be canceled.
If a short position is open for TSLA, then the open position will be exited with a Buy To Cover order and TradersPost will wait for the exit order to fill.
If no long position is open for TSLA, then a Buy order will be sent.
If there is no exit order, no entry order and no orders to cancel then the signal will be rejected.
Sell
{
    "ticker": "TSLA",
    "action": "sell"
}
If there are open orders for TSLA, they will be canceled.
If a long position is open for TSLA, then the open position will be exited with a Sell order and TradersPost will wait for the exit order to fill.
If no short position is open for TSLA, then a Sell Short order will be sent.
If there is no exit order, no entry order and no orders to cancel then the signal will be rejected.
Price
If you send a value in the price field then a limit order will be sent unless configured to be a market order in the strategy subscription configuration.
{
    "ticker": "TSLA",
    "action": "buy",
    "price": 420.69
}
If you omit the price field in the JSON, then the resulting order will be limit order with the last quoted price if it exists or the ask for a buy and the bid for a sell.
Quantity
Sending a quantity with your signal will work for both entries and exits. The quantity will only be used if you check the Use signal quantity checkbox in your strategy subscription.
Use signal quantity checkbox.
Entries
For entries, if you send a signal quantity and enable Use signal quantity in your strategy subscription, then the quantity from the signal will be used for your entry order.
{
    "ticker": "TSLA",
    "action": "buy",
    "price": 600.00,
    "quantity": 5
}
If you omit the quantity field in the JSON, then the quantity will be dynamically calculated based on your strategy subscription configuration or if a quantity cannot be calculated, it will be defaulted to 1.
Exits
Sending a quantity with your signal for exits looks the same and has the following behavior.
If you send a quantity that is less than the total quantity of your open position, then a partial exit order will be submitted.
If you send a quantity that is greater than or equal to the total quantity available, or you omit the quantity, then the full position will be exited.
{
    "ticker": "TSLA",
    "action": "sell",
    "price": 700.00,
    "quantity": 5
}
Add to Position
You can add to existing open positions by enabling the Allow add to position checkbox in your strategy subscription.
Allow add to position checkbox.
Normally, if you for example have an existing open long position and you send another buy signal, the trade would be rejected. However, if you enable Allow add to position, then the signal won't be rejected and an order will be created to add to your existing position.
Add Signal
Additionally, you can explicitly add to an existing position by using the add action. Here is an example where we add a quantity of 5 to the existing position. If no position is open then the trade will be rejected and no order will be sent to the broker.
{
    "ticker": "TSLA",
    "action": "add",
    "price": 700.00,
    "quantity": 5
}
Both Sides
When you receive a buy signal and you are trading both sides of a strategy, the following will happen:
If there are open orders for TSLA, they will be canceled.
If a short position is open for TSLA, then the open position will be exited with a Buy To Cover order and TradersPost will wait for the exit order to fill.
If no long position is open for TSLA, then a Buy order will be sent.
If there is no exit order, no entry order and no orders to cancel then the signal will be rejected.
The same is true for short positions. Here is what happens when you receive a sell signal:
If there are open orders for TSLA, they will be canceled.
If a long position is open for TSLA, then the open position will be exited with a Sell order and TradersPost will wait for the exit order to fill.
If no short position is open for TSLA, then a Sell to Open order will be sent.
If there is no exit order, no entry order and no orders to cancel then the signal will be rejected.
Exiting Without Swapping Sides
If you have both sides enabled in your strategy subscription and you want to exit the open position without entering a new position on the other side, then you can use the exit action.
{
    "ticker": "TSLA",
    "action": "exit",
    "price": 700.00
}
When trading both sides of a strategy, TradersPost requires that the exit be a market order. We will wait for 2 minutes for the market exit order to fill before submitting the entry order. If the exit order takes longer than 2 minutes to fill, the trade will fail and you will be notified via email and you will need to take manual action.
Manually Manage Both Sides
You can accomplish the both sides functionality by manually managing the entries and exits on both sides yourself instead of relying on the TradersPost both sides functionality. Keep in mind you are responsible for waiting long enough inbetween exits and entries, otherwise your entry could get rejected due to the exit order not being filled yet.
It is important that if you setup a strategy in this way, that there is time in-between the exit and entry signals. If you send both the exit and entry signal at the same exact time, you may experience unexpected behavior.
LONG
To open a long position, send a buy action to the webhook.
{
    "ticker": "TSLA",
    "action": "buy"
}
To exit a long position, send an exit action to the webhook.
{
    "ticker": "TSLA",
    "action": "exit"
}
SHORT
To open a short position, send a sell action to the webhook.
{
    "ticker": "TSLA",
    "action": "sell"
}
To exit a short position, send an exit action to the webhook.
{
    "ticker": "TSLA",
    "action": "exit"
}
Backtesting
Order Queueing
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Buy
Sell
Price
Quantity
Entries
Exits
Add to Position
Add Signal
Both Sides
Exiting Without Swapping Sides
Manually Manage Both Sides