Allocation

Each bot needs to know how often to enter a new position and at what size. That is controlled via the Allocation settings.

First, you must define how often to enter a position. Your choices are Sequential, Daily, or Weekly.

For a Sequential bot, one that enters positions back to back, when the prior position closes, you can optionally restrict the total number of new positions entered during a single day with this setting.

You can choose anything between 1 and 5 maximum entries per day. This setting addresses the following:

Daily and Weekly bots will enter a new position once per day or once per week based on your criteria. This means that these bots can manage more than one position at a time if you allow it. If you'd like to prevent a daily or weekly bot from managing too many positions at once, you can do that with this setting. Once a bot hits its Maximium Concurrent Positions, it will not enter a new position until an existing one closes, bringing it under this limit.

Weekly bots will enter a new position once per week on the day that you specify. When you configure a weekly bot, you are required to specify a day of week for that bot to enter.

Note that a weekly bot will only enter a new position once per calendar week (Monday through Friday). If you have a weekly bot configured to enter a position on Monday, and it does so, and you later change the bot's day of week to Wednesday, the bot will not enter another position on that first position since it already entered a position that week (on Monday).

Define a specific amount of leverage for this bot as measured against your account's Net Liquidation Value. Leverage is calculated based on the notional value of your position. If running a multi-leg position (ie: spread or condor), the notional value is based on the strike which is closest to the underlying.

The bot will round (up or down) to the closest number of contracts to your target leverage.

Leverage Example:

Provide the bot a specific number of contracts to open. The bot will user this number of contracts for all new positions.

Provide a contract quantity for each leg in the position. The bot will assemble a position using the exact leg quantities that you enter.

You can enter any combination of quantities as long as the total order price matches the proper credit or debit for the selected position type. If you use a ratio for a Call Credit Spread, the resulting order price must be a credit. If you, instead, want a long call and a short call as a debit, you should start with a Call Debit Spread before setting up your ratio quantities.

When a new trade is entered, the bot will check your account balance minus any pending deposits and allocate the percentage you define to the bot to trade. If there is not enough available buying power in your account for your bot configuration, the bot is still going to try and enter the trade per your allocation settings, and your broker may reject the order due to insufficient buying power. You can view your available balance according to Whispertrades by viewing your broker connection.

You cannot allocate more than 10% of your account toward debit positions. This is true regardless of allocation type (Leverage, Quantity, or Percent). We include this safeguard to reduce the risk of wiping out your account, which is possible with aggressive debit allocations.

If using Leverage or Quantity allocation on a debit position, the bot will use your target leverage or quantity, and if that amount exceeds 10% of your account, the bot will lower the quantity to 10% of your account.

You can lose more than 20% notional for a naked position. However, our bots will always assume 20%. If you wish to account for a different loss amount, you can do this by adjusting the allocation percent for your bot. Be aware of available margin in your account.