I see the following error message when trying to start my second algo on MES (micro sp500)
In text: For a given instrument, you can only execute one strategy at a time on this account. If you wish to execute more than one strategy at the same time on the same instrument, please contact our customer service to adapt your trading account accordingly.
I have contacted them by phone, she seemed unsure about the problem, which is weird because i would think they have been contacted regarding this issue before??
I have sent them an email and they promised to look into it.
has anyone else had this exact problem? I can start a system on sp500 + nasdaq, but i cant start a second system on either of the markets..
I think it’s related to the impossibility of hedging at Interactive Broker; I’ll look into it and see if there are other reasons.
If you want to launch several strategies on the same instrument, you can create sub-accounts, but it is imperative that the strategies on the same instrument trade in the same direction and not in opposite directions.
FYI: 1 individual account can have 2 sub-accounts and 1 business account can have 10 sub-accounts.
I got a phone call from PRT now, they said:
- You can have sub accounts, you need 1 for each algo on same instrument.
- One can be long and the other can be short, as long as its different strategies and not hedging as its not allowed.
- You need to split the balance between the accounts.
jebus89 wrote: One can be long and the other can be short, as long as its different strategies and not hedging as its not allowed.
Does above mean different strategies on different Instruments?
GraHal wrote: jebus89 wrote: One can be long and the other can be short, as long as its different strategies and not hedging as its not allowed. Does above mean different strategies on different Instruments?
No, according to the phone call you can be Long and Short on the same instrument at the same time, as long as its not a hedging strategy. Like if you are purposly trying to hedge a strategy.. thats not allowed, but if they are different strategies it just happens to be Long and Short at the same time thats fine.
Different strategies on the SAME instrument.
But you need 1 sub account per algo for the same instrument.
Btw GraHal, hows trading been treating you lately? Off topic but i wanna hear. Youve been here for so long (as have I lol)
You can not have more than one Autotrading Strategy for the same instrument in one account. You can also not have a manual position besides the Autotrading Strategy running for the same instrument in the same account (never mind is has a position or not). Or, you can not start an Autotrading Strategy when you have an open position for that same instrument in that same account.
And while you can have separate open manual positions on two Future Contracts (e.g. March and June) you can not do similar for two Autotrading Strategies. I never tried it, but I think they are allowed to be Long Against Short (hedge).
Whether it is a “same” strategy of different is all unrelated.
And over accounts (be that Sub or otherwise) one can do all to his/her liking.
BUT
This needs to be registered at IB (which PRT will (may) arrange for you) or else your System will be kicked out after all when the IB systems detect hedging (assumed Long in the one account and Short in the other). Note : This may come to you as a message containing the phenomenon “Resting position”.
That’s all.
I have several open losing trades from 3 weeks ago due to Iran War.
My open losing trades are Longs so I’m hoping they will come back into profit soon, but overnights fees are eating away at eventual profits and eating away at my psyche !!! 🙁
I came up with an idea a few days ago … if I make at least the overnight fees each day by manual trading then I no need to worry and will sleep better.
A few well-timed scalps can easily cover fees.
As you can see from attached, I made well over 1 month’s worth of overnight fees in one day yesterday!
GraHal wrote: I have several open losing trades from 3 weeks ago due to Iran War. My open losing trades are Longs so I’m hoping they will come back into profit soon, but overnights fees are eating away at eventual profits and eating away at my psyche !!! 🙁 I came up with an idea a few days ago … if I make at least the overnight fees each day by manual trading then I no need to worry and will sleep better. A few well-timed scalps can easily cover fees. As you can see from attached, I made well over 1 month’s worth of overnight fees in one day yesterday! Nicolas thanked this post
haha yea as long as those scalps dont lose money as well 😛 Then your just hurting yourself.. I made an algo using chatgpt graphing the overnight funding cost for CFD’s and the results was so eye opening… 20-30% of my profits lost just in funding costs for many of my systems holding for days.. disaster.. however ive now gotten 4 of my systems with the most overnight funding cost to futures! I have also added “close position if friday” and even on one of my algos ive added “close position at 22.00” and it cuts away some of the profits but in the long term its better than letting the cost run wild.. Its easy to “miss” how much the funding cost actually is costing you.. My biggest issue as ive posted before is when my portfolio of algos are going sideways im actually losing 600-800$ every month in funding costs.. now thats real bleed damage.. it might just be 2$ here and 8$ there but with enough contracts and strategies they multiply fast….
Ive been comparing the cost of running some of my algos in CFD vs Futures and if chatgpt is correct this will cut my cost DRASTICLY.. if my algos perform as they have been i should be making alot more money by reducing cost.. wish me luck 🙂
btw… holding Long positions that are deep red over the weekend feels like the dumbest thing you can do.. paying money to loose money really does feel like throwing money out of the window.. Let me know if you want the graph funding cost algo code, ill log in tonight and send it here.
jebus89 wrote: close position at 22.00
So I guess fees are calculated on open positions at 23:00 in Norway (for UK it is 22:00).
Have you tried re-optimising (or even change strategy code) with trades opened, for example, > 01:00 (or another time) and closed < 22:00?
I can hardly stop myself from commenting some “ideas” above.
anyway, wishing good luck for live traders.
jebus89 wrote: “close position at 22.00” and it cuts away some of the profits
Have you ever coded a check to show that your Algos make profit overnight / during the night from, for example 22:00 to 09:00?
It might be that many times / more times your Algos show less profit at 09:00 (than the Algos showed at 22:00 the previous night)?
The ‘profit cut away’ that you mention above may be due to positions open (for days on end) eventually ‘hitch a ride on a long trend’ (like I am waiting for now on my Iran War losers! 🙁 )?
Just a few thoughts anyway.
GraHal not quite sure what you mean, but several algos have “do not entet until X time” like “no entry until after 03.00” for example.
However most of my algos are trend following, meaning if they are in an uptrend/swing that might last 1-3 days or more, then it needs to keep the position open. And this also means i sometimes get stuck with positions that think its an upswing but really it dies out and my open position still kept open until a stop loss is hit.
i have check all my algos how the performance of each one would be if i close them at 22:00 (when sp500 closes NOR time) and I need to keep them going through the night in 9/10 algos. just the way it is.. however as said i have moved my “worst” holders to futures and backtest shows the algos are working good there as well. The comission and spread is nothing compared to my funding cost with CFD’s. Thats just me tho of course
I added the funding graph, tho its kinda not 100% right because of how much the US markets have gone up lately, but it gives some insight to what your paying. Just figgure out what your average funding for your algo is per night and insert the number into that code
