FAQs

The answer vault is a collection of popular frequently asked questions about the Option Alpha platform functionality, including specific use cases and examples to help members.

How do I turn a paper bot into a live bot?

A bot's account connection cannot be changed. To make a paper bot live, you'll need to clone the bot and change the account type to connect it to a live brokerage account.

Click the ••• in the bot's top right corner and select 'Clone bot.'

Why didn't my position close when it had a profit?

SmartPricing attempts to fill the trade by submitting orders from the mid price to a "final price." The final price is the worst price you are willing to accept to fill the trade.

The 2 controls you have over this functionality are the SmartPricing mode (e.g. Patient, Normal, Fast) and the "Final Price" (the worst price it should try). Both are typically set up in this screen:

However, the Profit Taking Exit Options are a special scenario. You don't need to set a "Final Price" because the final price is automatically set by the bot to a price that locks in profit you specified. It won't try a worse price that would result in profit less than your specified amount.

In case you are wondering why profit taking works this way:

If SmartPricing were to go beyond a final price that locks in your profit taking, the outcome can quickly flip a trade from winner to loser. For example, in your trade above, if i went further than $.91 traversing the bid/ask spread than 1) you would get less than the 30% profit taking you specified 2) if it went all the way to $0.48, profit taking being triggered could have resulted in an unexpected loss. Instead the bot will continue to retry until it can fill at a price that gets the specified profit taking.

Can I backtest a bot?

Bots cannot be backtested, simply because they can include many variables that aren't included in the backtester.