Autopilot
Automated Trading
Autopilot Trade Quantity
Trade quantity within the Autopilot can be calculated in two ways:
1. You can specify a single number or quantity that you want to trade.
2. You can choose to have the computer calculate a quantity, based on a margin percentage of your overall trading account and available margin.
By pressing the first radio button, labeled Trading Quantity, you are presented with a field asking for the quantity that each trade should use upon execution.
By pressing the second radio button, labeled Trade Percentage, you are presented with two fields, asking the percentage of the overall account the trader wants to risk on any individual trade, and the maximum number of contracts that any one trade should ever use. Let’s say you enter 25%, with a 10 Max, the Autopilot will calculate how many contracts or lots you can trade based on a 25% risk factor of your account; Once your quantity calculation exceeds 10 contracts or lots, Track ‘n Trade will limit the number to 10.
Example: Let’s say you have a $25,000.00 trading account. If you choose to limit your risk to 25% of your account, and one contract has a margin of $500.00, then 25% of $25,000.00 is $6,250.00, therefore Track ‘n Trade will execute your trades using a quantity of 12. A quantity of 12 is used because $6,250.00 divided by $500.00 is quantity 12.5. As your profits increase or decrease, Track ‘n Trade will scale the trade quantity, up or down, automatically.
Remember, this number is calculated for each individual chart. If you are trading multiple markets simultaneously, from within the same account, you’ll want to also make that a consideration in your percentage decision.