I have a question regarding auto trading with the same instrument using two different C2 systems: For example, if System A is currently long one futures ES contract and System B sends a signal to short one futures ES contract how is this handled in my brokerage account? Thanks, Corey
Hi,
It’s all handled for you: each system is Autotraded separately, so what you would see in your brokerage account is a flat position.
Let me add some more, and I hope what I am about to say is obvious: That your ultimate P/L results will be exactly the same, regardless of whether you trade two strategies in one single broker account; or whether you trade each single strategy in a separate brokerage account. It doesn’t matter, mathematically speaking. At the end of the day, you’ll wind up with exactly the same profit or loss.
Or, to reiterate what Francis said, It’s all handled for your automatically. So feel free to trade multiple strategies in one AutoTrade brokerage account – even if these strategies trade the same instruments, and even if one strategy goes long while the other goes short that instrument. C2 will handle all of this for you, and your results will be exactly the same as if you traded different strategies in different brokerage accounts.
Francis and Matthew,
Thank you for your comments. Interestingly, this very scenario occurred this evening with two systems I am subscribed to: System A was long one ES futures contract from last week and System B went short one ES futures contract this evening. My brokerage account is now flat. It was difficult at first to wrap my mind around but mathematically it does make sense that gains and losses from equal long and short positions exactly offset one another no matter what direction the security moves, thus a zero effect on an account. And a flat brokerage account is obviously the same condition.
I notice on my C2 dashboard, however, that both positions still show in my live brokerage account strategy feed with the difference between the two positions equaling the actual profit at the time my brokerage account went flat. I assume this is a normal state and is C2’s way of keeping track of the actual activity occurring within each system?
Exactly right. That’s one of the nice things about C2 AutoTrading: on the Collective2 web site, you’ll see all your open positions, updated in real time, broken down by each strategy you are following.
This makes it easier to understand what each strategy is doing than simply looking at your aggregated broker account positions, since your broker doesn’t know which position relates to which strategy, etc.
So, to refer back to the example you mention, the behavior you observed is exactly what you should expect: If Strategy A is long the S&P, and Strategy B is short the S&P, your broker account will “look” flat, but on C2 you will see each position listed under its proper strategy, and the P/L tracked accordingly for each strategy.
