Order Escort
Last updated
Last updated
The Order Escort is a window that includes more entry parameters for submitting orders than the usual order entry dialog. The OrderEscort supports both automatic and manual mode.
The automatic mode will be activated when:
AgenaTrader++ (plusplus) is started,
an entry signal for an instrument is recognized within the Analyzer Column (scanner) and
the list chart group is opened and contains a chart within the same time frame in which the signal has appeared.
If the chart already contains an active manual setup, then newly occurring signals will not be placed in the chart automatically.
The manual mode will only be activated when:
the checkbox Enter manual in the Trade tab of the Order Escort is checked.
This will allow you to input corrections to the automatic setups of AgenaTrader++ and enter your discretionary trades.
The Order Escort window consists of four distinct tabs:
Tab name | Description |
Trade | |
Target | Displays the parameters for price level and target size. |
Account | Contains all important account data such as risk settings for the trading account. |
Account manager | Is not available at the moment |
In the upper part of the Order Escort you can find the order buttons with the subcategories: "Direct", "Synthetic" and "Scale-In". The lower part of the Order Escort contains the output window, which will inform the trader about the various events within the platform (executions, stop adjustments etc).
Left clicking on the Save Setup button will open a new dialog window and allow you to save a new manual setup, which will then be saved within the Setup Builder.
To place orders on the market with a mouse click you may use Discretionary function:
The background color of the Order Escort depends on the trading status of AgenaTrader++ and can be:
grey: AgenaTrader++ is in waiting mode, meaning that there is no setup attached to the instrument.
light green: when you have accepted a long trade setup (proposing mode) suggested by the Order Escort and have opened the long position (trading mode).
red: when you have accepted a short trade setup (proposing mode) suggested by the Order Escort and have opened the short position (trading mode).
The changes in background color will allow you to see immediately whether a signal has occurred, which chart is currently in trading mode and in which direction the trade has been submitted to the market.
The order buttons are categorized into three sections:
Direct orders
Synthetic orders
Scale-in orders (Scale-In orders are temporarily deactivated)
The functionality of all available buttons is always applied to an entry order.
CLick the Ignore/Flatten trade button to delete the suggested order ("Ignore") or close the currently running trade ("Flatten trade").
The following order types can be submitted to the market:
Order type | Description |
Market | Assumes no price limits since the purpose of this order type is to execute an order as soon as possible. There is a potential danger of a worse price execution in comparison to the initial entry price due to incurred slippage, especially in highly illiquid markets. |
Limit | |
Stop | Is a combination of a stop and market order. It is characterized by automatic submission of the "best order" (market) to the market (order book) as far as the predefined stop price level is reached. |
StopLimit | A stop limit order is a combination of a stop and limit order. It is characterized by automatic submission of the limit order (market) to the market (order book) as far as the predefined stop limit price level is reached. Example here |
Direct orders are submitted to the broker. Once a direct order is placed on the market it will be located on the exchange.
Even if the application is closed, the direct orders will remain active.
Note that if the direct order was submitted within a strategy and AgenaTrader is closed, then the trade management rules will no longer apply and the automatic order management will not remain active for this trade.
Direct orders can be recognized on the chart by the Direct label as well as by the solid connection line between the chart trader bar and the price scale.
You can submit all order types as direct orders.
Synthetic orders are not forwarded to the exchange and remain locally placed on your computer.
The advantage of synthetic orders: market participants will not be able to see your positions, which allows you to submit "invisible" orders to the market.
Synthetic orders can be recognized on the chart by the Synthetic label or by the dashed connection line between the chart trader bar and the price scale.
The following order types are supported:
Limit: submits a limit order to the inside bid or inside ask when the limit price is reached.
StopLimit: forwards a limit order to the exchange when the stop price is reached. If a stop price and a limit price are equal, a limit order will be placed in the inside bid or inside ask.
Stop: executes a market order when the stop price is reached.
A synthetic market order does not make sense due to its immediate execution as a direct market order.
The possibility of submitting dynamic orders is an innovation implemented in AgenaTrader++. This function is only available in the Andromeda or higher versions. Essentially, a dynamic order is a synthetic order that is only submitted when a „suspicion“ arises.
The dynamic order trading pad parameters:
An order type ;
The entry strategy is set within the Setup Builder;
Exact order size or stops, target and other usual order parameters are excluded.
AgenaTrader will only activate a strategy when the market price reaches an entry price. Once reached, the setup within the Entry Escort will automatically be applied to the chart by setting the appropriate stop and target orders.
The order size will also be calculated based on risk parameters.
The following dynamic order types are supported:
Limit: submits a limit order to the inside bid or inside ask when the limit price is reached.
StopLimit: forwards a limit order to the exchange when the stop price is reached. If a stop price and a limit price are equal, a limit order will be placed in the inside bid or inside ask.
Stop: executes a market order when the stop price is reached.
A dynamic market order does not make sense due to its immediate execution as a direct market order.
This order is highly important in terms of a micro-hedging approach, since it will allow you to submit orders on hundreds of charts.
How does the dynamic order work?
After submitting an order, the market will decide if it is activated or not;
If activated, the system will apply the specific setup parameters;
If a dynamic order is placed on a chart and no strategy is running, the AT++ strategy will be activated immediately;
The automatic account management will start to control your trade. The orders can be moved into the fallout list when the invested amount exceeds the allowed limit for market-neutral positions.
A dynamic order makes sense when used as an entry order. If you define a stop or target order as a dynamic order then these orders become synthetic orders.
Example: Cancel an order if the market has moved far away in the opposite direction The image below shows a situation in which a dynamic order was not activated because the price did not increase as expected.
If you wish to enter a short position you can use a dynamic order and simply place an order at the desired price level. The setup (stop, targets, order size etc.) will be calculated once the price level has been reached. If you do not wish to submit a short order because the last high price has been reached, then you can place a dynamic order and connect it with a price alert (OCO order via the Ctrl button), which will delete the order as soon as the level is achieved.
The scenario shown on the image would also be acceptable:
This illustrates the advantage of dynamic orders. You can place an entry order for hundreds of instruments. When the order is actually submitted, the setup (incl. targets and order size) will be calculated and adjusted according to the specific setup conditions.
IMPORTANT NOTE! SCALE-IN ORDERS ARE TEMPORARILY DEACTIVATED.
A scale-in order sends multiple orders (tranches) to the market until the desired position size is reached. AgenaTrader manages the order logic.
The following order types are supported:
Limit: submits a limit order with the scale-in size to the inside bid or inside ask when the limit price is reached (minus the scale-in interval). If this limit order is executed, the next order will be placed. This process will repeat as many times as necessary until the desired position size is filled completely.
StopLimit: submits a limit order to the inside bid or inside ask if the stop price and the limit price are equal, or forwards it to the exchange when the stop price is reached (minus the scale-in interval). This process will repeat as many times as necessary until the desired position size is filled completely.
You must adjust a limit price within the Trading Information: Order Manager, otherwise the limit price and the stop price will be the same.
If the market moves away from the last position of the scale-in order, then this order will be automatically adjusted.
The appropriate parameters can be defined within the Global Configuration in the AT (Plus Plus): Order Rounding tabs:
Parameter | Description |
Scale-In Size | Displays the size used for the scale-in orders. |
Scale-In Distance | Scale-in orders will be submitted to the market as limit orders. The scale-in distance defines how many ticks away from the inside bid or inside ask the limit order will be placed. "0" - inside bid/ask; "1" - 1 tick below the inside bid or above the inside ask. |
Scale-In Area (ATR) | As long as the market is within the ATR area, the order will remain unchanged. If the market leaves this area then the scale-in order will be automatically adjusted based on the ATR-Factor (the default setting is 20 periods). |
The limit order buttons in each of the three categories only become active when the current price is lower than the suggested limit entry price (long position) or higher than the suggested limit entry price (short position).
You can see this in the price fields on the right hand side next to the Market button.
The left field displays the current price
Еhe right field shows the distance of ticks/pips from the suggested entry price.
If the background color of these fields is green, then no limit order can be submitted, since the current price is currently above the limit entry price (long position) or below the limit entry price (short position).
If the limit entry price is below the current price (long position) or above the current price (short position), the background color will be red and a limit order can be submitted.
Depending upon whether the trade is already opened or not, the following options are available:
Ignore: deletes the suggested setup and the orders that have been already sent to the exchange.
Flatten trade: deletes the suggested setup and the orders that have been already sent to the exchange, and also closes running trades.
The Order Escort accepts the following statuses:
Stalking: Order Escort is deactivated and is waiting for an Entry Escort signal or activation of the manual mode.
Proposing: Order Escort is in suggestion mode, which allows you to edit a setup.
Pending: the entries and parameter definitions have been accepted, and the entry order has been submitted but not yet executed.
Trading: a position has been opened, the stop and target orders have been activated by the system and the Strategy Escort is monitoring the trade.
Please find details on page Setup Builder: Trade tab
The Target tab displays the price levels of the corresponding target orders and their volumes. Each AT++ strategy will allow you to submit up to three different targets. The targets can be changed or moved until the moment that the first target is executed.
The Target tab displays the order sizes of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd target orders.
The order sizes are based on the position size and can be defined as percentages within the Setup Builder for the corresponding target.
Setting the target size above the suggested level (can only be done from within the Order Escort)
If you wish to set the target size above the proposed level, manually enter the desired target size or change the amount using the up and down arrow keys. Once entered, the background color will change to red and will no longer be adjusted if the stop or entry orders are edited.
Here you are responsible for ensuring that the target sizes are consistent with the position size.
If you want AgenaTrader++ (plusplus) to calculate the target sizes automatically according to the risk-specific criteria, double click in this field and move the entry / stop line inside the chart.
The Target tab displays the prices of the1st, 2nd and 3rd target orders.
You can edit the price level in one of the following ways:
Move the chart trader bar for the target order directly on the chart
Enter a new price manually inside the Target price field
Increase or decrease the price level tick by tick to the next high low using the up and down arrow keys
Use the drop-down list to select a price among the 30 possible price levels in both directions.
The target order prices are based on:
calculations applied to the target selected from the Target Escort list;
minimal risk intervals defined in the Setup Builder.
IMPORTANT NOTE! THIS FEATURE WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE IN FUTURE VERSIONS OF AGENATRADER.
The Stop checkboxes allow you to define the target order type:
if checked - a stop target order;
if not checked - a dynamic limit target order.
Example.
We will assume that you submit the target to the market as a dynamic limit order. After execution, this order becomes an additional trailing stop that will be triggered until the target marker is crossed. The stop target's trailing stop should run closer than the Soft Trail stop and will therefore start behind the bar that activated the stop target. The stop target will react similarly to a Hard stop and will be executed immediately. The advantage of this stop target method is that (partial) positions of targets will be secured but not closed, meaning that on a strongly trending market more profits can be realized with a larger position size.
If you have suggested (unconfirmed) orders within the chart and check the Lock checkbox, the targets will no longer be recalculated if the entry or stop order is edited.
The Order Escort Account tab contains all important account data and risk settings for a particular account. Please consult the account settings to define the account to be displayed in this tab (depends upon the instrument type).
Currencies are represented by the combination of profit & loss currency bases (see the Global Configuration) and the current currency in which the instrument is listed. The P&L currency is the first symbol, and the currency in which the instrument is listed is the second symbol.
This is not representative of an actual currency pair!
The conversion is performed using a synthetic exchange rate between the profit and loss currency base in which the corresponding underlying instrument is listed.
This exchange rate is set once a day (when AgenaTrader++ is started up and when the first conversion takes place).
Examples
P&L currency: EUR Instrument: AAPL (listed in USD) Currencies: EURUSD
P&L currency: EUR Instrument: BMW (listed in EUR) Currencies: EUREUR
P&L currency: EUR Instrument: USDJPY (listed in JPY) Currencies: EURJPY
NOTE! A 3rd party platform will hardly ever manage to calculate the P&L with regard to the exchange rate like a broker does. For this reason deviations are possible. Many brokers calculate this at the end of a day, while others use foreign currency pools, which are gradually bought by users and reconverted - although not regularly (once a day, week, month etc.). The exchange rates are obtained from Yahoo only once after starting AgenaTrader- at the moment when the first currency trading has been executed. Therefore, if you perform trades at varying times and using different computers, your P&Ls that have been converted in the particular currency of brokers will deviate.
Account size (cash value) This is the amount of money available on an account.
Buying power Buying power is the number of shares, futures and currencies that can be bought. The initial risk is calculated based on the buying power. Some brokers increase the account size by a predefined factor in order to provide your account with leverage. This should not be confused with CFDs since buying power refers only to account leverage. The buying power may vary during the day (intraday) and the night (overnight trading). Usually the buying power is reduced by half for overnight trading. Higher buying power allows you more flexibility when trading and thus the possibility to trade more stocks. But note that stocks are usually traded 1:1 and have no leverage attached to them, therefore the account size can be exhausted very quickly.
IMPORTANT NOTE! BP2Invest / BP4Long / BP4Short parameters (are temporarily deactivated in the account settings)
You can see the following fields within the account tab:
BP2Invest: displays the size of the total buying power based on the risk restrictions for the specific trade.
BP4Long: displays the amount invested into a long position based on the risk restrictions for the specific trade.
BP4Short: displays the amount invested into a short position based on the risk restrictions for the specific trade.
In the Used fields you can see the current usage rate of the buying power.
The image below shows how these settings relate to the entry possibilities inside the General -> Account tabs within the Global Configuration window.
See additional information about Initial risk (% field) in the Trade-Tab: Strategy box section.
On the right hand side of the Account tab you can see the total amount that will be risked per trade.
The "EUR" button shows the P&L currency, which is:
used for calculation of all specific criteria for money and risk management
not necessarily the currency in which the account is held
always relevant when the instruments are traded in different currencies.
For example, American stocks or futures that are traded in a EUR account. In a case such as this, AgenaTrader ++ will automatically perform all conversions for the various risk and money management parameters for the P&L currency.
This function is only available with the AgenaTrader Galaxy or higher versions of the trading platform.
Consists of two blocs: Trade: displays the current trading parameters such as entry price, stops, order and position size and risk. Strategy: displays the parameters for different strategies being used for currently running as well as future trades.
Requires a price limit to be entered. The execution price is supposed to be: for a buy order - at most, the price of a limit order or lower. for a sell order - at least, the price of a limit order or higher.
