Please see image. When short trading with a bracket order, my account seems to reflect a negative value when buying back at the lower price. Is anyone else having this issue or I am executing this incorrectly?
The trades above look ok. Sell short 853 shares at $233.21 ($198928.13) then buy back at $233.11 ($198842.83). The gross profit is $85.30. Where are you seeing a negative value reflected?
I think I’m confused on how it’s reflected in the paper value of the account. The sliding graphic appears like my account value declined by that amount, but it appears there’s no other way to see how each trade is reflected in the account value, just what it does to the buying power.
Is that correct?
To see the current profit or loss of current positions, look at the positions tab. Each position will have a dollar gain as well as a percentage gain. This is whether the position is long or short. Below is an example
In this case IBM is held long. The average purchase price per share was $133.56. The current price is $142.89. The price has gone up. That is reflected in the profit of +6.99% or +$2,549.41.
Now look at the case of AMBA. That position is held short and was sold short at $113.80 per share. The price is now $103.60. The price has gone down. Since its held short, that is reflected in a profit of +8.96% or +$10.20.
If you want to get more granular or look at other metrics, use the API. Download the positions and perform whatever calculations you wish and/or generate insightful graphs. The sky is the limit.
Does that help?
Thanks, Dan!
It does make sense, but after the trade has executed and closed, I don’t believe you can see the current standing or what it has done to your portfolio value, unless I am missing something. If you have a program executing the trades for you and you want to see how each trade has affected your account value and not just the buying power, I can’t seem to find anything that would reflect that detail.