Features

45 articles

Dependent and Independent Legs

In OptionsApp, you can define complex options strategies with multiple Legs within a Trade Template. The app distinguishes between two types of Legs: independent and dependent Legs. This differentiation enables very precise and flexible Strike handling, from individual

Settlement Logic at Expiration (Expired)

1. Purpose of the Article This article describes how OptionsApp calculates prices in the Evaluation, particularly in connection with options expiration. The focus is on SPXW options as well as the distinction between actual executions, options expiration, and settlement-based settlement

Manually edit executions/trades after the fact

1. Background In certain situations, it may be necessary to edit an execution retroactively. This is the case, for example, when a closing order was executed in TWS but was not correctly recorded by OptionsApp (because OA was not connected, offline for several days,

Execution Logic (Entry & Exit Behavior)

1. Overview Entry and Exit Behavior controls how OptionsApp executes orders when opening (Entry) and closing (Exit) a trade. A trade always encompasses all legs defined in a Trade Template (regardless of quantity or configuration) and is submitted as a single unit to

Disable Automatic Trade Monitoring

1. Background In OptionsApp, you have the option to disable automatic monitoring (Trade-Monitoring) for individual trades. This means that from that point on, the app will no longer manage the trade in any way, and all close orders for the affected trade will be removed. The

Condition: ADX / DMI

The "ADX / DMI" feature in OptionsApp allows you to define entry and exit conditions based on the Average Directional Index (ADX) as well as the Directional Indicators (+DI and -DI). These indicators are used to measure the trend strength and trend direction of an Underlying and

Condition: EMA (Exponential Moving Average)

1. Overview The Exponential Moving Average (EMA) is a technical indicator that calculates a moving average of past prices. Unlike simple averages (SMA), the EMA weights recent price data more heavily than older price data. EMAs are used to better assess trends

Condition: Expected Move and Expected Move Consumption

The Expected Move is the market-implied expected daily movement of the respective Underlying. This always refers only to the movement for the current trading day. The value is based on option prices and shows how strongly the market is expected to move from the perspective of market participants

Condition: Intraday Movement

1. Overview The Entry and Exit Condition Intraday Movement allows you to open or close trades only when an Underlying has moved a certain amount since market open. The difference between the price at US market open (9:30 Eastern Time

Condition: MACD Indicator

The "MACD" Condition allows you to create strategies based on the popular technical indicator "Moving Average Convergence Divergence". MACD combines two moving averages of different periods to identify trends and momentum changes. In addition to the MACD line

Condition: Max/Min Day Range (Opening Range Breakout)

The Min/Max Day Range function (also known as Range Breakout or Open Range Breakout) in OptionsApp lets you design strategies based on a defined price range within the trading day. While OptionOmega uses the term "Opening Range Breakout" (ORB), it refers to

Condition: Movement Since Trade Opening

1. Overview The Movement Since Trade Opening Condition lets you monitor price movements since a trade was opened. This allows you to define Exit Conditions that don't consider the current market level or daily performance, but only the change since

Condition: Overnight Gap

The "Overnight Gap" feature in OptionsApp allows you to design strategies based on price gaps between the previous day's closing price and the current trading day's opening price. This condition can be flexibly used in the Entry or Exit Conditions of a configuration.

Condition: Price Movement

1. Overview The Price Movement Condition allows you to check price movements of an Underlying within a freely definable Lookback period. The condition can be used both as an Entry Condition and as an Exit Condition. This allows a trade to be opened or closed

Condition: RSI (Relative Strength Index)

1. Purpose and Overview The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a technical indicator that measures the strength and momentum of a price movement. It belongs to the category of momentum indicators and is used to identify overbought or oversold market phases. The RSI moves on a

Condition: SMA (Simple Moving Average)

1. Overview The Simple Moving Average (SMA) is a technical indicator that calculates the average of past prices over a defined time period. Unlike the Exponential Moving Average (EMA), all prices within the selected time period are weighted equally in the SMA. Each individual

Entry & Exit Conditions (and Filter/Trigger Logic)

In OptionsApp, you can define so-called Entry and Exit Conditions - that is, conditions that must be met when entering or exiting a trade. In addition to the classic use via filters and triggers, an Entry or Exit Condition can also be set up as a Webhook. In this F

Entry & Exit via Webhook

1. Purpose and Overview The Webhook function allows you to open or close trades in OptionsApp through external signals. Instead of triggering entries or exits through classic filter or trigger logic within the app, trades are initiated via a webhook sent from outside. The

Entry and Exit with Short/Long Ratio

1. Overview The Short/Long Ratio describes the relationship between the total short premium and the total long premium of an options structure. The calculation follows this logic: Short/Long Ratio = total short premium / total long premium In OptionsApp, the Short/Long Ratio

Trading outside regular market hours (Use Ext. Hours Orders)

1. Overview The Use Extended Hours Orders option in the Trade Template allows you to place orders outside of regular trading hours (Regular Trading Hours, RTH). This enables certain trades to be opened or closed during pre-market or after-hours trading sessions. This

Expiration Accuracy (Use Exact DTE)

1. Overview The Use Exact DTE setting in the Trade Template determines how precisely OptionsApp should consider the remaining time to expiry (DTE - Days to Expiry) of the selected options. It affects whether trades are only opened when the specified expiry is available exactly, or whether di

Logic of Contract Selection (Nearest, Above, Below)

The selection options Nearest, Above, and Below determine how OptionsApp interprets the desired target value of a search criterion (e.g., Premium, Delta, Percentage, or Offset) and which contract it selects. This allows you to precisely control whether the target value is hit as exactly as possible or sy

Margin Allocation [%]

1. Overview The Margin Allocation [%] feature enables dynamic position sizing. Instead of defining a fixed number of contracts, you set a percentage of your account value as the maximum margin allocation per trade. The actual number of contracts to be opened is calculated...

Max open Trades & Contracts per Trade

The two settings Max open Trades and Quantity (the number of contracts per trade) control how many trades your strategy can execute simultaneously, and in what position size. Max open Trades (Strategy Level) You'll find the Max open Trades option in the strategy configuration

Options on the ES Future: Trading Hours, Configuration, and Stops

Options on the ES Future trade nearly around the clock. This article explains trading hours and trading day, configuration in OptionsApp, stops and exits, as well as differences to SPX.

P&L Action: Delta Exit

1. Overview The Delta Exit (referred to as Exit When Delta in OptionsApp) represents a P&L Action in the Trade Template and enables you to close trades automatically once a defined Delta threshold is fallen below or exceeded. The condition can be applied to individual

P&L Action: Early Exit

With the "Early Exit" feature, you can automatically close a trade based on time before its actual expiration date. This function is especially useful when you don't want to hold certain strategies until expiration day, but instead want to exit in a controlled manner at an earlier point in time.

P&L Action: Exit When Underlying Price Moves

The Exit When Underlying Price Moves function is a P&L Action in the Trade Template. It lets you automatically close a trade when the underlying price reaches a defined level relative to a selected Leg. This allows you to map out dynamic exit scenarios that

P&L Action: ITM Protection

1. Purpose and Overview The ITM Protection (In The Money Protection) is a Profit & Loss Action that closes the trade as soon as it moves into the money. This prevents contracts from expiring in the money unintentionally. 2. Requirement and Visibility The ITM Protection appears exclusively

P&L Action: Profit Target

The Profit Target function in OptionsApp allows you to automatically close positions once a defined profit has been reached. This profit threshold can be set as a percentage of the premium paid, as a fixed profit amount or as a fixed price of the combination.

P&L Action: Stop Loss

1. Overview The Stop Loss is one of the central Profit & Loss Actions in OptionsApp. It allows you to place an automatic close order. The Stop Loss can be defined at the Leg, Group, or Combo level. 2. Definition of Stop Loss For determining the Stop Loss price, you can

P&L Action: Stop Loss REL Order

1. Overview A REL Order (Relative Order) is a dynamic order type that automatically adjusts the limit price relative to the current Bid or Ask price. In OptionsApp, it can be activated at the Leg, group, or Combo level. Important: Technically, the REL Order is always executed only on individual Leg

P&L Actions: Overview

P&L Actions in OptionsApp allow you to set rules for automatically closing trades or individual legs based on profit, loss, or time conditions. They're a central part of every trade configuration and enable detailed risk management as well as

Quantity Scale Factor

1. Overview The Quantity Scale Factor enables central scaling of all Trades within a Strategy. Instead of manually adjusting the Quantity of each individual Trade, the entire Strategy can be proportionally increased or decreased via a common factor. The function is

Ratio Configurations

In OptionsApp, you can define a so-called Ratio in the Trade Template for each Leg of an options structure. This specifies the proportion in which the individual Legs are traded relative to each other. The configuration is done within the group structure, where Legs can be dependent or independent of

Re-Entry

1. Introduction The Re-Entry function allows you to automatically reopen a trade after it has been closed. With this, you can automate strategies that involve re-entering after a Stop Loss, Profit Target, or other exit conditions. By default, Re-Entry is

Reuse Longs: Reusing existing Long Contracts (recycling Longs)

1. Purpose and Background The Reuse Longs feature allows you to reuse existing Long contracts from previous trades to avoid unnecessary new openings and reduce trading costs (also known as "recycling longs"). Especially with spread strategies,

Rolling Options

1. Overview With OptionsApp, you can automate the rolling of options. Technically, rolling is performed via the Re-Entry function. An existing Trade is first closed by a defined trigger. OptionsApp then automatically opens a new Trade. For the new

P&L Action: Stop Adjustment

In OptionsApp, you can configure so-called "Stop Adjustments" within a Trade Template. This feature allows you to automatically trail your Stop Loss once a certain profit threshold is reached. This way you can lock in gains while actively managing your risk.

Strike Distance Condition

1. Purpose and Overview The Strike Distance Condition supplements the Stop Loss of an individual Short Leg with an additional condition on the Underlying price. The goal is to avoid executions triggered solely by a brief, extreme option price spike (Slippage Event). De

Search Criteria for Contracts

When creating a Trade Template in OptionsApp, you can define strikes for each leg individually using various search criteria. This applies especially to independent legs, where OptionsApp autonomously searches for matching contracts. The logic of this selection is based on met

Trade Template: Overview

1. Purpose of Trade Template A Trade Template bundles all specifications for a single opening order, including Legs, P&L Actions (Stops, Targets, time-based Exits, ...) as well as execution and closing logic. All defined rules are transmitted to IB/TWS as a single Order upon entry. Partial

Rebuilding of Close Orders When a Leg Becomes Untradeable

What OptionsApp does when a leg of a combo is no longer tradeable: long legs are removed from the close order, nearly worthless short legs are bought back separately. This requires an approval in the user portal.

Use Min/Max Entry Premium

1. Overview The Use Min/Max Entry Premium function in the Trade Template allows you to set a price range for the entire Combo. This ensures that a trade is only opened when the entry price falls within the defined limits. This setting is optional

Use wide Bid/Ask Spread protection

1. Purpose and Overview The "Use wide Bid/Ask Spread protection" feature serves as an additional safety mechanism when opening a Trade. It prevents the execution of a Trade if the Bid-Ask Spread of a Contract to be opened at the time of the planned opening exceeds a defined