What are Signals?
Signals are used to create orders in the market and are sent by what we call Signal Providers (SPs). There are various types of signals that are tailored for specific purposes in order to allow customization of signals and prevent errors on the side of the SP and the user. This guide presents all the types of signals, how they are processed, and how to create them.

Further reading: Conditional Signals and Delayed Signals

Actions
The action specifies the purpose of the order and ensures that the current position can be properly changed by the order. Note that if the signal is not ignored as result of the action (see below for when a signal is ignored), then the signal will replace any existing order.

Buy To Open (BTO)

• Signal to open a long position (i.e positive number of shares)
  
• If the current position is not neutral, this signal will be ignored
  

• Signal to open a short position (i.e negative number of shares)
  
• If the current position is not neutral, this signal will be ignored
  

• Signal to entirely close a position, regardless of whether it is short or long
  
• If the current position is neutral, it will cancel any existing orders
  

• Signal to entirely close a long position
  
• If the current position is not long, this signal will be ignored
  

• Signal to entirely close a short position
  
• If the current position is not short, this signal will be ignored
  

• Signal to make the current position long
  
• This will work even if the current position is short
  

• Signal to make the current position short
  
• This will work even if the current position is long
  

• Signal to increase the current long position
  
• If the current position is not long, this signal will be ignored
  
• Requires a signal ID to be processed
  

• Signal to increase the current short position (i.e. go more short)
  
• If the current position is not short, this signal will be ignored
  
• Requires a signal ID to be processed
  

• Signal to decrease the current long position
  
• If the current position is not long, this signal will be ignored
  
• Requires a signal ID to be processed
  

• Signal to decrease the current short position (i.e. go less short)
  
• If the current position is not short, this signal will be ignored
  
• Requires a signal ID to be processed
  

• Specifies the number of shares to buy
  

• Specifies the total dollar value to be bought
  

• Specifies that the total dollar value bought should be a percent of the portfolio/strategy allocation
  

• Specifies that the total dollar value bought should be a percent of the current position (this means if the current position is neutral, then the signal is ignored)
  

• Specifies that the total dollar value bought should be a percent of the current cash available to the strategy
  
• Available cash is calculated as: strategy allocation - total exposure, where total exposure = (long exposure + short exposure)
  
• Note that whatever asset you are purchasing will not be included in the total exposure calculation
  
• For example, if strategy allocation is $10,000 and you are long $1,000 of AAPL, short $500 of IBM, and long $500 of SPY, then the signal
  
  LONG SPY 50 %CASH
  would see that total exposure is $1,500 (AAPL and IBM), so available cash is $10,000-$1,500 = $8,500. Therefore, we want to hold $8,500/2 = $4,250 of SPY, which means we need to BUY $3750 of SPY (since we already have $500)
  
• This unit type may be confusing to understand at first, but it will make more sense as you read the rest of the documentation.
  

• Specifies that the total dollar value bought should be a percent of the current cash available to ALL your strategies
  
• Available cash is calculated as: total allocation among all strategies - total account exposure, where total exposure = (long exposure + short exposure)
  
• Note that whatever asset you are purchasing will not be included in the total exposure calculation
  
• For example, if Strategy1 and Strategy2 each have allocation $10,000, and you are long $1,000 of AAPL, short $500 of IBM, and long $500 of SPY, then the signal
  
  LONG SPY 50 %ACCTCASH
  would see that total exposure is $1,500 (AAPL and IBM), so available cash is 2x$10,000-$1,500 = $18,500. Therefore, we want to hold $18,500/2 = $9,250 of SPY, which means we need to BUY $8750 of SPY (since we already have $500)
  

• Specifies that the unit to be used is whatever the user specified in the Custom Lot Size field in the strategy window.
  
• Note that the Custom Lot Size field is limited to the Shares and Dollars as units.
  

• An order which will be executed at the current market price
  

• A market order that will be placed when the market closes
  
• Note that these orders must be placed before 3:45pm EST, so your strategies must run before then
  
• The advantage of these kinds of orders is that there is no spread (difference between bid and ask price) when the market closes
  

• A market order that will be placed when the market opens
  
• Similar to MOC orders
  
• Note that in Interactive Brokers these orders will appear as MKT orders with a Time in Force of OPG
  

• https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/limitorder.asp
  
• The limit price must be specified when this order type is used
  

• A limit order that will be placed when the market closes
  
• Similar to the Market on Close order, this type of order must be placed before 3:45PM EST on most US exchanges
  

• A limit order that will be placed when the market open
  
• Similar to the Market on Open order, this type of order must be placed before 9:28AM EST on most US exchanges
  

• https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stoporder.asp
  
• The stop price must be specified when this order type is used
  

• https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sto...torder.asp
  
• Both the stop and limit price must be specified when this order type is used (specify the stop price first, then the limit price)
  

• https://www.interactivebrokers.ca/en/index.php?f=45318
  
• Both the trigger/touch and limit price must be specified when this order type is used (specify the trigger price first, then the limit price)
  

Startup
Open the Alera Dashboard and choose a workspace to store all your data. Make sure the workspace you choose is an empty folder that the software will be able to read/write to. If you are unsure, choose an empty folder in your documents.
Next click the + button to create an account which will handle your portfolio. Choose a descriptive name for your account without spaces, keeping in mind that it can't be changed in the future. 

Next choose the broker your account will be with. For now, only Interactive Brokers is supported.

Interactive Brokers (IB) Setup
It's strongly suggested you use the IB Gateway (IBG) for placing orders instead of the Trader Workstation (TWS) because TWS will automatically shutdown everyday.
Note that you should try to use the stable version of IBG (the one that is linked) and not the latest (unstable) version
Once you download the IBG, login to your account. Make sure that the API type is set to IB API before you login. It is also suggested that, if this is your first time using the application, you set up your IB paper trading account first so that you can play around with strategy settings.

Next go to Configure -> Settings -> API -> Settings. You will see the window below. Setting the fields in the window the same as the ones below is all you need to get started.
The only two fields you may need to change in the future are the Socket Port and possibly the Trusted IPs.



Now we need to configure the IBG to automatically restart (otherwise it will shut off once a day).
Go to Configure -> Lock and Exit. Set the restart time to something outside of market hours and check Auto restart.
If you do not see this setting then you need to download a more recent version of the IB Gateway (975 or higher).



Now go back to APM to set up your broker. You can leave the IP Address as 127.0.0.1, unless you are hosting the IBG on a different computer than APM and changed the Trusted IPs in your settings. The Port should match the port you set in the IBG settings. The Client ID can be set to 0, unless you are planning on connecting to the same IBG with a different piece of software. Then you will have to be aware of what Client ID the other software uses and choose a different one. Lastly, set the Account ID to your IB account ID and click Save. Note that this is not the same as your login credentials. A paper trading account should start with 'DU' and a normal account should start with 'U', for example DU123456. This can usually be found at the top of the settings window from above, in TWS, or online.



Licenses
Note: Currently all paper-trading accounts will receive a free three month license without requiring sign up or credit card details. Leave the License Token as 117425.

Licenses for real accounts are paid, so we suggest you try APM with a free paper-trading account first. When you're ready to go live visit alerasubscriptions.com to purchase a license. If you have issues with PayPal then contact me at contact@aleratrading.com.

Once you've paid for your license (or if you're using a free one), you can click Start to connect to the IBG. If you successfully connect, then you can go ahead and start creating strategies. Otherwise, you will need to double check that your IBG settings are correct and that the ports match. The port you selected could already be taken by your computer, so try a different one (in the thousands) if you're certain your other settings are correct.

Strategies
There are various ways to approach creating strategies and an in depth explanation of the strategies page is posted elsewhere in the Documentation. If you'd like to get something setup that you can play around with, then you can select the Finviz Screener under Signal Provider Type. Select a screener from Finviz and paste the URL in the Buy URL text box. You can also changed the Max Dollar Value to 100,000 in order to make sure that your paper trading orders are actually placed. Leave the other settings as their default values and click Save.
Now you can click Order Preview to see the strategy run without actually placing orders. Check the Log tab to see extra information about what happened. You can also click the button beside Signal Processing Schedule to run the strategy and place orders. Now orders will be placed in IB and you can view them in the Portfolio tab.