Sliding Stop

[gizzard]

I had a problem today with the sliding stop.
I am laying first then using a sliding stop to protect any profits if there is a matching back bet.

The trigger I am using is: LAY-SLF4-SL-PC

The lay bet was taken at 4.0 as expected. The market then ran hugely in my favour getting as high as 9.8 as I had a back bet placed at 9.8. This bet couldn't have been matched as it is still sitting there open as I write this but the prices have slid back and are now at 7.0. Still a nice profit but why hasn't the sliding stop been hit? It looks as though I will have to green up manually.

I have a screen shot of the situation that I can send in a private mail.

[GaryRussell]

So you triggered the lay bet when the odds were 4 and also set the stop loss at 4? This would be pointless as the stop loss would be hit immediately. Can you check the transaction log under the account menu and see if your original lay bet is there. There has been a recent problem where the bet reference is not returned by the API preventing tick offset, stop loss etc. from working. If the bet ref is not in the transaction log then this will be the problem.

[GaryRussell]

The back bet at 9.8 you refer to. Did you place this manually?

[gizzard]

No. I was betting on an Australian horse race several minutes before the off when there is not much liquidity. Both the initial lay bet of 4.0 and the back bet of 9.8 were placed using the trigger indicated.

[GaryRussell]

Then the 9.8 back bet was the stop loss bet. The price must have gone up past 9.8 rapidly then gone down again triggering the stop loss. Once the stop loss bet is triggered it will not be monitored further so it can remain unmatched if not matched immediately. If you have not closed the program since you should be able to see a reference to the stop loss bet being triggered in the transaction log.

[gizzard]

OK, that makes sense in such a low volume market but.....how should such a situation be handled?
I set the trigger in the assumption that the stop loss would be set and hit as it is set 1 point below the latest price.

I realise that this must be handled using VBA as a safeguard against the automated stop loss not working but how can I identify that the stop loss was not triggered?

[GaryRussell]

The stop loss was triggered. You mean how to handle it when the stop loss bet is not matched?

You can either accept that situation can occur or create your own triggers to place a stop loss which will give you the flexibility to handle it any way you want.

[gizzard]

The software is terrific in what it can achieve but, as I use it more, and I'm only at the stage of the last couple of days of my one month trial, I realise that it only does so much.

It identifies situations and then places bets but, at that point, it's finished it's job.

The next leap forward would seem to be to offer options for handling unmatched bets that have been placed whether this is the original bet, the trigger bet or the stop loss, sliding or not.

This is no way a criticism of BA I'm just trying to find out what else is in the pipeline.
Is there any plan to go this extra step or has the software gone as far planned?

[GaryRussell]

We are always adding to the software as suggestions are received. I don't have any immediate plans to extend the Excel triggers in the way you suggest, but there may be more options in the future. The original idea for triggered betting was to provide the basic facilities to place, update and cancel bets and let the user program their own logic for handling what happens next. It's perfectly possible to program a custom stop loss feature that does all that you require, but it's down to the user to figure out how to do this with the functions provided.

[pugs]

Hello gizzard

Have you tried looking through or asking for help in the ”Find an Excel developer” forum? I’m sure some of the Gruss Excel boys have already considered how to deal with unmatched bets or open positions, and already have spreadsheets they may share with you or help you with your own.

Do you know exactly how you would want a trigger to deal with the above situation? I can think of several but some are dangerous and others still have no guarantee of getting you matched.

I know very little about Excel, and even less about writing triggers, so I was going to ask Gary or Mark if they would consider writing an “automatic level profit” into the BA interface to close any open trades, but when you consider the implications of such a feature firing off in a volatile market, it would have to come with disclaimers and a severe health warning lol

Anyway, hope you get sorted.