Risk Management

What Risk Management does

Risk Management lets you set a simple safety limit for a trading account. If the account crosses that limit during the day, AutoTrader Web can email you an alert so you decide what to do — or, if you choose to turn it on, square off your positions for you automatically.

You set the limit. You choose what happens when it is crossed. Every part of it stays under your control, and you can stop it at any time.

What you can set

For each trading account you can set:

• Maximum daily loss — get an alert (or an automatic square-off, if you turned it on) if the account’s loss for the day crosses an amount you choose.
• Profit target — get an alert (or an automatic square-off, if you turned it on) if the account’s profit for the day reaches an amount you choose.

The limits use your account’s live profit and loss for the day.

Choose how your profit and loss is measured

You can pick what your daily loss and profit target look at:

• All positions — counts the profit or loss from trades you have already closed today, plus your open trades. This is the default.
• Only open positions — looks at your open trades only, and ignores the profit or loss from trades you have already closed today.

Here is the difference. Say you made ₹10,000 on trades you closed earlier, and your open trade is now down ₹2,000. All positions shows ₹8,000. Only open positions shows −₹2,000.

Set one choice as your default for every account, and change it for any single account. The screen shows which one is being used next to your profit and loss, so the number you see is the number your limits use.

How to set a limit

1. Sign in to AutoTrader Web.
2. Open Trading → Risk Mgmt from the menu.
3. Pick a live account from the list.
4. Enter your maximum daily loss and/or profit target.
5. Click Save.

That is all. If the account crosses a limit during the trading day, you get an email alert. You can change or remove a limit any time from the same screen, and you can also see recent alerts for the account there.

What the alert email shows

Every risk email opens with the same small box, so you never have to remember what you set:

Your profit target	the target you saved, or not set
Your stop-loss	the loss limit you saved, or not set
Your profit and loss	the figure we compared against them

Both limits are shown, not only the one that caused the email, and the one that caused it is highlighted. The box also says whether the profit and loss was measured on all positions or on only your open trades, because that choice changes the number.

Below the box, the email includes a full list of the positions in that account, shown as a simple table. Each row is one position, with its quantities, values, and profit and loss.

The profit-and-loss figures that are used to check your limit are highlighted, so you can see at a glance what caused the alert. Your broker, your account, and your trading account are shown at the top, so it is clear which account the alert is for.

The table is wide, so on a phone you can swipe it sideways to see the rest of the columns. The rest of the email stays in place while you do.

You get the same box and the same table in all three emails — the alert when a limit is crossed, the heads-up at about 80%, and the report after an automatic square-off.

Automatic square-off (optional)

By default, Risk Management only alerts you — it never places or changes an order on its own. If you want, you can turn on automatic square-off, so the software places exit orders for you the moment a limit is hit.

Because this places real orders, you turn it on yourself in a few clear steps:

1. On the Risk Mgmt screen, choose to activate automatic square-off.
2. Read the short note about the risks, then ask us to email you the terms.
3. Open the link in that email and agree to the terms.
4. Choose what should happen for each account — for example, square off everything — and save it.

You can switch any account back to alerts-only at any time. Please read the terms carefully before you agree: automatic square-off relies on live data from your broker, which can sometimes be delayed or wrong, and exit orders can fail or fill only in part during fast markets or broker downtime. We suggest you run on alerts-only first, confirm the alerts reach you and match your broker for a few days, and only then switch it on — see The safe way to start below.

What happens when a limit is hit

When you turn on automatic square-off, you choose what should happen for each account when a limit is reached. There are four choices:

• Warn me only — you get an alert and nothing is placed for you. This is the safest choice.
• Auto square-off everything — we close all your open positions, but we do not lock you out. You can take new trades after.
• Auto square-off and block new entries — we close your positions and stop any new orders for the rest of the day.
• Block new entries only — we keep your open positions but stop you from opening new ones.

After an “Auto square-off everything” — can I trade again?

Yes. “Auto square-off everything” closes your trades but does not lock you out. What happens on your next trade depends on how you measure your profit and loss (see above):

• Only open positions — each new trade is protected again. If a fresh trade reaches your limit, we square it off again. So you keep a safety net on every attempt.
• All positions (booked + open) — this is a full-day limit. Once your loss for the whole day reaches the limit, we square off once. You can still trade again, but we will not square off a second time that day, because your day’s loss is already past the limit.

An easy way to remember it:

• Only open positions = we protect each new trade.
• All positions = one daily budget; once it is used, it is used.

So if you want ongoing protection on every new trade after a square-off, choose Only open positions. The other square-off choices (square-off and block, or block only) stop new trades for the rest of the day — but you can turn trading back on yourself with Resume trading (see below), so this “trade again” behaviour applies to them too, once you resume.

Paused by a block? Resume trading

If you picked Auto square-off and block new entries or Block new entries only, new trades stay off for the rest of the day once your limit is hit. If you change your mind, you do not have to wait until tomorrow — you can turn trading back on yourself:

1. Open Trading → Risk Mgmt.
2. Pick the account that is paused. A short note tells you why it is paused — for example, your profit target was reached and your positions were squared off.
3. Click Resume trading. If more than one account is paused, use Resume all blocked accounts to turn them all back on at once.

After you resume, that account’s rule only sends alerts for the rest of the day — it will not square off your positions again today — and it goes back to your normal setting on its own the next day. You can also resume straight from the message you get when a blocked order is stopped.

You’ll know before and after

If you have turned on automatic square-off, AutoTrader Web keeps you informed at both steps, so you are never surprised.

• A heads-up before we act. When your account gets close to about 80% of your loss limit or profit target, we email you. The email shows your profit target, your stop-loss and our current profit-and-loss figure side by side, the list of positions in the account, and what will happen if the limit is reached. If our number does not look right to you, the email also tells you how to turn risk management off — for that one account, or for all your accounts.
• A report after we act. Once the limit is reached and we finish the square-off, we email you a report. It shows your profit target, your stop-loss and the booked profit or loss for the day side by side, the list of positions, and whether every position was closed. If a position could not be closed, the report lists it with the reason from your broker, so you can check your broker terminal.

The heads-up is a warning, not a fixed time window — the square-off happens the moment the limit is reached.

When risk monitoring runs

Risk Management watches your accounts on trading days only, Monday to Friday, and it follows the markets your own positions trade in. It starts in the morning when the market opens and keeps watching for as long as one of your markets is still open. So a commodity position stays watched through the late evening session, while cash and F&O positions are watched through the normal trading day.

Closing times are not the same for every segment — the currency segment runs later than cash, and the commodity evening session runs later still. The late commodity closing time even moves by a few minutes twice a year. Risk Management follows the correct closing time for each segment on its own, so you do not have to think about it.

Outside these hours it is paused. It does not monitor, alert, or square off on weekends (Saturday and Sunday) or on market holidays, because prices do not move while the market is closed. It starts again on its own when the market next opens — you do not need to switch anything back on.

The Risk Mgmt screen shows a clear note whenever monitoring is paused, so you always know when your limits are being watched and when they are not.

Turn risk management off for all your accounts

At the top of the Risk Mgmt screen there is a master switch for all your accounts. Turn it off to stop Risk Management everywhere at once — while it is off we do not monitor, alert, or square off any of your accounts. Turn it back on any time. This is a quick way to take back control if a number we show looks wrong to you. The screen always shows whether the switch is On or Off.

The safe way to start: alerts-only first, then automatic

Risk Management works out your account’s profit and loss from your broker’s position data — your overnight, buy and sell quantities and average prices — together with live prices. Live prices are reliable, but in rare cases they can pause, and the position data from your broker can sometimes be delayed or briefly wrong. Acting on a wrong value could square off a good position by mistake.

That is why the safe way to use Risk Management is in a few simple steps:

1. Start on alerts-only. This is the default. Set your limits and let the software email you when a limit is crossed. Nothing is placed for you.
2. Check the alerts for a few days. Each time you get an alert, compare our profit-and-loss figure with your broker terminal, and make sure the alert reaches you correctly.
3. Then turn on automatic square-off — only once you are confident the numbers and the alerts are correct for your accounts.

You can move any account back to alerts-only at any time, and the master switch lets you stop Risk Management for every account at once if a number ever looks wrong. That is why alerts-only is the default and automatic square-off is always your own choice to turn on, and your choice to turn off.

Good to know

• Risk Management works with your live accounts.
• Risk monitoring runs on trading days, Monday to Friday, and follows the markets your own positions trade in — including the late commodity evening session. It is paused on weekends and market holidays, and starts again automatically when the market reopens.
• Set your limits carefully, and start with small amounts.
• Start on alerts-only and verify. Run each account on alerts-only first, confirm the alerts match your broker for a few days, and only then turn on automatic square-off. The profit and loss that drives your limits is worked out from your broker’s position data and live prices, which can occasionally be delayed or wrong.
• Alerts are sent by email — make sure your email address is up to date in your profile.
• Every risk email shows your profit target, your stop-loss and the profit-and-loss figure we compared against them, and lists all the positions in the account, with the profit-and-loss used for your limit highlighted.
• Automatic square-off is off unless you turn it on, and you agree to the terms before it is switched on.
• If you turn on automatic square-off, you get a heads-up email at about 80% of a limit and a report email after the square-off.
• You can turn Risk Management off for all your accounts at once with the master switch, and turn it back on any time.
• You can go back to alerts-only for any account at any time.

Have feedback on Risk Management? Tell us on our contact page — this feature is being shaped by user input.