As a new author my strategy has now posted its third signal since 9/30/13. On a going forward basis, WealthSignals will presumably show three open positions at the EOD tomorrow (10/3/13), as it currently shows two open positions with the third signal being generated after market hours today. But, since I am forced to use portfolio simulation rather than raw profit mode to upload the results my strategy “thinks” it has not executed any of the positions WealthSignals shows as open. The strategy did issue entry signals for the positions WealthSignals shows as open, but the strategy “thinks” it did/does not have sufficient capital to execute those entry signals given the 18 month lead-in period prior to the going forward start date of 9/30/13. Now what happens? The strategy will never close the current open positions shown in WealthSignals because it doesn’t think they exist.

It is just for the purpose of handling such discrepancies, we added a new feature to the WealthSignals Publisher v2013.05:

WealthSignals Publisher > Orphaned positions

Should your strategy have stale exit order(s) not backed by WealthSignals position(s) and/or WealthSignals position(s) not backed by open position(s) in Wealth-Lab for a given symbol, you will get a red orphaned positions warning on the WSP status strip. Try to click on it and let it do its job.

If you don't need to use Portfolio Simulation sizing modes, you can definitely switch to Raw Profit mode and upload signals that way with the WealthSignals Publisher.

On the other hand, if Portfolio Simulation sizing is important for employing a sizing methodology, then you can sync your strategy with WealthSignals from the beginning by starting the trading loop on the bar that represents the day you published your system. For example if you published your system after the session close yesterday, but before the market open today you can make this simple modification to your code:

CODE:
Please log in to see this code.

This prevents any historical trading, and you'll be starting fresh with the suggested Starting Capital amount.

I do not get an orphaned position warning because I do have open positions on WS because the system generated and posted three entry signals. They will just never be closed because the strategy doesn't think they were ever opened due to lack of capital.

Another complication - the strategy is a Combination which as I see it does not allow me to use RP mode. If that is true, then I assume I would need to add the suggested code to each of the components in the Combination. Correct?

By starting with "new" capital on the date I initially posted the system (9/30/13) I can see that entry signals generated after I add the code (10/3/13) will be executed by the system, but will it also retroactively enter positions (back to 9/30/13)? It seems I am still stuck with the current three open positions. If I close those manually on WS the WS results will differ from the system results. Any suggestions?

It's all about synchronization.

1. add the "synchronization" code to both strategies. Use the date you posted the system.
2. for data, use the Date Range option. The starting date should remain fixed and far enough in the past to make sure your indicators are valid and stable. (Put the ending date far in the future.)

If you do this, the Strategy (like WealthSignals) will be aware of only the signals that were generated since the close of the 9/30/2013 session. There will necessarily be enough cash for those positions because they're the only ones the backtest is aware of.

Aside:
You'll have to watch the synchronization more closely for a Combination Strategy due to allocations. For example, say you allocate 50% of the starting capital to each of 2 strategies. Further, say Child Strategy 1 has used up all its allocation, but Child Strategy 2 has used none. Child Strategy 1 will still continue to generate alerts, but the Combo logic won't allow it to enter more positions due to allocation. If you're not careful, you'll enter over-allocated alerts/signals into WealthSignals, and you'll get out of sync.

However, if your Combo strategy is to "over-allocate" (100% equity for all child strategies, for example), you'll be able to take all alerts up to your buying limits. It depends on your setup.

Finally, for high-exposure market-order strategies, make sure that you're using position priority. You should only be enter market-order signals up to the amount that you can actually purchase, highest priority signals first.

Note: None of this is specific to WealthSignals. It's precisely what you'd need to do when system trading a live account.

Thanks. I will try to implement tonight.

QUOTE:

you can sync your strategy with WealthSignals from the beginning by starting the trading loop on the bar that represents the day you published your system....

CODE:
Please log in to see this code.

This prevents any historical trading, and you'll be starting fresh with the suggested Starting Capital amount.

This is a fantastic suggestion. I only wish it was included in the tutorial section of the Wealth-Lab User's Guide entitled "Quick Start". When I first started trading with Wealth-Lab, I couldn't figure out how to properly start my simulation in a Fidelity account with zero stocks. I wish I found this solution several weeks earlier (in the Quick Start section).