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Date/Time: Thu, 25 Apr 2024 18:48:14 +0000



Post From: Changes to Interactive Brokers Position Reporting Symbols and Symbol Matching

[2020-01-01 18:58:54]
Sierra Chart Engineering - Posts: 104368
Interactive Brokers has complex symbology to represent an instrument. There is not one set text string for a symbol/instrument that can be looked up, and used universally within TWS and Sierra Chart or other applications using the TWS API. This is a major design flaw with Interactive Brokers.

This is further complicated by the fact that when a symbol is specified for trading or market data, that the symbol specification does not have to be complete and a match will still occur so long as Interactive Brokers does not see an ambiguity.

This creates a problem where when a position is reported for a particular symbol, that the symbol Sierra Chart creates from all of the different sub symbol components of a security definition data with that Position, may not match the symbol of the chart being traded from. This is especially a problem for stock symbols.

We have used a technique in the past, where we therefore just compare the first symbol subpart starting from the left, to match up Position symbols to the symbol in a chart.

This has always been regarded as of hack, and has complicated code in other areas of Sierra Chart and also is a problem when you have the same symbol being traded on different exchanges and in different currencies. There can be mismatch problems in this case.

Effective with the latest revision of 2031, in Trade >> Trade Positions Window, a complete symbol is constructed from all of the sub symbol components of a security definition provided with Position updates from TWS. In the case of stocks this now also includes the currency. The currency part is very much required by TWS.

Therefore, a chart you are trading from must use the same symbol as the reported Position does in order to see the Position details, in the chart, which include the average price and quantity.

We know this can still be a problem when some symbols use what is called the primary exchange combined in with SMART. And we do not think in our experience Positions from TWS ever return SMART for the exchange.

Based on user feedback we will see if we can improve upon the format for Position symbols which can be matched up to a complete stock symbol used in the chart.

In cases where it is impossible to get a match between the symbol of the chart, and the symbol of the Position from TWS you will need to use the Order Fill Calculated Position in the chart:
Trading Information Windows: Using Order Fill Calculated Trade Positions

And then you can control the Chart >> Chart Settings >>Order Fills Start Date-Time which controls the first fill loaded in the Trades list for calculating the position. This gives you control over the calculation and the resulting Position Quantity.

The Order Fill Calculated Position may be useful when performing automated trading.

And alternatively, if you just cannot get the Position shown in the chart you are trading from accurately, just simply look at Trade >> Trade Positions Window for the position details.

The above information only applies to stocks. We do not expect any problem with the changes, for futures, Forex or CFD's. There definitely will not be any problem with futures or Forex. If there are any issues with CFD's, we should be able to help you resolve the problem.
Sierra Chart Support - Engineering Level

Your definitive source for support. Other responses are from users. Try to keep your questions brief and to the point. Be aware of support policy:
https://www.sierrachart.com/index.php?l=PostingInformation.php#GeneralInformation

For the most reliable, advanced, and zero cost futures order routing, *change* to the Teton service:
Sierra Chart Teton Futures Order Routing
Date Time Of Last Edit: 2020-01-03 16:31:11