Trading

Stratosfi supports paper trading — simulated trading with virtual money that lets you practice strategies without risking real capital. All trades execute against real market prices.

[screenshot: trading]

Paper Trading

Paper trading gives you a virtual account with $100,000 to trade with. Prices are real, but money is not.

Why Paper Trade?

• Learn without risk — practice buying and selling before using real money
• Test strategies — see how a trading approach performs over time
• Understand the platform — get comfortable with order types and portfolio tracking

Placing a Trade

1. Open any stock's chart or quote page.
2. Click the Trade button.
3. Choose Buy or Sell.
4. Enter the number of shares.
5. Select the order type:
   • Market — executes immediately at the current price
   • Limit — executes only at your specified price or better
6. Review the order summary (total cost, fees if any).
7. Click Submit Order.

[screenshot: trade-dialog]

Order Types

Type	How It Works	Best For
Market	Executes at current price immediately	When you want to get in or out quickly
Limit	Executes only at your price or better	When you want a specific entry/exit price

Portfolio

The Portfolio tab shows all your positions:

• Symbol — the stock you own
• Shares — number of shares held
• Avg Cost — your average purchase price
• Current Price — live market price
• P&L — profit or loss (dollar and percentage)
• Total Value — current market value of the position

[screenshot: portfolio]

Portfolio Summary

At the top of the portfolio, you see:

• Total Value — sum of all positions plus cash
• Cash — available buying power
• Day P&L — profit/loss for today
• Total P&L — overall profit/loss since inception

Risk Metrics

Stratosfi tracks risk metrics for your portfolio:

• Concentration — what percentage of your portfolio is in each stock
• Sector Exposure — how much of your portfolio is in each sector
• Beta — how sensitive your portfolio is to market movements
• Diversification Score — a measure of how well diversified you are

Trade Approval (Organizations)

In organization accounts, trade approval policies can require manager review before a trade executes:

1. Trader submits an order.
2. The order enters a Pending Approval state.
3. An admin or owner reviews and approves or rejects.
4. If approved, the trade executes. If rejected, the trader is notified.

Approval policies are configurable — for example, you can require approval only for trades over $10,000 or only for certain symbols.

Why Use This

Paper trading lets you test strategies, learn order mechanics, and build confidence without putting real money at risk. Every professional trader started by practicing, and Stratosfi's paper trading uses real market prices so your results are meaningful. Track your performance over weeks or months to see if a strategy actually works before committing capital. It is also the best way to learn the platform itself — how orders work, how P&L is calculated, and how portfolio metrics change with each trade.

How to Get Started

1. Open any stock — search for a stock like AAPL or TSLA and open its chart or quote page.
2. Place your first trade — click the Trade button, select Buy, enter a small number of shares (e.g., 10), choose Market order, and click Submit Order. You now own your first paper position.
3. Check your portfolio — go to the Portfolio tab to see your position, average cost, and live P&L. Watch how it changes as the market moves throughout the day.

Pro Tips

• Start small and scale up: Begin with positions of 10-50 shares to learn how P&L behaves. Once you are comfortable, scale up to test realistic position sizing with your $100,000 virtual account.
• Use limit orders for better entries: Market orders fill immediately but at whatever price is available. Set a limit order 1-2% below the current price and wait. This discipline trains you to buy at your price, not the market's.
• Track your win rate and average P&L: After 20+ trades, review your history. What percentage were profitable? What was your average gain vs. average loss? A strategy that wins 60% of the time with 2:1 reward-to-risk is solid. One that wins 80% but loses big on the 20% is dangerous.
• Paper trade for at least 30 days: Do not rush to real money. A month of paper trading captures different market conditions — trending days, choppy days, news-driven volatility. If your strategy works across these conditions, it has real potential.
• Use risk metrics to stay balanced: Check your Sector Exposure and Concentration metrics weekly. If more than 30% of your portfolio is in one stock or 50% in one sector, you are taking more risk than you might realize.

Common Patterns

"First trade walkthrough"

You want to buy NVDA because you believe in the AI growth story. Open NVDA's chart and check the current price ($850). Click Trade > Buy, enter 10 shares, select Market Order, and submit. Cost: approximately $8,500. Go to your Portfolio tab — you now see NVDA with 10 shares, an average cost of $850, and live P&L updating. Your cash dropped from $100,000 to about $91,500. Over the next few days, watch how your P&L changes and how it affects your total portfolio value.

"Limit order strategy"

AMZN is at $185 but you think it will dip to $180 before continuing higher. Click Trade > Buy, enter 25 shares, select Limit Order, and set the price to $180.00. Submit the order. It enters a Pending state. If AMZN drops to $180 during market hours, your order fills automatically at $180 or better. If it never reaches $180, the order stays open until you cancel it. This approach gets you better prices at the cost of sometimes missing the trade entirely.

"Portfolio rebalancing"

After a month of trading, your portfolio is 40% NVDA, 25% AAPL, 20% MSFT, and 15% GOOGL. NVDA has grown from 25% to 40% of your portfolio because it rallied. Check your Risk Metrics — your concentration score is high and sector exposure is 100% tech. To rebalance, sell some NVDA shares (bring it to 25%) and use the proceeds to buy a non-tech stock like JPM or UNH. This reduces your risk without abandoning your winning position.

Related Features

• Charts & Indicators — analyze the technical picture before placing any trade
• Options Chain — once comfortable with stock trading, explore options strategies for leverage and hedging
• AI Analysis — ask the AI to evaluate a trade idea before you execute: "Should I buy NVDA at current levels?"
• Stock Screener — find new trade candidates that match your strategy's criteria

Connecting a Real Broker

Stratosfi supports connecting to real brokerage accounts for live trading. Currently supported brokers:

Alpaca

Alpaca provides commission-free trading via API. To connect:

1. Create an account at alpaca.markets
2. Go to Paper Trading or Live Trading in your Alpaca dashboard
3. Navigate to API Keys and generate a new key pair
4. Copy your API Key ID and Secret Key
5. In Stratosfi, go to Settings → Brokers → Alpaca
6. Paste your API Key and Secret Key
7. Toggle Paper Trading on/off depending on your account type

Paper trading uses simulated money. Switch to live trading only when you're ready to trade with real funds.

Charles Schwab

Schwab integration requires a developer account. Setup:

1. Visit developer.schwab.com and register
2. Create a new application to get your App Key and App Secret
3. Set the callback URL to match your Stratosfi instance
4. In Stratosfi, go to Settings → Brokers → Charles Schwab
5. Enter your App Key, App Secret, and Callback URL

Schwab integration is in beta. Contact support if you encounter issues.

Interactive Brokers (IBKR)

IBKR connects via the TWS (Trader Workstation) or IB Gateway API:

1. Download and install TWS or IB Gateway
2. In TWS, go to Edit → Global Configuration → API → Settings
3. Enable Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients
4. Note the Socket port (default: 7496 for TWS, 4001 for Gateway)
5. In Stratosfi, go to Settings → Brokers → Interactive Brokers
6. Enter the TWS Host (usually 127.0.0.1), Port, and Client ID

TWS or IB Gateway must be running for the connection to work. Keep it open while trading.