Automated Trading with IntelliTrade

Why Automate Your Trading?

Even the most disciplined traders struggle with the psychological pressures of real-time trading: fear of missing out, reluctance to cut losses, and the temptation to override their own rules. Automated trading removes these emotional pitfalls by executing a predefined strategy with machine precision.

The goals of automated trading are simple:

• Consistency — Execute the same strategy the same way every time, regardless of mood or market anxiety
• Speed — React to market conditions in milliseconds, not minutes
• Discipline — Enforce risk rules without exception — the system cannot "cheat" on stop losses or position limits
• Scalability — Monitor multiple strategies and conditions simultaneously, something no human can do effectively
• Passive income — Generate returns while you sleep, travel, or focus on other things

How the System Works

IntelliTrade's automated trading runs as a continuous loop during market hours. Here is the high-level flow:

Market Opens (9:30 AM ET)
  ↓
Agent Scheduler activates trading agents
  ↓
Every 5 minutes: Scan for trade opportunities
  ↓  Fetch live GEX data, VIX, SPX price
  ↓  Run quality gates (VIX, ATR, consolidation, momentum)
  ↓  Generate trade ideas matching current conditions
  ↓  Execute qualifying trades via broker API
  ↓
Every 30 seconds: Monitor open positions
  ↓  Check breakeven breaches, GEX flips
  ↓  Update trailing stop high-water marks
  ↓  Apply time-based profit targets
  ↓
3:45 PM: Begin end-of-day position management
  ↓
4:00 PM: Market close, final reconciliation
  ↓
4:15 PM: Sweep expired 0DTE positions, generate daily summary
                

Key Components

• Option data feed — Real-time options chain data from Tradier, with CBOE for GEX calculations
• Trade generation engine — Scans market conditions and generates trade ideas based on GEX regime, price levels, and volatility
• Broker integration — Connects to Tradier API for options, IBKR for futures — built as a plug-in architecture for flexibility
• Position monitor — Tracks every open position with real-time P&L from live option mid-prices
• Database tracking — Every trade idea, execution, and outcome is recorded for analysis and backtesting

Trading Agents

IntelliTrade uses specialized trading agents — each configured for a specific trading style, window, and strategy set.

How Agents Prevent Conflicts

Each agent has its own scope and limits:

• Daily trade limits are per-agent — the 0DTE agent's 5-trade limit doesn't affect IntelliAgent
• Duplicate prevention is agent-scoped — agents don't block each other's trades
• A global ceiling caps total daily trades across all agents
• Trade limits are database-backed — they survive server restarts

Strategy Selection

The system selects strategies in phases based on the time of day and market conditions:

Morning Phase (10:15 AM – 11:30 AM)

Focus on directional spreads. The market establishes its tone in the morning, and GEX regime data helps determine direction:

• Positive GEX → Bullish bias → Put Spread
• Negative GEX → Bearish bias → Call Spread

Midday Phase (11:30 AM – 1:30 PM)

The market often settles into a range during midday. The system looks for:

1. Breakout detection — If SPX has broken through a major GEX wall, skip range-bound strategies
2. Iron Fly — If price is pinning near the GEX PIN level
3. Iron Condor — If price is range-bound between the Put Wall and Call Wall

Reversal Phase (1:30 PM – 2:15 PM)

Late-day reversals are common. The system re-evaluates directional trades with fresh GEX data and tighter risk parameters.

Quality Gates

Before any trade is executed, it must pass through a series of quality gates — market condition checks that filter out trades with unfavorable risk profiles.

Gate	What It Checks	Action
VIX Level	Current VIX (fear index) level	VIX >30: skip ALL trades. VIX >25: skip Iron Condors. VIX >20: skip Iron Fly.
ATR (Volatility)	Average True Range as a % of price	ATR% >0.20: skip Iron Fly. ATR% >0.35: skip Iron Condor.
Consolidation	30-minute price range	Range must be ≤15 points for Iron Fly (ensures pinning behavior)
Momentum	Consecutive same-direction candles	3+ trending candles: skip Iron Fly (market is trending, not pinning)
PIN Proximity	Distance from GEX PIN level	≤5pts: need 65% prob. 5-10pts: 75%. 10-15pts: 85%. >15pts: SKIP
GEX Regime	Positive/Negative/Neutral GEX	Directional spreads must align with regime direction
Min ROR	Return on Risk ratio	Trade must offer at least 30% return on risk to qualify

Each gate check is logged to a gate log database table, providing full transparency into why trades were taken or skipped. You can view gate activity in the Performance Analytics dashboard.

Exit Management

Getting into a trade is only half the battle. The Dynamic Exit Manager monitors every open position every 30 seconds and applies a priority-ordered set of exit rules:

Exit Rules (Priority Order)

1. Breakeven Breach

   If SPX moves past the breakeven of your spread by more than 3 points, the position is closed immediately via market order. This catches fast moves that threaten the position.

2. GEX Flip

   If the GEX regime flips (positive to negative) while you hold an Iron Fly, Iron Condor, or misaligned directional spread, the position is closed. Checked every 5 minutes.

3. Trailing Hard Stop

   Once profit reaches 20% of entry credit, a trailing stop activates. If profit drops to the greater of 10% or (high-water mark − 8%), the position is closed. This locks in meaningful gains.

4. Trailing Soft Stop

   Once profit reaches 12%, a softer trailing stop activates. If profit drops to the greater of 5% or (high-water mark − 12%), the position is closed. Catches smaller gains on the way up.

5. Loss Cut (Time-Scaled)

   Maximum loss tolerance decreases as the day progresses: -25% before 1 PM, -20% from 1-2:30 PM, -15% after 2:30 PM. Earlier exits allow less time for recovery.

6. Late Day

   After 3:30 PM, any position losing more than 10% is closed. At this point, there isn't enough time for recovery, and approaching expiration increases risk.

Risk Controls

Multiple layers of protection prevent catastrophic losses:

Position-Level Controls

• Minimum 30% Return on Risk — Every trade must offer favorable risk-reward before entry
• Defined-risk spreads — Maximum loss is always known upfront (wing width minus credit received)
• Dynamic wing widths — Spread width adjusts based on ATR and VIX (15/20/25 points)

Agent-Level Controls

• Daily trade limit — Maximum 5 trades per agent per day
• Duplicate prevention — Cannot enter the same strategy type within the minimum interval
• Trading window — Agents only operate during their designated hours

System-Level Controls

• Global daily limit — Caps total trades across all agents
• Daily loss limit (futures) — Automatically stops all futures trading when threshold is reached
• Kill switch (futures) — Instantly flattens all positions and blocks new orders
• Simulation mode — Paper trade with full system functionality before going live