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To keep track of longs and shorts ?? Bid or Ask
https://www.stevehopwoodforex.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=454
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Author:  forex5x [ Tue Mar 27, 2012 11:19 pm ]
Post subject:  To keep track of longs and shorts ?? Bid or Ask

To keep track of Longs and Shorts it seems that Empty4 uses:

Longs = Bid
Shorts = Ask

am I interpreting this correctly?

Looking at the current Price column in the trade window
longs are at 1.33242 while
shorts are at 1.33254

The shorts are at the higher price (Ask?) while the longs are at the lower price (Bid?).

Is there a rule of thumb or logic when working separately with longs and shorts when coding?
Author:  garyfritz [ Wed Mar 28, 2012 4:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: To keep track of longs and shorts ?? Bid or Ask

The rule of thumb is: you will always pay/receive the worst price.

Bid is lower, ask is higher. Therefore when you buy you pay the higher price (ask), and when you sell you will receive the lower price (bid).

The bid is what somebody is willing to pay, as if they were bidding at an auction. They'll pay you that price if you're selling at that price.

The ask is what someone is asking you to pay, as if they were posting an advert in the paper. You pay that price if you want to buy.

Of course you can dicker, using a limit price to say "I'll pay this price and no higher" or "I'll only sell for this price or better." But then you have to wait for the bid or ask to come to your price. You still buy at the ask and sell at the bid.
Author:  Bruce Flea [ Wed Mar 28, 2012 11:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: To keep track of longs and shorts ?? Bid or Ask

forex5x wrote:To keep track of Longs and Shorts it seems that Empty4 uses:

Longs = Bid
Shorts = Ask

am I interpreting this correctly?

Looking at the current Price column in the trade window
longs are at 1.33242 while
shorts are at 1.33254

The shorts are at the higher price (Ask?) while the longs are at the lower price (Bid?).

Is there a rule of thumb or logic when working separately with longs and shorts when coding?
Yes. Longs=Bid, and shorts= Ask.

And there are a couple things to consider about that when coding. Since MetaTrade is a "Bid" chart, (meaning price movement is constructed solely of the bid price), when going short, you need to have your stop a bit higher, to allow for a bit more headroom so the "ask" doesn't hit your stop prematurely.

Also, some brokers have "fixed spreads", and others float a bit. A 2.0 pip nominal spread on the euro may go considerably higher than that prior to news announcements, or during low liguidity. Check and see what your broker of choice does, and allow for that as in coding your stops as well.\

Edit;

lmao First time I've typed in the word b r o k e r. I looked at my post and wondered what the hell... I know I've been up for two days straight, but I don't remember typing in criminal!

Awesome:D
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