Can we trade NinjaTrader Web and the desktop version simultaneously?

[KingCandy]

As the title suggests, I am interested in knowing whether or not both the web and desktop version can be traded simultaneously. I am interested in entering long and short positions. I know that in general retail brokers prevent you from entering long/short positions simultaneously. Often times we are forced to take opposing positions on separate brokers. Given that the web version came from tradovate I am wondering if this is somehow now a possibility as they are separate trading platforms. Anyone have any insight? Thanks!

[NinjaTrader_Jason]

Hello KingCandy,

Unfortunately you can't be long and short at the same time. If you are in a long position for 1 contract with the NinjaTrader Brokerage and you submit a sell order for 1 contract, it will close the long position.

[QuantKey_Bruce]

KingCandy You should use two different accounts for this if you need the positions to be tracked completely separately on your broker statement for accounting/tracking reasons. If you just mean to effectively take the two positions at once, closing the long position is equivalent to going short if they are the same size. These types of retail accounts net your position and the broker side will require that any order be characterized as an entry or an exit.

[dniezby]

As the title suggests, I am interested in knowing whether or not both the web and desktop version can be traded simultaneously. I am interested in entering long and short positions. I know that in general retail brokers prevent you from entering long/short positions simultaneously. Often times we are forced to take opposing positions on separate brokers. Given that the web version came from tradovate I am wondering if this is somehow now a possibility as they are separate trading platforms. Anyone have any insight? Thanks!

Just out of curiosity, why would you even want to do that? Isn't that like playing roulette and placing a bet on Black and Red? It's a no-win situation. You're going to lose ONE of those bets 100% of the time.

[QuantKey_Bruce]

Typically when traders do this it is because the two trades (one long and one short) are over different time horizons. They could both be right. For instance, you could be in an intraday short position on top of a swing trading long position, and both trades, when considered separately, could exit with a profit. They net our during the overlap period if they are the same size, but they also don't have to be the same size. Often, it is desirable to do this for accounting reasons - in some instrument classes, for instance, there are tax or other advantages to holding onto a long-term position even if you want to trade the short side during a portion of that time. Two accounts make this easier to do without losing track of everything.

[QuantKey_Bruce]

A more advanced version of this involves connecting with two different brokers and arbitraging the lag between them if such a lag exists.