Live Trading¶

Guide for transitioning from paper trading to live trading with proper risk management.

Paper Trading¶

Paper trading simulates live trading with fake money. Always start here.

Start Paper Trading¶

stratevo paper --strategy momentum --ticker BTCUSDT --exchange binance --capital 10000

How It Works¶

Strategy generates signals from real-time data
Paper trader simulates order execution with realistic fills
Portfolio tracker records all trades, P&L, and risk metrics
No real money is at risk

Paper Trading Checklist¶

Before going live, verify:

[ ] Paper traded for at least 2 weeks
[ ] Strategy performs within expected parameters
[ ] Max drawdown stayed within tolerance
[ ] Slippage estimates match real order book depth
[ ] No unexpected errors or crashes
[ ] Webhooks/alerts are working correctly

Going Live¶

Step 1: Configure Exchange API Keys¶

# Example: Binance
export BINANCE_API_KEY="your_key"
export BINANCE_API_SECRET="your_secret"

# Example: Alpaca (US stocks)
export ALPACA_API_KEY="your_key"
export ALPACA_SECRET_KEY="your_secret"
export ALPACA_BASE_URL="https://api.alpaca.markets"  # live endpoint

API Key Security

Never commit API keys to git
Use environment variables or a .env file (gitignored)
Enable IP whitelisting on your exchange
Use sub-accounts with limited permissions (trade-only, no withdraw)

Step 2: Set Risk Limits¶

Configure risk management before any live trade:

from stratevo.risk.manager import RiskManager

risk = RiskManager(
    max_position_pct=0.10,       # Max 10% per position
    max_total_exposure=0.60,     # Max 60% invested
    max_daily_loss_pct=0.03,     # Stop trading after 3% daily loss
    max_drawdown_pct=0.15,       # Halt at 15% drawdown
    kelly_fraction=0.25,         # Quarter-Kelly for safety
)

Step 3: Start with Small Size¶

Start at 10-25% of your intended allocation. Scale up over weeks as you gain confidence.

Step 4: Enable Alerts¶

Set up webhook notifications:

from stratevo.notifications import setup_webhooks

setup_webhooks(
    slack_url="https://hooks.slack.com/services/...",
    discord_url="https://discord.com/api/webhooks/...",
    teams_url="https://outlook.office.com/webhook/...",
)

Risk Management¶

Position Sizing Methods¶

Method	Description	Best For
Kelly Criterion	Optimal bet sizing based on edge	Experienced traders
Risk Parity	Weight by inverse volatility	Diversified portfolios
Equal Weight	Same $ amount per position	Beginners
Volatility Target	Target a specific portfolio vol	Institutional

Stop-Loss Types¶

Type	Description
Fixed	Exit at X% loss from entry
Trailing	Exit at X% from highest price since entry
ATR-based	Exit at N × ATR from entry (adapts to volatility)
Time-based	Exit after N days regardless of P&L

Value-at-Risk (VaR)¶

from stratevo.risk.var import calculate_var

var_95 = calculate_var(returns, confidence=0.95, method="historical")
print(f"95% VaR: {var_95:.2%}")  # Max daily loss with 95% confidence

Risk Dashboard¶

Launch the real-time HTML risk dashboard:

python -m stratevo.dashboard.risk_dashboard --port 3000

Displays: - Live P&L and portfolio value - Position exposure by asset and sector - Drawdown chart - VaR and Kelly metrics - Active alerts

Common Live Trading Rules¶

Never risk more than 2% of capital on a single trade
Set a daily loss limit — walk away after hitting it
Diversify across uncorrelated assets and strategies
Monitor latency — delayed signals = bad fills
Have a kill switch — be able to flatten all positions instantly
Log everything — use the trade journal for post-trade analysis

Trade Journal¶

from stratevo.journal.tracker import TradeJournal

journal = TradeJournal()
journal.log_trade(
    symbol="BTCUSDT",
    side="buy",
    price=65000,
    quantity=0.1,
    strategy="momentum",
    notes="Golden cross confirmed by AI debate",
)
journal.export("trades_march_2026.csv")