With my Dalio issues this past week, I had the opportunity to sit in on a few support calls. I did have reasons for being on the call, but there is nothing wrong with gathering some information while there.

Some key things I learned this week:

• If you do not put any MAX drawdown amounts on your account, OX (Other brokers may have different policies.) will start closing trades when your margin reaches 30%. (I am not about to test this one, but I heard/read it multiple times.)
• If your margin reaches 250%, you should turn off “Auto Trading”. Any trades the bot has entered into will sell if the auto-trading is turned off. (This is assuming a “T/P” has been set for each trade.)
• If the margin reaches 250% and trading is turned off, the existing trades may still go the wrong way. If it does, and according to what I read/heard, the broker won’t become a factor until the margin hits 30%.
• After the margin hits 250% and auto-trading is turned off, auto-trading can be turned back on when the margin reaches 400-500%.
• If additional funds are available, transferring them into the “low margin” account will provide immediate relief. However, if the bot is determined to lose money or if you have a MAX drawdown set up within the bot, this advice may not matter. Unfortunately, experience is a harsh but effective teacher.

No bot provider will tell you this directly. And, if you must know, I have never allowed my margin to get so low that I have had to implement these concepts. If a bot goes rabid, it is better to have a plan for what you will do. Scrambling in a panic is NEVER a good idea. And, trusting a guy who writes a blog on his successes and failures while algo investing might not be the best idea either. 😉