P&L Alerts
P&L Alerts Overview
P&L Alerts serve as your automated trading assistant, monitoring your positions and sending notifications when they reach predetermined profit or loss thresholds. This essential tool helps you stay disciplined with your trading plan by alerting you to take action at the right moments, whether that's securing profits or cutting losses before they become problematic.
How P&L Alerts Work
Once you log a trade in Tiblio's Trade Journal, the system automatically begins monitoring the position's price movements during market hours. P&L Alerts track the current market value against your entry price and send notifications when the position reaches your predefined profit or loss targets.
Key Features:
- Price tracking every few minutes during market hours
- Percentage-based profit and loss calculations
- Maximum one notification per position per day to avoid spam
- Email delivery with position details and current P&L
Supported Position Types
Stock Positions
For long stock positions, alerts track the percentage gain or loss from your purchase price. Set profit targets to lock in gains and stop-loss levels to limit downside risk. These alerts help you maintain discipline with your stock trading strategy.
Short Option Positions
Short options alerts monitor the percentage of credit received. For example, if you sold an option for $1.00 and it's now trading at $0.50, that represents a 50% profit opportunity. Set alerts to capture profits before expiration or manage losses before they escalate.
Long Option Positions
For purchased options, alerts track percentage changes from your entry price. These alerts help you capture gains during favorable moves or limit losses from time decay and adverse price movements.
Spread Positions
Credit and debit spreads require logging each leg separately in the Trade Journal, with individual alerts configured for each component. This approach provides granular control over complex strategies while maintaining comprehensive monitoring coverage.
Setting Up P&L Alerts
Configuration Steps:
- Navigate to your Account Settings page
- Scroll to the P&L Alerts section
- Set profit and loss percentages for each position type
- Verify your email address for alert delivery
- Save your settings to activate monitoring
Recommended Alert Thresholds
While optimal settings depend on your strategy and risk tolerance, many successful traders use these general guidelines:
- Short Options: 50% profit, 200% loss
- Long Options: 100% profit, 50% loss
- Stock Positions: 20% profit, 10% loss
- Credit Spreads: 50% profit, 200% loss
Strategic Benefits
Trading Discipline
P&L Alerts serve as an objective voice in your trading, reminding you to stick to your original plan. When emotions run high during market volatility, these alerts provide the necessary nudge to take profits or cut losses according to your predetermined strategy.
Risk Management
By setting consistent loss thresholds across your positions, P&L Alerts help prevent small losses from becoming account-threatening disasters. The alerts encourage you to review positions objectively and make rational decisions based on current market conditions.
Profit Optimization
Profit alerts prevent you from being too greedy by highlighting opportunities to lock in gains. Rather than hoping for maximum profit at expiration, these alerts encourage you to secure reasonable returns and redeploy capital into new opportunities.
Best Practices
Apply the same alert thresholds consistently across similar positions to build reliable data about your strategy's performance. When you receive an alert, review the position promptly as markets can move quickly. Use P&L Alerts as part of a comprehensive trading plan rather than relying on them exclusively.
P&L Alerts transform reactive trading into proactive position management, helping you build consistency and discipline in your investment approach. By automating the monitoring process and providing timely notifications, these alerts ensure you never miss important profit-taking or risk management opportunities.