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Live Trading

In short

Real money trading with a connected broker account

Live trading uses your real money with a real broker. Unlike paper trading, every order affects your actual portfolio balance. Requires a connected broker account and compliance checks.

Live trading executes orders with real capital through a connected broker (via SnapTrade). Unlike paper trading, it requires sufficient buying power, compliance approvals, and broker connectivity. Execution quality depends on the broker's routing and liquidity.

Related concepts

  • Paper Trading — Paper trading lets you practice investing with imaginary money. All the real market data, all the real mechanics, but no real money at stake. Perfect for testing strategies before risking your actual savings.
  • Broker Integration — Broker integration connects your brokerage account to Strategy Investor, so you can track your positions here and, where your connection supports it, place orders.
  • Buying Power — Buying power is how much you can trade with right now. In a cash account, it's your available cash. In a margin account, it can be 2× your cash because the broker lends you money to buy more.
  • Order Status — After placing an order, it goes through stages: pending (just submitted), open (waiting to fill), partial (partly filled), filled (complete), or cancelled. You can monitor these in your order history.