How to make multiple bracket orders on the same futures contract on TWS?

[learner88]

Bracket orders are great for day traders. Unfortunately, I am having some problems with it at the moment. I would like to make multiple bracket orders for the same futures contract on IBKR.

Suppose I have 4 ES contracts. I would like to have a bracket order for 2 ES contracts and another bracket order for the remaining ES contracts. I have no problem making the first bracket order. However, I encounter an error from TWS when I make the second bracket order. The error is "Account has outstanding open order in selected product".

The error looks like this;

 

[HobbyTrading]

Instead of creating a second bracket order, would it be possible to add another child-order to the already existing bracket order? Whether this is possible or not may depend on what you are actually trying to set up.

 

[Bad_Badness]

You have to set the amount manually. Otherwise the bracket order will default to the open position amount. This is possible with the hot keys.

One of the advantages of using a gamming keyboard is that you can create macros that run multiple hot keys in TWS. These macros add the extra layer of "programmability" above the hot keys that allow you to do this.

e.g:
HotKey1: Opens a position with 4 contracts.
Hotkey2: Closes 2 contracts with a bracket.

Keyboard Macro: Hotkey1, slight pause, and Hotkey2 and Hotkey2.

You need the pause to allow TWS time to process and receive the order status back from the exchange.