Understanding the strategy.opentrades.capital_held Function in Pine Script

In this article, we’ll delve into the strategy.opentrades.capital_held function, a powerful tool for managing and analyzing trades within a trading strategy.

Introduction to strategy.opentrades.capital_held

The strategy.opentrades.capital_held function in Pine Script is designed to return the total capital amount currently held in open trades. This is a series float type, meaning it provides a floating-point number that changes over time (each bar on the chart) representing the capital tied in open positions.

Basic Syntax and Usage

Before diving into an example, let’s clarify the function’s basic syntax and its role in trading strategies:

• Type: Series float.
• Purpose: To return the capital amount tied up in open trades within a strategy.

Example

Let’s explore an example that demonstrates how to use the strategy.opentrades.capital_held function in a trading strategy.

//@version=5
strategy(
   "Capital Held in Open Trades Example", overlay=false, margin_long=50, margin_short=50, 
   default_qty_type = strategy.percent_of_equity, default_qty_value = 100
 )

if barstate.isfirst
    strategy.entry("EnterShort", strategy.short)

plot(strategy.opentrades.capital_held, "Capital Held")
bgcolor(bar_index > 0 and strategy.opentrades.capital_held == 0 ? color.new(color.red, 60) : na)

Walkthrough

• Strategy Declaration: The strategy is defined with a name, overlay setting, margins for long and short positions, and default quantity type and value. This setup ensures the strategy trades with a portion of the account’s equity, crucial for strategy.opentrades.capital_held to return meaningful data.
• Entering a Short Position: On the first bar of the chart, the script enters a short position. This is where our strategy starts and opens a trade.
• Plotting Capital Held: The plot function displays the amount of capital held in the open short position as the strategy progresses.
• Background Color Highlight: The script uses bgcolor to change the chart’s background color if all positions are closed due to margin calls, indicated by strategy.opentrades.capital_held returning 0.

Key Features and Takeaways

• Function Useability: The strategy.opentrades.capital_held function is essential for strategies that allocate a portion of the account’s equity to open trades, providing real-time feedback on capital usage.
• Syntax: It returns a series float value representing the capital currently tied in open trades, crucial for managing and adjusting strategies based on capital allocation.
• Application: This function is particularly useful for strategies that need to monitor and manage the amount of capital allocated to open positions, enabling adjustments based on performance and risk management criteria.

Understanding and utilizing the strategy.opentrades.capital_held function can significantly enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of your trading strategies on TradingView. It provides valuable insights into how much capital is actively engaged in the markets, allowing for better decision-making and strategy optimization.