Entry Execution
When you run a template, VolNinja works the combo into the market, re-pricing and retrying until it fills or gives up. How it does that is set by one choice on the template: its Entry execution algo.
The picker sits in the template editor between the legs and the rules, because that's the order the trade happens in — pick the legs, choose how to get filled, then say how to manage what results. It shows the algo in force with its description, and Manage algos opens the library.
Choosing an entry algo
Three built-in algos cover the usual cases:
- Walk to marketable — starts at the mid and steps toward the market every couple of seconds for up to five minutes. The balanced default: it gets filled without immediately paying the spread.
- Patient — rests at the mid and never chases. The best price on offer, and it often won't fill.
- Marketable — places at a price that can trade right away and holds there. Use it when being in the trade matters more than a few cents.
All three re-pick the strikes on each attempt, so a template selecting by delta keeps hitting its target delta while the order works. The full field-by-field reference, and how to save an algo of your own, are in Execution algos.
Tip
Entry algos are worth tuning once you've watched a few fills, not before. If your entries fill instantly at a worse price than you expected, try Patient; if they miss the move entirely, try Marketable. Rehearse either in Paper.
What it applies to
The entry algo governs the order that opens the position. How that position is later closed is a separate choice, made on each rule that closes it or on the close you click yourself — see Execution algos and Automating exits.
Related
- Execution algos — every setting an algo has, the built-ins, and saving your own.
- Template legs — the strikes the entry order is built from.
- Management rules — what happens to the position once it's open.