Your default instance of MachineTrader™ is configured with two demo accounts, which allow you to see the functionality of the app, but will not allow you to enter trading instructions.
In order to trade with MachineTrader™ you will need to subscribe to a trading plan, and open an account with our partner broker-dealer, Alpaca. Alpaca is the first broker-dealer built to serve the needs of algorithmic traders, allowing commission-free trading on U.S. based securities, as well as low-cost trading on dozens of crypto currencies, through its API. Because Alpaca is an API-first brokerage platform, you will find it of limited value unless you are capable of working with their API and writing code. That is where MachineTrader™ comes in! We designed all of the functionality you will need to manage your trading and investments in a low-code/no-code platform.
Alpaca has a few limitations. Currently, it only accepts accounts for individuals residing in the U.S. It allows buying and selling of fractional shares for 10,000+ equities, and approximately 30 popular cryptos. Trading hours for equities are from 4 AM to 8 PM (EST), Monday - Friday. Trading of cryptos is 24x7 in the 49 states where it is permitted (sorry, New York State). Options and futures trading are currently not offered by Alpaca.
Once your Alpaca account is approved, you will have access to both a "paper" and a "live" trading account. As the name implies, a live account trades with real money. Paper accounts allow you to test trading ideas.
To activate trading in your MachineTrader™ instance, follow the instructions in the next article.
To confirm that your account is active, navigate to your client instance home page, which should show the current balance that you deposited into your Alpaca account.
While you will be able to manage all of your reporting within MachineTrader™, you will need to refer to Alpaca's Account Overview page to receive monthly financial and trading statements, as well as tax documents since Alpaca is your registered broker dealer.