How Marketflows Works
Everything you need to know about automated trading with Marketflows
1. Connect
Link your Alpaca brokerage account with API keys. Your money stays in YOUR account.
2. Configure
Choose your risk profile and enable the bot. Start with Paper mode to test risk-free.
3. Automate
The bot analyzes markets 24/7 and executes trades automatically based on ML signals.
Understanding Your Dashboard
Portfolio Value
Your total account value from Alpaca, including:
- • Equity - Total value of cash + positions
- • P&L - Profit/Loss compared to starting capital
- • Return % - Percentage gain/loss
EXAMPLE
Started with $100,000 → Now worth $105,010
Bot Status & Controls
Toggle buttons:
Market Regime
The bot detects overall market conditions by comparing SPY (S&P 500 ETF) to its 200-day moving average:
SPY above SMA200
Bot trades more aggressively
SPY near SMA200
Bot trades cautiously
SPY below SMA200
Bot reduces exposure
Performance Metrics
Percentage of profitable trades
Gross profit / Gross loss
>1.0 = profitable
Completed round-trip trades
Open Positions
Stocks currently held in your portfolio. Each position shows real-time data with intelligent risk management:
| SYMBOL | PROFILE | QTY | ENTRY | NOW | STOP | P&L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VCLT | MOM | 1570 | $76.42 | $77.06 |
$76.61 (+1.04R)
Lock 30% → +$0.19 (+0.3%)
|
+$1,013 (0.8%) | Sell +$1013 |
| AMH | MOM | 3809 | $31.65 | $31.61 |
$30.46 (-0.04R)
Trail in 0.79R
|
-$171 (-0.1%) | Sell -$171 |
| RNA | MOM | 626 | $72.92 | $72.98 |
$72.58 (+0.18R)
Trail in 0.57R
|
+$39 (0.1%) | Sell +$39 |
Understanding the STOP column:
The stop price is color-coded: Red = floor (initial stop) | Gold = trailing (actively following price up)
- $76.61 (+1.04R) Trailing stop active — the stop follows the price upward and never moves down. The R-value shows how far in profit you are relative to your initial risk.
- $30.46 (-0.04R) Floor stop — waiting for the position to reach 0.75R profit to activate trailing. "Trail in 0.79R" shows how far until activation.
Tiered Profit Locks (30% / 50% / 70%)
As your position grows in profit, the trailing stop automatically locks in increasing percentages of your gains:
Example: "Lock 30% → +$0.19 (+0.3%)" means the stop guarantees at least $0.19/share profit even if the price reverses.
Manual Sell Button
Each position has a sell button showing the estimated P&L if you sell now. Green buttons show profit, red buttons show a loss. Click to instantly close the position at market price — useful when you're satisfied with a gain or want to cut a loss before the stop triggers.
Risk Profiles Explained
Conservative
Lower risk, steady growth
- • Smaller position sizes (1-2% per trade)
- • Tighter stop losses
- • Fewer trades, higher quality signals
- • Best for: Preservation of capital
Momentum
Balanced risk/reward
- • Medium position sizes (2-4% per trade)
- • Standard stop losses
- • Follows market trends
- • Best for: Most traders
Aggressive
Higher risk, higher potential
- • Larger position sizes (4-6% per trade)
- • Wider stop losses
- • More frequent trading
- • Best for: Risk-tolerant traders
Machine Learning Signals
Marketflows uses an ensemble of ML models that vote together to generate buy/sell signals:
Random Forest
Finds patterns in technical indicators
XGBoost
Gradient boosting for price prediction
LSTM Neural Net
Learns sequential price patterns
Ensemble Voting: A trade is only executed when multiple models agree, reducing false signals and improving accuracy.
Important Risk Disclaimer
Trading Involves Risk
Trading stocks and other financial instruments involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. You could lose some or all of your invested capital.
Your Money, Your Responsibility
Marketflows executes trades in YOUR brokerage account using YOUR funds. We do not hold, manage, or have access to your money. You are solely responsible for all trading decisions and their outcomes.
Automated Trading Risks
Automated trading systems can malfunction, experience connectivity issues, or make unexpected trades. Always monitor your account and be prepared to intervene manually if needed.
Legal Terms & Conditions
1. No Investment Advice
Marketflows and its operators do not provide investment advice, financial advice, trading advice, or any other sort of advice. The service is provided for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing contained herein constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments.
2. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Marketflows and its operators, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, and licensors shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including without limitation, loss of profits, data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses, resulting from:
- Your use or inability to use the service
- Any trades executed or not executed by the automated system
- Any losses incurred from trading activities
- Unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions or data
- System failures, bugs, or interruptions in service
3. Assumption of Risk
By using Marketflows, you acknowledge that you understand and accept the risks associated with trading financial instruments. You agree that you are using this service at your own risk and that you are solely responsible for any losses that may occur. You should only trade with money you can afford to lose.
4. No Guarantees
We make no guarantees regarding the performance, accuracy, or reliability of the trading signals generated by our system. Historical performance statistics are provided for informational purposes only and do not guarantee future results. Market conditions can change rapidly and past success does not ensure future profitability.
5. Third-Party Services
Marketflows integrates with third-party services such as Alpaca for trade execution. We are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, or reliability of these third-party services. Your use of third-party services is subject to their respective terms and conditions.
6. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Marketflows and its operators from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including without limitation reasonable legal and accounting fees, arising out of or in any way connected with your access to or use of the service, or your violation of these terms.
By using Marketflows, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these terms and conditions. If you do not agree to these terms, you should not use the service.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Paper Trading?
How do I get Alpaca API keys?
- Create a free account at alpaca.markets
- Go to your Dashboard → API Keys
- Generate a new API key pair
- Copy both the API Key and Secret Key
- Enter them in Marketflows's settings