Set Up
Nautilus is built to be as simple as possible, but here are some helpful steps to get you started
1.
Nautilus works with an Interactive Brokers Account. Make sure you have one set-up and money is deposited.
2.
Make sure your money is converted to USD. You can easily do this by logging into Interactive Brokers portal through your browser or through the IBKR mobile app. See the Converting Funds section for more instructions.
3.
Download either Interactive Brokers TWS (Trader Work Station) or IB Gateway. This is how Nautilus connects to your account. Using IB Gateway is recommended.
TWS allows you to see the trades happening in your account, IB Gateway is simple and built for automated trading.
Once it’s downloaded, open your Interactive Brokers app and login. In your API settings, make sure ‘Read Only API’ is turned OFF, ‘Socket port’ is set to 4001 if Gateway or 7496 if TWS, and ‘Master API client ID’ is set to 0. If you’re using TWS, also make sure ‘Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients’ is turned ON.
Under the Precautions section, you may want to check off all bypass options to prevent IBKR from restricting Nautilus.
4.
Click ‘Apply’ and then ‘OK’ to save the settings.
Nautilus Set Up
1.
Once you’ve downloaded Nautilus, open it. If you use MacOS it might take a while to get started. You will need Administrator access for Nautilus to work correctly.
2.
Login to Nautilus using your Stockminds account. If you don’t have one, you can sign up by going to www.stockminds.world and clicking “Make an Account”. Logging into Nautilus will only work if you have been granted access.
3.
Under the ‘Settings’ tab, make sure that the correct platform is picked (TWS or Gateway), adjust any other settings and then click ‘Save Settings’. The status should update to ‘Settings Saved’. For the best results, make sure ‘Trading Mode’ is set to ‘Automated’.
The Nautilus stats will update automatically, but to ensure overall percentage returns are accurate, enter the starting balance in the ‘Other’ settings tab. This should be the amount that you are allowing Nautilus to manage.
4.
Before starting, initialize your account using the 'Initialize' button. This will verify that Nautilus connects properly and help you with choosing settings. Ensure you have the correct platform selected before initializing.
If you have multiple IBKR accounts connected to a master account or are using an advisor or fund account, ensure you enter your IBKR account ID in the Other settings.
5.
Once initiated, you should see the start and stop buttons as well as account values in the ‘Settings’ tab.
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The values at the top of your ‘General’ settings are the account values that Nautilus found during initialization (left 2 numbers) and the esimated values that Nautilus will use based on your settings (right 2 numbers).
6.
Adjust the settings to ensure Nautilus trades with the right amount of capital. By changing the ‘Total’ and ‘Per Trade’ values under ‘Allocation’, you will adjust the maximum amount that Nautilus will use at a time, and the maximum amount that Nautilus will use in a single trade
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Under the ‘Limits’ section, you can further adjust a specific risk value on each trade using ‘Loss/Trade’. This adjusts position sizes to ensure a consistent risk on trades. This is where you can also set daily limits on total loss taken and total individual trades which will both cause Nautilus to stop trading.
Regardless of the value that is set for Loss/Trade, Nautilus will not exceed the limit set for Per Trade allocation.
7.
On the ‘Trading’ tab, click ‘Start Trading’ to begin.
App and Settings
The Trading tab is where you can start and stop trading, see the results for the day, as well as any currently active trades or completed trades that happened.
The Stats tab shows info about how Nautilus has performed overall. Look at past trades and performance.
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By default, Nautilus is configured with the optimal settings, but on the Settings tab you can adjust how Nautilus will trade.
The main settings to focus on is how much of your account you want Nautilus to use and the maximum loss you’re willing to take in a day.
The Log tab will show you everything that Nautilus is doing when it is trading (in case you’re curious) and you can see if there are any errors that require attention.
Other Info
Manual Cancelling and Closing
If you are ever running Nautilus and want to stop it, you may want to ensure that any open orders or trades are closed correctly. You can do this by going to the ‘Other’ settings and turning on ‘Cancel and Close’.
Now if you go back to the ‘Trading’ tab, you will see a new orange ‘Close’ button. While Nautilus is trading, if you click this, it will cancel any open orders and close positions. Be sure that you wait for the confirmation message to ensure everything was cancelled correctly.
Re-Initialize, Reset Status, Test Read
While trading is stopped, you can use the three buttons in the ‘Other’ settings.
Re-Initialize: This will update the account values displayed at the top of ‘General’ settings in case there are changes such as deposits/withdrawls.
Reset Status: If Nautilus trading has completed for the day, this button will reset to allow you to begin trading again as though it is a new day.
Test Read: To ensure you have adjusted settings correctly, this will print messages of the first trade(s) Nautilus plans to make in the ‘Log’.
Updating Nautilus
If Nautilus requires an update, it will tell you. You can see what version you are currently running in the top left of the Nautilus window.
Important Notes
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For best results, refrain from trading manually while Nautilus is running. Nautilus is designed to continue where it left off, so you can stop trading and then start again if you need to.
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Do not modify or cancel orders sent by Nautilus.
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For Nautilus to function correctly, your computer cannot be locked or in sleep mode. Make sure your settings are set to prevent this.
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If you are ever confused about what something means, you can hover over the text and a description will pop-up. Nautilus will require you to enter your login details once a week for security. You will get a message/alert if you need to login again. You can see how much time you have left before you need to login again on the ‘Account’ tab.
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Once you start trading, you can leave Nautilus running 24/7 and it will work as long as it can connect to Interactive Brokers. Interactive Brokers will automatically restart every night and Nautilus should connect, but it is best to check that there aren’t any errors. If you notice it is not connecting, try stopping trading, closing Interactive Brokers and then open again and login.
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Interactive Brokers requires authentication at least once per week (usually Sunday morning). It will automatically log you off and you must login again, so make sure it is working before trading on Monday.
If you have any questions, notice issues, or have requests/suggestions, contact Alex directly.
Additional Guidance
MacOS Setup
If you downloaded Nautilus for MacOS and it won’t open, you will need to do a few extra steps.
1.
Make sure that Nautilus is on your desktop, and ensure your iCloud drive setting for desktop files is turned off. These intructions will not work if you skip this.
The Nautilus app on your desktop should be named Nautilus or Nautilus.app. If it is named anything else, then rename it.
2.
Open Terminal on your mac and type cd Desktop and press enter.
3.
Next type xattr -cr Nautilus.app and then press enter.
4.
Finally, type chmod -R 755 ~/Desktop/Nautilus.app and then press enter.
5.
You can now open the Nautilus app.
If you open Nautilus and no warning pop-ups appear, then it is working (even if it shows up on your dock and then disappears). It will take a minute or two for Nautilus to fully open on mac so be patient. DO NOT try to open it multiple times. This will open Nautilus multiple times and can cause issues.
Converting to USD
Although Nautilus is quite good at converting to USD when it needs to, it is recommended you do this before starting. Here is how you can do it.
1.
Login to the IBKR Dashboard on your browser. Click on ‘Trade’ in the top menu, and then click ‘Convert Currency’.
2.
On the left, select the currency you have, and then select USD as the currency you want.
3.
Enter the amount that you want to convert, and click ‘Submit’. You won’t be able to convert the entire amount, so choose a value that is at least slightly less than the amount available.
Errors and Fixes
For almost all errors, Nautilus will tell you if something is wrong, but in case there are still issues, here are some fixes that can help.
Closing Randomly or Not Opening
If Nautilus didn’t close properly, then it might still be running in the background. To fix this, you can restart your computer, or follow these steps.
1.
Open Task Manager on windows or Activity Monitor if you are using mac.
2.
Scroll through the processes and end any Nautilus ones that are running. To do this on windows, click on the Nautilus process and then click ‘End Task’ in the top right. On mac, click the process and then click the close icon at the top.
