There is no incorrect way to use the orders, if you set a limit buy above the market price, then bitcoinica says to itsself 'oh shit guys we're already below that price... execute now'. if you set a stop buy (weather or not you have a position open) below the market price then bitcoinica says to itsself 'oh shit we're already above that price... execute now'.
I think there may be a fundamental misunderstanding of how the orders work,
Basically:
Limit: makes you money by executing your order when the price reaches a point in the profit direction.
Stop: cuts your losses by executing your order when the price reaches a point in the loss direction.
trailing stop: cuts your losses by a set amount(of loss), rather then at a set price.
And any of these orders can be used to open, close, increase or partially close a position.
Profit directions: (a-duh)
| Profit Direction | Loss Direction |
Selling | Down | Up |
Buying | Up | Down |
If you insist on looking at this in terms of editing positions, you have to take into account that, as long as you have money in your pocket you have a position open... if you have 10 BTC then technically you're holding a 1:1 long position with a value of 10BTC. If you have 10 USD in your pocket then your holding a 1:1 short position with a value of 10 USD. By this logic, you are always editing a position rather than opening or closing.
So if you have 100 USD in your bitcoinica account then your 1:1 short right... so if the price is falling you can set a stop loss to buy bitcoins before your short position becomes less valuable. (this a stop order being used to open a new bitcoinica position)
I hope you can strain sense out of that, might be harder then getting juice from a stone, its a little convoluted.
As for the trailing stops, If thats the way their being executed, I would consider that 'wrong' because most people would head into a trailing stop thinking it works the way I described, and the text (that at least used to be found on Bitcoinica) to explain the functionality of the trailing stop was not contrary to that.
If the trailing stop is to be used at all then the way it executes will have to be outlined on the site.
Although it does just sound like a programming error, having the stop price change with every price change rather than just the overall price change, I cant see a time when an order executing like that would be beneficial. I reckon this should be fixed.
Im testing a position too: Trailing stop buy at $50
