Manually closing a position refers to an action made by traders via their broker's account, to eliminate/close positions opened by the platform.
**The below does not apply to FXCM traders. Click here to see how to manually close a position on FXCM.
Strategy orders operation
When operating without interruptions, the strategy will close (only) the position it has opened.
For example, if the entry strategy is "Buy 20 ETH/USD", closing this position (when the exit conditions are met) will sell 20 ETH/USD. This will take place regardless of other trades placed with this asset via the broker or by other strategies.
Strategy actions vs. Broker actions
Let's say, for example, that the strategy bought 20 ETH/USD and it is waiting for an exit. Selling 20 ETH/USD (manually) via the broker - will not close the position, since it is based on holdings and not actual positions.
That means that there are 2 open positions at that stage:
The first one has been created by the platform -buy 20 ETH/USD (long)
A second one opened manually - Sell 20 ETH/USD (short)
Looking at the strategy after sending the order via the broker, will show that the strategy is still running and waiting for an exit. This is a sign that the manual order hasn't affected the strategy since strategies are automatically stopped when externally interfered.
If, afterward, the exit conditions will be met the strategy will execute a sell order for 20 ETH/USD - to close the position it has opened. This isn't a short order sent by the platform, but a sell order for the assets it bought at the entry.
First, stop the strategy
In order to avoid misunderstandings and unwanted open positions - if you want to close a position that has been opened by the platform - stop the strategy first with preference.
If, for some reason, the strategy doesn't stop after you click on "stop", reach us on chat and we will force-stop it and further advise.
Read more about stopping a strategy and stopped strategies.