Why Does a New Put Trade Add to My Existing Position Instead of Opening a Separate One?

‍Understanding How TradersPost Manages Options Positions

When sending a trade signal to open a put position in TradersPost, traders may expect the system to create a new contract at a different strike price. However, by default, TradersPost adds to an existing position if the same options contract is already open.

For example:

• If a trader buys a put at the $22 strike and later sends a new order expecting to open a $24 strike put, the system will instead increase the position size of the existing $22 put contract.

This happens because TradersPost tracks positions based on the root underlying symbol, meaning that additional orders for the same symbol automatically increment the existing position unless otherwise specified.

How to Open a New Put Position at a Different Strike

TradersPost does support trading multiple strike prices, but the trader must specify the full options contract symbol in the JSON message. Instead of just sending an order for the underlying asset, the full symbol format must include:

• The ticker symbol (e.g., SPY)

• The expiration date

• The option type (P for put, C for call)

• The strike price

By explicitly defining the full contract symbol, TradersPost will treat each strike as a separate position instead of combining them.

Conclusion

By default, TradersPost increments existing options positions rather than opening new ones at different strikes. To trade multiple strike prices, traders must specify each contract’s full symbol in the trade request. This ensures that different strike prices are treated as separate positions rather than being merged into one.