Trade index alerts with options, not futures

• A Nyria account with a connected broker. SPX options trade at Charles Schwab, Tradier and tastytrade; SPY, QQQ and IWM options trade at all four, Alpaca included.
• An index alert from TradingView, TrendSpider, a Discord server you run or a Telegram group you run. The alert has to name the option underlying, not the futures contract.
• A view on size. One SPX contract is about ten SPY contracts; the Budget per entry decides which the bot can afford.

1. 1

   Pick the underlying

   SPX for the S&P 500 at Charles Schwab, Tradier or tastytrade; SPY if the account is at Alpaca or the size is smaller. QQQ stands in for the Nasdaq 100, IWM for the Russell 2000. The index itself is not an instrument Nyria orders; the option on it is.

2. 2

   Rewrite the alert for the option

   An alert that says ES or NQ is refused as a futures contract. Change the ticker in the alert message to SPX, SPY or QQQ and give it a side. The strike and expiry can stay out: the strategy's own rules pick them, an expiration 0 to 31 trading days out and a strike by delta or by distance from the price.

3. 3

   Create the strategy and pick the source

   Create a strategy that trades options, pick the alert source, and set the leg rules: a long call for a long alert, a long put for a short alert, or a vertical spread with up to 4 legs on one expiration. A short index alert becomes a long put, not a short future.

4. 4

   Check the format

   Paste a real alert, select Check format, then Check and save. Nyria shows the ticker and side it found, and the contract its rules would pick now. The strategy turns Active when every side passes.

5. 5

   Test on paper

   On the strategy, select Deploy bot. If the switch at the top says Live, select Paper. Set the Budget per entry, select Next, then Deploy on Nyria Paper. Let a week of index alerts fire and read each contract the rules picked on the bot's Logs tab.

6. 6

   Go live

   Deploy a second bot on the broker account with the same sizing. The exit alert closes the contract the entry opened, and a spread closes as one order.

• Reads the ticker first. ES1!, ES, NQ and MES are futures symbols, and the bot refuses the alert with the ticker named: nothing is ordered, and the line on the Logs tab says why.
• Reads SPX with a side and no contract, then picks the contract by the strategy's rules: a 0.30 delta call, or the first strike $25 out, on the nearest expiration inside the strategy's range. The pick is logged next to the alert.
• Sizes from the Budget per entry. One SPX contract near the money can cost more than $1,000 and one SPY contract about a tenth of that, so the same budget buys ten times the SPY count, and the bot never rounds up.
• Places a market order, or a limit at the price the alert names if the strategy is set to limit. SPX goes to the SPXW chain, which settles in cash, so there is no assignment on a short leg at expiry.
• Closes on the exit alert, leg for leg. An index alert that flips from long to short is two alerts: a sell that closes the call, then a buy that opens the put.

• The alert names a futures contract. Nyria does not trade futures on a live broker; Tradovate is coming soon.

  ES is a futures contract. Futures aren't supported.

• The option chain has no delta for the strikes in the strategy's range, so the delta rule cannot pick.

  Nyria skipped this entry. The options data has no delta for the contracts in your range, so it can't pick the delta your strategy asks for. Nothing was ordered.

• The nearest contract sits more than 0.25 delta from the target.

  Nyria skipped this entry. Your strategy asks for a 0.30 delta and the closest available is 0.62, too far to stand in for it. Nothing was ordered.

• The contract the rules picked has no live bid and ask.

  Nyria skipped this entry. No live quote was available for the option your strategy picked. Nothing was ordered.

• The alert arrives outside 9:30 am to 4 pm ET. Futures trade overnight; index options do not, so an overnight alert is refused rather than queued.

  Options market is closed

• One contract costs more than the Budget per entry.

  One SPX contract costs $1,240, more than this bot's $1,000 budget per entry. Raise it to at least $1,240.

Does Nyria trade ES, NQ or any futures?

No. Nyria doesn't trade futures on a live broker; Tradovate is coming soon. An index alert is traded as an SPX, SPY, QQQ or IWM option instead.

Can the same TradingView strategy send the alert?

Yes. Keep the chart on ES or SPX and change the ticker in the alert message to SPX or SPY. The alert message is what Nyria reads, not the chart symbol.

SPX or SPY?

SPX at Charles Schwab, Tradier or tastytrade when one contract fits the Budget per entry and the account can trade it; SPY everywhere else, including Alpaca. The strategy's rules pick the strike either way.

What about overnight alerts?

Index options trade 9:30 am to 4 pm ET. An alert outside that window is refused as Options market is closed, so the alert source should fire on the regular session.

What does it cost?

Paper is free. Live trading from $15 a month.

Most index strategies start on a chart, so the pair to read next is TradingView to tastytrade, with the same steps for Charles Schwab and Tradier.