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Why some position values are blank

A position showing a dash instead of a P&L has an unverified contract multiplier. VEXA withholds the number on purpose rather than showing a wrong one.

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What this does

Some positions on the Portfolio screen show a dash where you expect a market value, an exposure figure, an unrealized P&L or a return percentage. The row carries a note saying the contract multiplier could not be verified and that those values are withheld until the import is corrected.

The values are withheld on purpose rather than estimated.

Before you start

This only affects futures and options positions, because those are the only instruments with a contract multiplier. Stock positions have a multiplier of 1 and are never affected.

What a contract multiplier is

A contract multiplier is how many units of the underlying one contract controls. One equity option contract covers 100 shares. One ES futures contract is $50 per index point, one NQ is $20, one MES is $5.

Every money figure on a derivative position runs through that multiplier:

market value   = size x contract multiplier x mark price
unrealized P&L = size x contract multiplier x (mark - average entry) - commission

Why a wrong multiplier is worse than a blank

Get the multiplier wrong and the error is not small. Pricing an ES position at 1 instead of 50 understates it fiftyfold. Pricing an option at 1 instead of 100 understates it a hundredfold. A number wrong by two orders of magnitude still looks like a plausible number, and you would act on it.

So when VEXA cannot match a contract to a specification it knows, it withholds the derived figures instead of guessing. The position stays on the list with its size, its entry and its mark. What disappears is everything that a multiplier would have multiplied.

Positions with an unverified multiplier are also excluded from the summary tiles, for the same reason.

Steps

  1. Open Portfolio in the sidebar.
  2. Find the row showing dashes and read the note on it.
  3. Click the row to open the detail panel and check the symbol as it was imported.
  4. Correct the import at source, or record the position by hand with the correct size.
  1. Open Portfolio in the sidebar.
  2. Tap the row showing dashes and read the warning in the detail pane.
  3. Check the symbol as it was imported.
  4. Correct the import at source. Editing a position is a web feature.
  1. Open Portfolio in the sidebar.
  2. Tap the row showing dashes and read the warning in the detail pane.
  3. Check the symbol as it was imported.
  4. Correct the import at source. Editing a position is a web feature.

How to get the values back

The multiplier is worked out from the symbol. VEXA recognises option symbols in about ten broker formats, a table of futures roots, and the three standard forex lot sizes. A symbol that does not match any of them cannot be resolved.

Usually the cause is one of these.

  • The import wrote a symbol in a format VEXA does not recognise, often from a hand-edited CSV.
  • The contract is a futures root VEXA does not carry a specification for.
  • The symbol lost part of itself in the import, for example an expiry or a strike.

Re-importing the file with the broker’s own unedited export fixes most cases. Where it does not, contact support with the symbol exactly as it appears on the row, and the futures root can be added.

What you should see

A row that still shows its symbol, direction, size, average entry and mark, with dashes in the value columns and a note explaining why. The summary tiles at the top should report a count that leaves that position out.

Once the multiplier is resolvable, the figures return by themselves on the next refresh.

If it doesn’t work

  • Every derivative position is blank. Your import is writing symbols in an unusual format. Check the export settings at your broker.
  • The blank is on a stock position. That is not this. Stocks have a multiplier of 1, so the cause is the price rather than the multiplier. See Mark quality.
  • You would rather see an approximate number. VEXA will not show one. A wrong multiplier is an error large enough to change a decision.

Related

Mark quality: live, delayed, stale and unavailable The four price-quality states on an open position, the exact age rule behind each one, and why futures marks are always labelled delayed. Portfolio: your open positions Read the four summary tiles, filter and sort your open positions, and understand which positions are counted in the totals and which are left out. Edit or delete an open position Correct the entry price, size, direction or open date of a position, or remove one that should not be there, and what deleting takes with it.

Still stuck? Email support@vexatrade.ai.