Capital model
Each strategy in Stretus is given its own isolated slice of capital. This is not cosmetic - it is enforced by the platform. A strategy cannot spend money it hasn't been allocated, and it cannot borrow from another strategy.
The three numbers
Every running strategy tracks three capital figures:
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
capital_allocated | The total amount you've assigned to this strategy |
capital_used | Capital currently locked in open positions |
capital_available | allocated - used - what's free to trade right now |
A fourth derived field, margin used %, shows used / allocated as a percentage. If a strategy is at 100% margin used, it cannot open new positions until existing ones close.
Allocation at deployment
You set the allocation amount when you first deploy a strategy - in paper or live mode. You can adjust it later from the strategy detail page.
Stretus enforces the allocation ceiling at order time. If a strategy's sizing logic would require more than capital_available, the order is rejected - the strategy does not trade on margin beyond its slice.
Paper vs. live capital
Paper and live allocations are tracked independently. A strategy running in both modes simultaneously has separate capital pools for each - paper capital is virtual; live capital is drawn from your broker account.
Funds & balances
Your live allocations draw from the real balance in your connected broker or exchange account. Stretus reads that balance so it knows what's actually available to allocate.
| Concept | What it means |
|---|---|
| Balance | The funds available in a single connected account |
| Balances | Your balances across all connected accounts, by currency |
| Refresh | Re-reads the live balance from the broker/exchange on demand |
Balances are read from the venue, not stored by Stretus. If a figure looks stale after depositing or trading outside Stretus, use Refresh balance (on the strategy header or your account) to pull the current number. A successful refresh also confirms your broker connection is working.
capital_allocated is the slice you assign a strategy inside Stretus. Your broker
balance is the real money behind it. A strategy can only go live to the extent your
broker balance actually covers its allocation.
Currency
A strategy is allocated and tracked in its venue's settlement currency, INR on NSE and BSE, USD on the US venues, GBP on LSE, EUR on Euronext Amsterdam and BME, AUD on ASX, AED on DFM and ADX. Crypto strategies use the quote asset (typically USDT). The full mapping is on Markets & brokers.
Your portfolio-level dashboard rolls everything up into a single currency at the gateway exchange rate, so a portfolio total sitting above per-strategy figures in a different currency is expected. Where a rollup involved a conversion, that is stated alongside it, a converted total depends on a rate captured at read time, and presenting it identically to a native total would hide that.
LSE quotes prices in pence and settles in pounds, so a price of 2450 means £24.50, not £2,450. Every figure Stretus computes (order value, fees, P&L, position value) is already in pounds. See Currencies & the GBX case.