The Trader
The PM/Trader split, built and switched off by default. The PM says what and how much, the Trader works out how and when, and the Executor's checks do not change.
- Who it is for
- New to Bellwether
- Reading time
- 4 min read
- Updated
- Status
- coming soon
Planned, not shipped.This page describes something that is designed but not in the console today. Nothing here is available yet unless a sentence says so.
The Trader is built but switched off (behind a deployment flag that is off by default), so today the PM still writes each order itself (symbol, size, limit price, window, stop) and the checks and places it. Turning the flag on splits that job in two. This page says what changes then and, more importantly, what does not.
- Owns
- Timing and tactics inside a PM intent: the order, the working price, when to give up
- Reads
- Quotes, bars, order and position status
- Tools
- Quotes and bars, order and position status; no news, filings, research feed or tools; no broker credentials
- Model
- Sonnet 5
- Cadence
- Event-driven, many times a day, in seconds
- Change it at
- — (behind a deployment flag; no console switch in Phase 0)
- Hands off to
- The Executor: every order it produces is still a row under the
- Judged by
- Implementation shortfall, scored daily; promoted per book only when its fills beat the deterministic floor
Why split it
Deciding what to hold, how much, how urgently, the most it is worth paying and where the idea dies is slow, deep work done a few times a day. Deciding how to get filled (wait or go now, rest a passive order or cross the spread, scale in, chase an exit when a level breaks) is fast work done many times a day, in seconds. Putting both in one session makes the deep session spend its budget on mechanics.
What the PM will hand over
Instead of orders, the PM will emit intents, one per position, each with one of seven actions:
| Action | Meaning |
|---|---|
| open / add | Start or increase a position, with a size, a reservation price (the most it will pay) and an price. |
| reduce / exit | Sell part or all of a position, with an optional floor. |
| manage | A new stop, target or trail for a held position; tighten only. |
| withdraw | Cancel the unfilled remainder of an earlier intent, keeping any fills. |
| hold | An explicit "I see the breached level and I am not exiting", with the reason. |
An intent still carries the thesis, confidence, horizon, urgency, an entry window and style, and what happens at the stop and the target. Every open or add arms a stop and target guard, so "every position has a stop" stops being a request in a prompt.
What the Trader will decide
Inside one intent the Trader picks the tactic and the timing: peg to the open or anchor to the quote, how far to lean toward a fill, whether to work an exit or take it now, when to give up on a resting order. It explains each choice and is scored every day on implementation shortfall: the gap between the price when the PM decided, when the order arrived, and the fill. It starts in shadow, behind a deterministic floor that turns intents into orders with fixed rules, and is promoted per book only when its fills beat the floor.
What it can never do
The Trader may only price inside the PM's numbers and may only tighten. It never names a symbol, never sizes up, never widens a cap, never loosens a stop, never derives a second order after one was declined or rejected, and never opens a position on its own. It gets quotes, bars and order and position status; it gets no news, no filings, no research feed and no thesis tools, so a headline cannot reach it. It holds no broker credentials.
Model, cadence and how to change them
The Trader is planned on Sonnet 5 with small turn budgets and no fixed schedule: it wakes when an intent arrives or the market moves against a working order. Nothing about it is configurable until it lands; see Model policy.
The Executor's checks do not change
Every order the Trader produces is still a proposal row: the Executor runs the same risk checks, holds it for you above your in the Inbox, re-quotes on approval and cancels it at the end of its window, exactly as today. The keeps reviewing at the intent level, so it still sees the idea before the order exists.
What you will see on Agent
Today Agent shows the PM's sessions and their proposals. After the split you would see the intent, the tactic, the order and the fill as one chain. Until then the PM does the whole job and this page is a preview.
Failure modes you might see
None today, because the role does not run. When it lands: a resting order it gave up on shows as withdrawn with the fills kept; an intent whose reservation price the market ran past ends unfilled and goes back to the PM; and if the Trader is unavailable the deterministic floor turns the intent into orders with fixed rules.