I'm creating my first algo and wondering how you implement a "wait" for the next moving average crossover trigger.
Upon deployment, the code below would immediately perform a buy even if the crossover occurred a long time ago. I'm trying to avoid opening a position immediately and only want it to execute on the first occurrence of the MA crossover since it has gone live.
def initialize(context):
context.security_list = symbols('SPY') #just 1 security for now
def handle_data(context, data):
for security in context.security_list:
price_hist = data.history(security, 'price', 200, '1d')
# Create 50-day and 200-day trailing windows
prices_50 = price_hist[-50:]
prices_200 = price_hist
# 50-day and 200-day simple moving average (SMA)
sma_50 = prices_50.mean()
sma_200 = prices_200.mean()
current_positions = context.portfolio.positions[security].amount
if (sma_50 > sma_200) and (current_positions == 0):
order_target_percent(security, 1)
elif (sma_50 < sma_200) and current_positions != 0:
order_target(security, 0)
