Stop loss and take profit

In the ticket, switch on the stop loss or the take profit. They start off on every new order. Switched on, they start at the distance you last used on that market (0.5% and 1% the first time). You can type them as a price, in ticks, as a % of the price, as money, or as a % of your balance.

If a stop loss would lose more than your daily limit allows, the ticket tells you before you place the order.

You hold one position per market, so its stop loss and take profit cover the whole position. When you add to a position with them switched on, they replace the position's. Switched off, the position keeps its own.

A long closes at the bid and a short at the ask. So on a new order the stop loss is checked against where it would trigger, not against your fill: for a buy it must be under the fill minus the spread, for a sell over the fill plus the spread. That way the spread alone can never stop you out. The take profit must be beyond your fill.

For example, BTC/USD is $100,000 bid and $100,020 ask. A buy fills at $100,020 and would close at the bid. A stop loss at $100,010 is refused, because the bid is already under it. A stop at $99,500 is fine, and the take profit must be above $100,020.

On an open position, a new stop loss or take profit is checked against the price now: the bid for a long, the ask for a short. The ticket never moves one to the right side for you. It says where it has to be.

A Fixed stop stays where you put it. A Trailing stop follows the price as it moves your way, staying the trail distance behind. It moves in steps of a twentieth of that distance and never moves back. A trailing stop is a stop loss that moves, so it needs a stop loss switched on.

For example, you are long BTC with a $1,000 trail and the bid is $100,000, so your stop is at $99,000. It moves in $50 steps. The bid rises to $100,600, and the stop rises to $99,600. The bid then falls: the stop stays at $99,600 and closes the trade if the bid gets there. Your history shows it as "Trailing stop".

Open the position from its row or its line on the chart. Change a value, or switch it off to remove it. Each change applies at once, and you can undo it.

Once the price has reached your stop loss or take profit, it can't be changed: the position is already closing. On a closed market, stops can't be changed until it reopens.

A stop loss fills at the market once the price touches it, not always at your exact price. When the price jumps, at a market's reopen or in a fast move, the stop fills at the first price after the jump, which can be worse than your stop. A take profit that gaps fills at the first price too, which is then better than your target. If one jump passes both, the stop loss closes the position.

While a market is closed nothing triggers. See market hours.