Stoploss at Specific Dollar Amount

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Metzenovich
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Stoploss at Specific Dollar Amount

Postby Metzenovich » 24 Sep 2021

Hi,

I'm working on a forex strategy (let's say EUR/USD) and know the exact price I want my stop loss (or take profit) to be set at.

The only 2 ways I can see to set the stop loss is:
SetStopLoss_pt(100); // Exit if the price moves 100 ticks (10 pips?) against our entry price
SetStopLoss(100); // Exit when we've lost $100 on our position

How can I set a stop loss for a specific price?

I'm trying to set my price above a certain area or condition of price action, but with a market order I don't know at exactly which price I'll enter, and SetStopLoss_pt is relative to that price.

What I really want is to be able to specify the exact price (or worse) at which I want to exit, something like:
SetStopLoss_price(1.2345); // Exit if the price moves to or beyond 1.2345

Does such a thing exist? If no, why not?

Thanks!

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Kate MultiCharts
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Re: Stoploss at Specific Dollar Amount

Postby Kate MultiCharts » 27 Sep 2021

Hi Metzenovich,

It does not exist.
If you'd like to specify the price, you could use a regular Stop order.

Metzenovich
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Joined: 07 Sep 2021

Re: Stoploss at Specific Dollar Amount

Postby Metzenovich » 04 Oct 2021

Thanks for the response.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a regular Stop order is not the same thing as a stop loss at a specific price.

A Stop order will execute at the specified price, but will expire if it doesn't reach that price within the next bar. Possibly it is also dependent on MultiCharts being running at the time.

A stop loss set for a specific price will stay in place as long as the position is active, and is in effect at the broker, so it will execute whether or not MultiCharts or my computer / VPS / internet connection is working.

They're very different things in practice, right?

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Kate MultiCharts
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Re: Stoploss at Specific Dollar Amount

Postby Kate MultiCharts » 07 Oct 2021

Metzenovich,

Stop exits like, for example, Sell Next Bar 100 Stop or BuyToCover Next Bar At 50 Stop were suggested as an alternative to SetStopLoss_price, which is not available.

Metzenovich
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Joined: 07 Sep 2021

Re: Stoploss at Specific Dollar Amount

Postby Metzenovich » 07 Oct 2021

Thank you for the reply.

But a stop order is not an alternative for a stoploss, because it expires after one bar, correct?

On a 15 minute chart what good does it do to try to use a stop order as a stoploss if it expires after 15 minutes if the specified price isn't hit during that bar? After that bar it expires, leaving you entirely unprotected after that, right? That isn't a stoploss by any definition.

I'm not trying to be obtuse, I just don't understand why there isn't a way to have MultiCharts set a server-side stoploss at a specific price, when such a capability surely exists in brokerage API's. A stoploss is fundamental to trading and it's 2021, so I don't understand the disconnect.

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TJ
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Re: Stoploss at Specific Dollar Amount

Postby TJ » 07 Oct 2021

Thank you for the reply.

But a stop order is not an alternative for a stoploss, because it expires after one bar, correct?

On a 15 minute chart what good does it do to try to use a stop order as a stoploss if it expires after 15 minutes if the specified price isn't hit during that bar? After that bar it expires, leaving you entirely unprotected after that, right? That isn't a stoploss by any definition.

I'm not trying to be obtuse, I just don't understand why there isn't a way to have MultiCharts set a server-side stoploss at a specific price, when such a capability surely exists in brokerage API's. A stoploss is fundamental to trading and it's 2021, so I don't understand the disconnect.
Your order will expire, IF AND ONLY IF the condition has expired.
You can always code your logic in such a way that the condition will still be in force at the end of the bar.

Metzenovich
Posts: 15
Joined: 07 Sep 2021

Re: Stoploss at Specific Dollar Amount

Postby Metzenovich » 07 Oct 2021

Thank you. That's very good to know.

I saw this text on the Buy and Sell page and didn't notice it's absence on the Stop page and thought the same applied there:
An order is executed at the point specified by the parameters; if the order is not filled within the specified bar, the order is cancelled.


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