Take Profit & Stop Loss

Attach a take profit and a stop loss to each entry so your broker manages the exit, and how their prices are worked out.

On this page

How they're placed
Set them in the subscription or the signal
Ways to set the level
The entry price used
Stop loss types
Rounding
Moving the stop
Fractional orders

How they're placed

A take profit and stop loss are sent with the entry order, as one bracket order, on brokers that support it. Once the entry fills, both rest at the broker. When one fills, the broker cancels the other. Your alerts don't need to send an exit, and EZPZ Trader records the fill in your Journal.

Some brokers need both legs (a take profit and a stop loss), some take only one, and some take neither for some asset classes. The subscription form only offers what the broker supports. See Broker Support.

If the broker can't attach them

If a take profit or stop loss is set but can't be attached, the entry is skipped, not sent without protection.

Set them in the subscription or the signal

In the subscription's Take profit / Stop loss section, choose the type and value. With Allow signal override on, the signal's takeProfit / stopLoss replace them.

Ways to set the level

Type	Take profit for a long entry at $100	Stop loss for a long entry at $100
Percent (`percent: 5`)	$105	$95
Amount (`amount: 5`), a price distance	$105	$95
Exact price (`limitPrice` / `stopPrice`)	the price you send	the price you send
P&L amount (`pnlAmount: 50`), dollars for the whole position, 10 shares	$105	$95

For a short, the levels are mirrored: the take profit is below the entry and the stop loss is above it.

Amount is a price move, not dollars of profit

An amount of 5 means the price must move $5, so 10 shares make $50. For futures it's a number of points. Use pnlAmount to set the dollars you want to make or lose on the whole position.

The entry price used

The levels are calculated from the entry's price: the limit price for a limit entry, otherwise the signal's price, otherwise a quote at the subscription's market price type. A Market entry's real fill can differ a little from this price.

Stop loss types

`stopLoss.type`	What is placed
`stop`	A stop market order: sells at market once the stop price trades.
`stop_limit`	A stop limit order: once the stop trades, a limit order at `limitPrice` (or the subscription's limit offset).

{
    "ticker": "AAPL",
    "action": "buy",
    "takeProfit": {"percent": 4},
    "stopLoss": {"type": "stop_limit", "stopPrice": 185, "limitPrice": 184.5}
}

A trailing stop loss attached to the entry isn't supported yet, and is refused.

Rounding

Every level is rounded to the instrument's tick size (for example 0.01 for most stocks, 0.25 for ES).

Moving the stop

Send a breakeven signal to move the stop to your entry price. See Order Behavior.

Fractional orders

Where a broker can't attach a take profit or stop loss to a fractional order, the quantity is rounded down to whole shares so the bracket can be sent.