trailing stop size for different brokers

[Trader3487]

Do you know why for one broker (XM) using 0.00001 = 1 pip, minimum setting for ea is "double tStopPips=6; // Trailing Stop size". If I do "double tStopPips=5; // Trailing Stop size" trailing stop doesn't work in backtest. XM's s/l minimum is 40 pips. EA point format in fxdreema is set to 0.0001 even though broker uses 0.00001. If I set it 0.00001, ea does not work. If trailing stop set to 40 ("double tStopPips=40; // Trailing Stop size"), ea also doesn't work in backtest.

For another broker (Alpari), minimum setting for ea is "double tStopPips=20; // Trailing Stop size". Alpari's s/l minimum is 20 pips.

[fxDreema]

There is a difference between pips and points. But nevermind, it's not important how many digits the broker use. If the point format set in fxDreema is 0.0001, then 5 pips are 0.00050, and if it is 0.00001, then 5 pips are 0.00005.

It's funny how 5-digit brokers advertise their spreads. They say "Our spread for EURUSD is 1 pip!", which does not mean that the spread is 0.00001 wide.

But you should have that spread meter on the lower left angle. For example, if it shows something like 2, use 5 pips, or if it shows 20 - use 50 pips.

[Trader3487]

thank you for the clarification. I did some further testing and was able to get trailing stop of 5.9 ("double tStopPips=5.9; // Trailing Stop size") or if I changed point format to five digits, then 59 ("double tStopPips=59; // Trailing Stop size"). Question is if, XM broker's minimum trailing stop is 40, why can't I get less than 59?

[fxDreema]

There is no "minimum trailing stop" parameter from the broker. There is a broker parameter called "Stops level", but this parameter basically does not matter. My "Stops level" is shown as 0, but I can't put SL/TP closer than 0.0001 to the open price. In other words - there is no parameter that tells you how close you can put SL/TP, or if there is some - it can be not true.

EAs created by fxDreema uses MQL's OrderSend() function at the end, so if this native MQL function gives error... how can I help? Try virtual stops if you want.

[Trader3487]

really?! that's interesting but then what is 0.0004,0 under the "Limit and Stop Levels" column on the right side of this link: http://www.xm.com/assets/pdf/spreads/XM ... d_2013.pdf

It says at the bottom: *** Minimum level for placing Stop Loss and Take Profit orders from a current market price

And if it were 40 pips minimum, then why am I getting blocked at 59? I'll check out virtual stops...

[fxDreema]

You may wonder if fxDreema introduce this limit, but it's not. There is nowhere in the code something that tells "don't place stops if the requested pips are lower than X pips". You can always try some simple EA found in Internet, and similar EA made by fxDreema. Then, if you can put that SL/TP with the first EA and can't put it with fxDreema's EA, show me both, please.

By the way, we are talking for error 130, yes?

[Trader3487]

I know that this is not a limit that fxDreema introduced. Just trying to understand how things are working - this is not related to 130 error (you solved that in the beginning thanks

[Trader3487]

do virtual stops also trail as market goes up?
can virtual stops be used with "start when profit is above" offset or only by timer?

[fxDreema]

So what is it? Sorry, but "ea does not work" and "ea also doesn't work in backtest" does not really help.

[Trader3487]

I'm forwarding question to broker's development team...

[Trader3487]

Hi,

1. Is it possible to set virtual stop to appear when market crosses opening price and also use trailing stop?

2. Can virtual stops be used with "start when profit is above" offset or only by timer?

Thank you.

[fxDreema]

If there are no problems that I'm not aware of...
Virtual stops are there to replace the normal ones, so they must be able to be placed, modified, react to the market price (execute) and go away when the trade is gone.
Of course, they work only when the EA is working, so if you close the EA with virtual stops => then there are no stops. For that reason there is an option to place normal real stops at some distance, I call them "Emergency stops".

[Trader3487]

but can virtual stops trail the market to lock in profit or are they fixed stop losses?

and can virtual stops appear when market reaches a certain point (for example virtual stop appears when market crosses opening price) or do they only respond to timer?

[fxDreema]

So you tried them to do that and they does not work?

[Trader3487]

yes, but I wasn't sure how to set it up to do that. I have trailing stop block set up and want to use virtual stop with trailing stop. And I didn't see any option to activate virtual stop when market crosses opening price.

[fxDreema]

Virtual stops are either enabled or not from the project settings. If they are not enabled - stops are normal hard stops, if they are enabled - they are horizontal lines with a little bit different colors. But virtual stops cannot be enabled from inside some block. And they are MQL4 only (for now).

[Trader3487]

I understand that but my questions are 1) whether virtual stops can be used with trailing stops? and 2) whether virtual can be triggered by opening price instead of timer?

Thanks

[fxDreema]

I tested if there is a problem with trailing stops - there are not. Why don't you just try it, it's simple? I don't understand the second question because we talks about virtual stops, not virtual pending orders, but anyway... try it.