Move stop loss from breakeven to lock in profit

[chrisca]

Hello,

I have a strategy that moves the stoploss to position.averageprice once price moves 4 ticks in my favor. I would like the stoploss to then move to lock in 3 ticks of profit once price moves 8 ticks in my favor, yet I can't seem to figure out how. Here is my break even logic so far. Can I simply duplicate this logic and use different number to accomplish what I want?

// Resets the stop loss to the original value when all positions are closed
if (Position.MarketPosition == MarketPosition.Flat)
{
SetStopLoss(CalculationMode.Ticks, StopLossTicks);
}

// If a long position is open, allow for stop loss modification to breakeven
else if (Position.MarketPosition == MarketPosition.Long)
{
// Once the price is greater than entry price + 3 ticks, set stop loss to breakeven
if (Close[0] > Position.AveragePrice + 3 * TickSize)
{
Print(Time[0].ToString()+ @"This should be changing SL");
SetStopLoss(CalculationMode.Price, Position.AveragePrice);
}

Thank you for any info you may have,
Chris

[NinjaTrader_Jim]

Hello Chris,

Updating the stop loss again with SetStopLoss() would be valid. Keep in mind, when writing the logic, you should use if/else statements to prevent your strategy from moving the stop loss to the breakeven point after you have the strategy move the stop loss to +3.

For example:

if (Close[0] > Position.AveragePrice + 8 * TickSize)
{
    // Move to +3
}
else if (Close[0] > Position.AveragePrice + 3 * TickSize)
{
    // Move to BE
}

Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

[chrisca]

Thank you very much!

I will add this in and test it out.

Chris

[chrisca]

Hello Chris,

Is the else if statement you gave an example of correct? When I use it, the strategy glitches and rejects orders, causing the strategy to shut off. When I don't use it, the stop loss moves but moves back to breakeven instead of staying at 4 ticks profit. Heres the code I have:

// Once price is greater than entry price + 8 ticks, set stop loss to 4 ticks profit
if (Close[0] > Position.AveragePrice + 8 * TickSize)
{
Print(Time[0].ToString()+ @"This should be changing SL");
SetStopLoss(CalculationMode.Price, Position.AveragePrice + 4 * TickSize);
}

else if (Close[0] > Position.AveragePrice + 4 * TickSize);
{
SetStopLoss(CalculationMode.Price, Position.AveragePrice + 4 * TickSize);
}

[bltdavid]

Look carefully, you're using,

Position.AveragePrice + 4 * TickSize

in both calls to SetStopLoss.

[chrisca]

So I changed it to this and I am still having the same problem:

// Once price is greater than entry price + 8 ticks, set stop loss to 4 ticks profit
if (Close[0] > Position.AveragePrice + 8 * TickSize)
{
Print(Time[0].ToString()+ @"This should be changing SL");
SetStopLoss(CalculationMode.Price, Position.AveragePrice + 4 * TickSize);
}

else if (Close[0] > Position.AveragePrice + 4 * TickSize);
{
SetStopLoss(CalculationMode.Price, Position.AveragePrice);
}

[NinjaTrader_Jim]

Hello Chris,

You will also want to check that the Strategy is in a position before modifying a Stop Loss and the stop loss is always "reset" when in a flat position.

For example:

if (Position.MarketPosition == MarketPosition.Flat)
	SetStopLoss(CalculationMode.Ticks, 10);

if (Position.MarketPosition == MarketPosition.Flat && Close[0] > Close[1])
	EnterLong(1, "Signal");
else if ((Position.MarketPosition == MarketPosition.Long))
{
	if((Close[0] > Position.AveragePrice + 8 * TickSize))
	{
		Print("Move to +3");
		SetStopLoss(CalculationMode.Price, Position.AveragePrice + 3 * TickSize);
	}
	else if(Close[0] > Position.AveragePrice + 4 * TickSize)
	{
		Print("Move to BE");
		SetStopLoss(CalculationMode.Price, Position.AveragePrice);
	}
}

I may also suggest to enable TraceOrders to troubleshoot issues with order submissions/modifications. The SetStopLoss documentation also has some important notes to consider when using.

TraceOrders - https://ninjatrader.com/support/foru...ead.php?t=3627

SetStopLoss() - https://ninjatrader.com/support/help...etstoploss.htm

Please let me know if I can be of further help.