Trailing Stops Across Multiple Futures Accounts
Lock in profits as the market moves in your favor. Trailing stops follow price action using candle structure, not arbitrary tick distances.
What Are Trailing Stops?
A trailing stop is a stop loss that moves with the market. As price moves in your favor, the stop "trails" behind, protecting your gains. If price reverses, you exit with profit instead of watching winners turn into losers.
How TradingPlace Trails Differently
Most platforms trail by a fixed tick distance. TradingPlace uses candle structure instead:
- For longs: Stop trails below the low of closed candles
- For shorts: Stop trails above the high of closed candles
- You choose the SLS mode: fixed rolling candle counts or OC handling
- The system adds a two-tick buffer below the candle low or above the candle high
Why Candle Structure?
Fixed-tick trails get stopped out by normal market noise. Candle-based trails respect market structure - they only move when price actually closes at a new level.
Fixed-tick trails get stopped out by normal market noise. Candle-based trails respect market structure - they only move when price actually closes at a new level.
Trailing vs Fixed Stops
| Scenario | Fixed Stop | Trailing Stop |
|---|---|---|
| Strong trend | Leaves money on the table | Captures extended moves |
| Quick reversal | Protects your entry | May give back some profit |
| Choppy action | Clear risk/reward | May get stopped prematurely |
| News spike | Holds through volatility | Locks in gains quickly |
Configuring Trailing Stops
Enable trailing stops when entering a trade or in position settings:
- Choose an SLS mode for the trade
- Select a rolling candle count such as 1m, 5m, or 15m, or choose OC
- For OC, an opposite-color 1m close tightens the stop to that candle’s low for longs or high for shorts, with close-on-fail. Otherwise it trails the last five completed 1m candles; a trade-direction body of at least 1.5 ATR uses the latest 1m candle, while at least 2.5 ATR or a matching Buyers/Sellers Chasing tag tightens the stop to that candle’s high/low midpoint. OC, break-even and Auto Close evaluate on completed 1m candles only
- Changes only tighten the stop; they do not widen risk
Tip: Don't Trail Too Tight
An offset of 1-2 ticks will get stopped by normal wicks. Start with 4-6 ticks on ES/MES for breathing room.
An offset of 1-2 ticks will get stopped by normal wicks. Start with 4-6 ticks on ES/MES for breathing room.
When to Use Trailing Stops
- Trending markets - Let winners run without babysitting
- Breakout trades - Capture the move, exit on first pullback
- End of day - Protect gains as market close approaches
- Stepping away - Automated protection when you can't watch the screen
When Fixed Stops Are Better
- Mean reversion trades - You have a specific target, not riding a trend
- High-volatility events - Trails get whipped around during news
- Scalping - Quick in-and-out trades with defined targets