Manage Take Profit EA

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Updated: 9/5/2010

Hello all. This expert was created 4 years ago. Since then, MetaTrader has introduced many, many new features. This expert is no longer guaranteed to work with these newer versions of MetaTrader and I am not in a position where I can or want to create a new expert. So, read this thread at your own "risk", so to speak. Happy Trading!

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Hi Everyone,

I've developed an expert that is designed to help me stick to my system a bit better than what I do by myself. Use it at your own risk, though.

The expert works by taking profit out of a trade at various take profit levels. It also moves stop losses at designated levels. You have the ability to customize the following parameters:

1. First_Target: This is the first take profit target, in pips, that you specify.
2. Target_Increment: Once the first profit target is reached, the next target will increment by the amount specified by the target increment variable.
3. Close_Lots: This is how many lots you want to take out at each target. For example, if you have 10 lots, you can take 1 lot out at each of 10 profit targets, or 5 lots out at each of two targets. It's up to you.
4. Move_Stops: Set to true if you want the expert to move stops based on the First_Stop and Stop_Differential parameters. Otherwise, set to false if you don't want stops moved automatically.
5. First_Stop_Target: This is the amount in pips the trade moves before your stop loss is moved to the First_Stop level.
6. First_Stop: This will move your stop loss when a target, in pips, is reached. The number represents the number of pips from entry and can be postive or negative.
7. Second_Stop_Target: This is the amount in pips the trade moves before your stop loss is moved to the Second_Stop level.
8. Second_Stop: This will move your stop loss when a target, in pips, is reached. The number represents the number of pips from entry and can be postive or negative.
9. Use_Max_Loss: Set to true if you want to input your own stoploss and hide your stop value from your broker. This is the maximum loss you'll risk on the trade. It's irrelevant if Move_Stops is set to true AND Move_Stops was triggered.
10. Max_Loss: This is the maximum pip loss you'll accept on the trade. If set to 0, this function is disabled.
11. Magic_Number: You can use this to ensure the expert only manages trades with a particular magic number. This will allow you to trade the same pair using different systems without this expert interfering with the take profit points of the other trade(s).

The image below represents example parameters that can be set for the expert. I'll explain each one with a scenario. Assume you place a 1 lot sell order for EURUSD at 1.2100 (1.2103/1.2100 - ask/bid). (Assume a 3 pip spread.)

1. The expert will take .1 lots ("Close_Lots"), or 1/10th of this scenario's order, out at +10 pips ("First_Target"), or 1.2090/1.2087.
2. After that, the next profit target will increment 8 pips ("Target_Increment") to 1.2082/1.2079. and another .1 lots will be taken out at that level. The expert continues to increment the preceding profit target by 8 pips until the original order is closed. In this example, the maximum pips gained would be 10 + (8*9), or 82 pips. (First target pips + increment pips * number of times to increment, which would vary depending on the original order size and the "Close_Lots" parameter.)
3. When the trade reaches +15 pips ("First_Stop_Target"), the stop loss will be moved to -5 pips ("First_Stop") from the order entry price. In this case, the order entry price was 1.2100, so the new price would be 1.2105. This means that you would lose 5 pips if the trade turned. Set the "Stop_Differential" parameter to "0" in order to move stops to breakeven (1.2100). If this parameter were, for example, set to 5, then the stop loss would be moved to 1.2095, and you would have a 5 pip increase if the move turned against you and stopped you out.
4. When the trade reaches +30 pips (Second_Stop_Target), the SL is moved to Entry Price + 10 pips.
5. If you don't want the expert to move the order's stop loss, then set the "Move_Stops" parameter to "false". I think this works, but haven't fully tested it.

In case you're wondering, the reason I wrote this is so that I didn't have to place 5 different stop loss orders in order to manage different take profit levels. Since I don't want to sit in front of the computer all the time, waiting for these levels to hit and I take out a portion of the order, I figured an expert would do just the thing.

Regards,

stockwet


** Important **
I've found that if I'm in the middle of trade and make a change to the expert parameters, it resets everything. So, here's an example. Let's say that I want to take 1 lot out at 20 pips and another out at 40 pips. The price moves to 25 pips and takes out my first lot. I decide that I want to change my stop rules to move stops from breakeven to +10 pips if the price goes to +30 pips. The problem is, my take profit had incremented to watch for +40 pips but my initial target is still set to 20. If I close the expert, it resets the incremented value to the initial target. Since the price is now +25 pips and my initial target is set to 20, even though the expert incremented to 40 as the next target, the reset causes my second lot to be taken out.

So, if you're targets have incremented and you want to change your move stops or any other value, make sure you make your initial target to be the new next target you want to take profit out at.




** Updates**
11/2/2006 (v2.3) :: Fixed bug that caused the sl var to be set to 1 when a pending order was > than the First_Stop_Target value. In other words, if a pending order was in, not an actual order, and the price was greater than First_Stop_Target pips from the pending order entry, then the expert would honor the second move stops stop target, and skip the first.
1/23/2007 (v2.4) :: Fixed pip calculation. The old way of calculating pips could be off by 1 pip, resulting in missed TP or move stops. The new calculation is more accurate.

Hi Stockwet,

Of all the experts I've reviewed or looked at, your "Manage Take Profit" expert has earned me more pips then all of the rest.

This is a great expert for managing trades, thank you for sharing.

Drew,

Thanks a lot, your expert is excactly what I needed.

I had a conversation with my broker yesterday and they said scaling out is technically impossible, then I found your great expert - and it works!


BTW, I have send you a PM on the other forum.

The EA looks nice, but I have a question. Does this EA breakdown one standard lot into different mini lots? (For example: Do I just buy a pair for one lot, and then rely on the EA to break it into smaller mini lots?) Or do I need to buy all the lots at once and simply rely on the EA to scale out the lots at once?

Disregard my question, as the answer is embarrassingly obvious. Sorry, I’m a newb.

I second what Drew has said. This is a fantastic EA. Thanks very much for developing and sharing it.

B

Hi,

testing your highly useful EA I realized the bug you mentioned in the first post, is there a possibilty how this problem could be solved?

Even if the icrement mode can be very helpful trading situation where you can expect high volatility, what about a simple 'target mode' for normal market activity. Let's say you have three targets to specify where you can take out a certain amount of lots.

Regarding money management, this would make this great tool a perfect one I think.

Thanks again for your great work!

So, you're saying that instead of specifying a pip value, you specify a target value instead? That would work, if someone wants to trade off the ability to have "n" take profit points and limit them to a specific amount. Also, it would only work in the case of opening the expert properties while it's running. If you shut down MetaTrader and relaunched it, I believe your target settings would get reset as well.

I've minimized the issue a bit by providing the ability to have 2 Move_Stops points, rather than one. It would happen to me a lot because I was constantly moving my stops in a trade. This seems to help a bit.

There would be room for a derivative expert, though, which just takes 3 or 4 take profit values. I'm not sure I have the bandwidth to work on it right now, though.

I have had other MM requests. What did you have in mind?

I don't know about your trading style. If you are a news trader, then I think pip value is really good. If you like me try to project possible targets following Elliott or something comparable, then maybe the target value would make sense.

Personally, I have to say that I'm a bit at the beginning to integrate this kind of money and trade management to my upcoming system. What I plan to do is taking out one third of the position at a 10 pip gain and then use maybe fixed price targets using end of wave targets or special S/R lines.

Sorry for being so vague and mixing it all together. What I thought was, that it maybe would be methodically easier when you just have 3 or whatever target values. But to be honest, I have no idea about coding experts or coding in general.

What I really like about your EA is, that it help you to keep your own specifies money management rules. Having those is really important I think. Taking partial profits is recommended by the majority of serious traders - as far as I read and know.

This I think is absolutly an improvement, eventhough I would move my stop in a more discretionary way.

I would like to download this expert advisor but I do not know where to store it in Metatrader. Is it in the Custom Indicator file ?

Thanks

http://www.forexfactory.com/forexfor...34&postcount=4

Look here...

Please note that I updated the expert. I found a bug with pending orders causing the first stop target to be skipped.

Hi Stockwet,

I'm not sure if this is the same bug as the one you just fixed but I was having problems with pending orders whereby it would change the Stop on one of the orders to ("entry price" -10). I had a pending buy and a pending sell. My pending sell order was set at 1.9042 with an original stop loss set at 1.9082, the Stop Loss was changed to 1.9052. (My "First Stop Target" was set at 25 so I don't think this was the problem)

hi stockwet

I talked to you on another forum (name= markot) about adding a third stop loss level... were you able to ad the third level.
Thanks again for the great indicator

b-rock,

I don't know if it was the same bug or not, but, I will add in some code to prevent any pending orders from being changed.

stockwet

Hi Markot,

Welcome to ForexFactory.

Unfortunately, I haven't had time to make any of those changes. I've been under water a bit with a number of projects I've been working on.

stockwet

Thanks Stockwet

Great Work Stockwet,

one question how do i use the magic number feature, to trade the same pair using different systems ?

Thanks
Ademac

Just open a chart, add the take profit expert and type in the same magic number used for the system you want it to manage. Repeat for a second system, etc.

Warning: I haven't tested this. I coded for it, but, never had a chance to make sure it works. Try it on a demo account first.

Hi again Stockwet,

I'm still having problems with the TakeProfit EA when placing a straddle order. For example, if I straddle the price of 1.8500 with a BuyStop at 1.8550 and SellStop at 1.8450 and want either or both to open when they are hit and then to be managed by the TakeProfitEA, it does not manage either of them. The MaxLoss DOES work on them though, just not the take profit points.

If you are ever able to get the time to look at that, I would really appreciate it. Looks like you're a pretty busy guy though, so I just thought I'd throw that out there and see what you could do.

Thanks again,
B