When to add spread?

Hi, when iam executing a buystop order, then i have to add the spread, right?
BUt what if i execute a sellstop order, do i then also have to add the spread or do i have to subtract?
Of course everything is executed at metatrader.
And why do i have to add spread (subtract?)
Thank you for your help!
-mike

It can get very difficult, because different brokers charge their spreads differently. Basically, if you go long, add your spreads to the entry, if you're short, add them to the exit.

For example, if you have a 100 pip buystop, it will trigger the trade at 97 pips. You will be breakeven on the trade at the 100 pip mark. The opposite is true for shorts. If you set a 100 pip sellstop, it will trigger at exactly 100 pips; however, the stop will be triggered a stop minus spread. So if you have a 50 pip stop on that short order, it will be stopped at 47, but you will be "down" 50. These examples are with a 3 pip spread. Keep in mind not ALL brokers are like this.

Hope this helps a bit.

Ok thank you, i understand that for buy, but for sell its not entirely clear.
Do i have to add spread to sl AND tp, or only to s/l?
Example (spread is 3):
I wrote "@ bid price", because this is the actuall price shown in the charts. Which comes after the "=" is the numbers i have to put in into my stoporder input fields.
If i want to Sell @ bid price 100 = Sell @ 100
If i want Sl @ bid price 150 = SL @ 153 (so that on the chart Sl is triggered at 150)
If i want Tp @ bid price 50 = TP @ 53 (so that on the chart TP is triggered at 50)



I hope i got it now, if not, please correct me.
Thank you,
-mike

Yes mike, you are correct in your last reply.


andersenws

Make sure you fully understand. Get an MT4 demo account and place a couple orders. They only have to be like 10 pips away, shouldn't take too long to trigger them unless you're trading during the asian session. Observation is more helpful than reading it on a forum, no offense of course. Also, I commend you for making sure you know this information. When you're backtesting a system, spreads and how they affect testing can change a system; sometimes dramatically.