Trailing Stop logic

Working with a number of strategies using a template created by AlgoWizard. I’m seeing instances where using a trailing stop on a very simple system (H1 on NQ Futures; Close > 200SMA, enter with a stop at the high of the prior bar) that the trailing stop using a fixed 450pips stop doesn’t seem to execute. I’m seeing instances of trades lasting 600(+) days which just shouldn’t be. If I add a 450pip stop loss (with a 450pip Trailing stop still active), then the trades last the typical 1-20 bars. Can someone explain the logic that SQX uses for trailing stops that would allow this kind of behavior?

(If it matters I’m using the TradeStation engine on the system). With actual systems in Multicharts, the trailing stop order is placed at the appropriate distance, real-time on the bar of entry. I realize that some trading software may place the trailing stop on the open of the following bar and this could lead to odd price levels on the stop outs (if the market reversed during the bar of entry to a level exceeding the trailing stop amount) but I would expect the trailing stop to still fill, even if it was at a larger loss than the trailing stop should normally contain. Having a reasonable level trailing stop last 600 days through a massive market draw-down, just seems like odd behavior?

Hello,

you should always use stop-loss regardless of whether TSL is enabled. TSL activates only once the position is in profit and trails only once per each bar

Interesting, this is completely in opposition to say Multicharts where the TSL is placed immediately after trade entry and updates real-time throughout the bar’s movement. Thanks for the clarification!

Hi,

I am running into an issue of trailing stops using the daily timeframe. When testing it appears to trail every tick, however, when testing in MetaTrader4 it does not appear to be trailing at all.

The strategy is quite simple. On a down day (daily close < daily open), place a buy limit order at the prior day low an bet an a mean reversion into the prior days range and trail it aggressively. Looks amazing on paper (please see attached screenshots), however does not trail when backtesting in Metatrader directly.

Please advise, thanks!

You can share your strategy (the sqx file), I will test it