# Take-profits, trailing stop and runners

How Relay2Trade trades a signal with several take-profits, how the size is shared across them, how the stop moves as targets are reached, how runners (trades with no take-profit) are followed and closed, and what happens when the price already passed a target or the group turns the other way.

## Where they are

Settings → "Take-profits & trailing", "Runners" and "Repeated, late and opposite signals", in the Desk and in the app. "If the price already passed a take-profit" is a listener setting, under "Entry" when you open the listener. A listener can have its own value for every setting here under "Settings of its own".

## "Multiple take-profits"

Most signals come with several take-profits. The app sorts them nearest first: TP1, TP2 and so on. Four choices:

- **"Split: a separate trade for each take-profit"** (the default): one trade per take-profit, each with the signal's stop-loss and its own target at the broker. Every trade closes at its target even when the app or MetaTrader is off.
- **"One trade: a share closes at each take-profit"**: one position with the whole size, the stop-loss and the last take-profit at the broker. When the price reaches an earlier take-profit, that take-profit's share closes. The earlier shares close only while MetaTrader is running; the stop-loss and the last target always stay at the broker.
- **"Nearest take-profit only"**: one trade with the whole size on TP1. Nothing is left to trail.
- **"Furthest take-profit only"**: one trade with the whole size on the last take-profit. Nothing closes at the earlier targets.

Example: BUY XAUUSD 2400, SL 2390, TP1 2410, TP2 2420, TP3 2430, 0.10 lots for the whole signal.

- Split: three trades of 0.03, 0.03 and 0.04 lots, each with the stop at 2390; they close at 2410, 2420 and 2430.
- One trade: one position of 0.10 lots with target 2430; 0.03 closes at 2410, 0.03 at 2420 and the last 0.04 at 2430.
- Nearest: one trade of 0.10 that closes whole at 2410. Furthest: one trade of 0.10 that waits for 2430 or the stop.

A signal with one take-profit is always one trade. A signal with no take-profit is one trade without a target, which the app treats as a runner.

"One trade" needs the current trading bridge in MetaTrader. With an older one the signal trades as Split and its story says so; close MetaTrader and open it again once to load the current one.

**Netting accounts** hold one position per symbol. There, Split and One trade both become one position with the total lots, the signal's stop and the last target, and the earlier take-profits rest at the broker as orders that each close their share. Those resting orders are your take-profits, so leave them in place in MetaTrader.

In Split on a hedging account each trade is a position of its own, so a 4-take-profit signal uses 4 places in "Max open positions". "One trade" uses one.

## "Share across take-profits"

Your sizing works out the size of the whole signal; this setting shares it across the take-profits, as numbers relative to each other, first take-profit first.

- Empty (the default) shares it equally.
- "2,1" puts twice as much on the first: with 4 take-profits that is 40%, 20%, 20% and 20%.
- "50,30,20" on 3 take-profits is exactly those shares.
- Only the ratio matters: "2,1" and "50,25" give the same result. Up to 10 numbers, each above 0.
- If the signal has more take-profits than numbers, the last number repeats, and a runner takes the last number too.

Each share is rounded down to the broker's lot step, and what is left over goes on the last take-profit. Example: 0.10 lots on 3 take-profits with "2,1,1" gives 0.05, 0.02 and 0.03.

Shares are used with "Risk % of equity", "Fixed cash" or fixed lots for "The whole signal". With fixed lots for "Each take-profit" every take-profit gets the full lots, so the setting is hidden. Shares leave your risk unchanged: every part has the same stop. They decide how much is still open after each take-profit.

## When a take-profit is left out

- **"Max take-profits per signal"**: the most take-profits one signal uses; the nearest are kept. A runner counts as one too, and it is the first to go. "No cap" (the default) sets no cap of its own. Example: a signal with 4 take-profits and a cap of 2 uses the two nearest; with risk sizing they share the full risk.
- **The broker's smallest lot**: a share under it cannot be placed. The farthest take-profit is left out and the size is shared again across the rest. Example: 0.02 lots on 4 take-profits opens 0.01 at TP1 and 0.01 at TP2, and lists TP3 and TP4 as not placed.
- **The position caps**: in Split on a hedging account, "Max open positions" and "Max open positions per symbol" can leave room for only some take-profits; the nearest are placed.
- **"Require full signal"**: Yes means all or nothing. If the take-profits the signal should use cannot all fit, nothing is placed and the story says how many of how many fit. No (the default) places what fits, nearest first. A signal cut by "Max take-profits per signal" counts as complete.

Every part left out is listed under "Legs not placed" in the signal's story, with its reason.

## "Max jump between take-profits"

Leaves out a take-profit that is far out of line with the others, because it is probably a typo. The app takes the signal's usual step between levels (from the entry to TP1, TP1 to TP2 and so on), and from TP3 on, a target more than this many times that step past the one before is left out, with every target after it. TP1 and TP2 are always kept. Default 5; "Off" turns it off.

Example with 5: a short on gold at 4180 with TP1 4175, TP2 4168, TP3 4155, TP4 4142, TP5 4120, TP6 4210, TP7 4200. TP6 is 90 away when the others are 5 to 22 apart, so TP6 and TP7 are left out and the trade runs with TP1 to TP5. Each left-out target is listed with the reason and a button to this setting. For a group that posts a deliberately far last target, raise it on that listener.

## "Trailing stop"

As each take-profit of a signal is reached, the stop-loss of what is still open moves forward by this rule: the other trades in Split, the rest of the position in One trade or on a netting account, runner included. Five choices:

- **"Off"**: the stop stays where it is.
- **"To the entry"**: after TP1 the stop goes to the entry and stays there.
- **"To the take-profit before"** (the default): the entry after TP1, then TP1 after TP2, TP2 after TP3.
- **"A fixed step from the entry"**: after take-profit k the stop goes to entry + k × (TP1 − entry), which puts it on the take-profit just reached.
- **"Just behind the take-profit reached"**: the stop sits "Pips behind the take-profit" (default 5) behind the take-profit just reached, the tightest of them.

Example: XAUUSD buy at 2400, stop 2390, take-profits 2410 / 2420 / 2430 and a runner. After TP1, TP2 and TP3 the stop goes to:

- "To the entry": 2400, 2400, 2400.
- "To the take-profit before": 2400, 2410, 2420.
- "A fixed step from the entry": 2410, 2420, 2430.
- "Just behind the take-profit reached" with 5 pips (0.50 on gold): 2409.50, 2419.50, 2429.50.

**"Room behind the stop (pips)"**, with "To the entry" and "To the take-profit before": the new stop goes that many pips further back, below its level on a buy and above on a sell, so a dip back to the level does not close what is still open. It suits groups that enter over a range. Default "None: exactly on the level". Example: the same gold buy on "To the take-profit before" with 20 pips of room (2.00 on gold): 2398, 2408, 2418.

Rules that always hold:

- A stop only tightens, and only a take-profit being reached moves it. A stop-out, a trade you close by hand or a runner closing never moves anything.
- If the broker keeps stops a minimum distance from the price, the stop goes as close as it allows. If the price is already past the new stop, the app closes that part at market, where the stop would have closed it.
- A signal keeps the rule in force when it was placed; changing the setting later leaves signals already open as they are. After a restart the app picks the open signals back up and keeps moving their stops.
- It needs a signal with at least two take-profits traded as Split or One trade.

"A fixed step from the entry" puts the stop where the price is at that moment, so a small pullback closes the rest at once. "To the take-profit before" and "Just behind the take-profit reached" leave more room.

## Runners

A runner is a trade with no take-profit: the part of a signal that says to hold ("TP4: hold", "runner", "TP OPEN"), or a signal that gives no target at all. A target that calls itself the runner but gives a price ("TP4 (RUNNER): 4434.73") is an ordinary take-profit. In Split and One trade a runner is added after the real take-profits and gets a share like they do; "Nearest take-profit only" and "Furthest take-profit only" leave it out.

### "Protect runners"

On by default. Once a runner is far enough in profit, the app follows its stop behind the best price it has reached, so a big move keeps most of what it made. The stop only moves in the trade's favour. While the signal's other take-profits are still being reached, the trailing stop rule moves the runner's stop too, and whichever stop protects more is used. Changes here also apply to runners already open.

- **"Measure in"**: "R — the trade's own risk" (the default) or "pips". R is the distance from the runner's entry to its original stop: on a sell at 4316 with the stop at 4324, 1R is 8.00. R means the same on gold and on EURUSD; pips suit a listener that trades one instrument. A runner with no original stop has nothing to measure R from; the app leaves its stop alone and says so, so use pips for it.
- **"Start following at"** (default 2): how far in profit the runner must be before its stop starts to follow.
- **"Keep the stop behind by"** (default 1): once following, the stop sits this far behind the best price. It must be smaller than the start, so the first move already locks in profit.

Example in R, start 2 and trail 1, the sell at 4316 with the stop at 4324: the price reaches 4300 and the stop moves to 4308; it falls to 4290, stop 4298; it bounces to 4296, the stop stays at 4298; it rises to 4298 and the runner closes there, keeping 18.00 of the move.

Example in pips, start 30 and trail 15, EURUSD buy at 1.1000: at 1.1030 the stop goes to 1.1015, at 1.1050 to 1.1035.

The app checks runners about every 10 seconds while MetaTrader is connected. To spare your broker a stream of changes, a stop moves at most once every 15 seconds, and only when it improves by at least a tenth of the trail.

### Closing runners

- **"Close runners before the weekend"** (on by default): on Friday the app closes every runner at market in the window before 17:00 New York time, when forex and metals stop trading. It is timed on New York's clock, so daylight saving and your broker's time zone make no difference. It closes runners on every instrument, crypto included; trades with a take-profit keep their stop and target over the weekend.
- **"Minutes before the weekly close"** (default 30): when that window opens, from 1 to 720 minutes. 30 means from 16:30 New York time, 23:30 on the many brokers whose server shows midnight at the close. Leave some room: spreads widen in the last minutes and some brokers stop gold early.
- **"Close runners after"** (default "Never"): closes a runner once it has been open this many hours, in profit or not, counted from its fill. Weekends count too. Example: 48 closes a runner filled on Monday at 10:00 on Wednesday at 10:00. It suits groups whose "hold" means a day.

If you trade crypto at the weekend, turn the weekend close off for that listener only.

## "If the price already passed a take-profit"

A listener setting for Market entry. A signal can arrive after the price already went through its first take-profits. "Max entry deviation" is checked first: a price further than that from the entry is skipped. Then:

- **"Skip the signal"** (the default): nothing is placed, and the story names the take-profit the price had passed.
- **"Trade the take-profits still ahead"**: the trade opens at market with the take-profits the price has not reached yet. Each keeps its number and its share (TP3 stays TP3), and the passed ones are listed as not placed. The stop is the signal's, so the risk is the same while the targets are closer. With every take-profit passed, the signal is skipped.
- **"Wait for the price to come back to the entry"**: the entry rests as a limit order with every take-profit, where the price meets the entry first on its way back. It waits for "Cancel a limit or stop order not filled after", then is cancelled; it never turns into a market order.

Example: SELL GOLD 4172–4180, SL 4184, TPs 4170 / 4168 / 4166 / 4163, arriving with the price at 4167.53. Skip does nothing. "Trade the take-profits still ahead" sells now with TP3 4166 and TP4 4163. Waiting places a sell limit at 4172 with all four take-profits.

## "Opposite-direction signals"

What a signal does when its listener already has trades or waiting orders on the same symbol the other way. Only that listener's own trades and orders count.

- **"Open it beside them"** (the default).
- **"Ask me"**: the signal waits for your approval; approving it trades it beside them.
- **"Skip it"**: skipped with the reason; the open trades stay.
- **"Close them, then trade it"**: the open trades close at market, waiting orders are cancelled, and the new signal is placed.
- **"Close them only"**: the change of direction is read as an exit, even when the new signal has levels.

The two closing choices close anything only if the new signal itself would trade, so a misread or refused signal never closes anything. On a netting account, which holds one position per symbol, "Open it beside them" is refused and an approval closes the open position first.

Example: three buys on gold from a group that now posts a sell. With "Ask me" the sell waits for you; with "Close them, then trade it" the buys close and the sell goes in.

## What needs the app running

At the broker, with your computer off: every stop-loss and take-profit of Split trades, and the stop and last target of One trade. These need the app and MetaTrader running: moving stops as targets are reached, closing the earlier shares of One trade, following runners, the weekend close and "Close runners after". With a profile's trading switched off they wait until it is on again.

## One group with its own rules

Under a listener's "Settings of its own", every setting here can have its own value: one noisy group on "Nearest take-profit only" opens one trade at TP1, while your other groups keep the profile's setting. A listener's own "Measure in" needs its own "Start following at" and "Keep the stop behind by" too. See https://relay2trade.com/help/settings-overview.md.

## If something goes wrong

- **"My stop went to TP1 right after TP1 was hit and I was stopped out."** That is "A fixed step from the entry". Choose "To the take-profit before" or "Just behind the take-profit reached".
- **"TP1 was hit but the stop of my other trades did not move."** "Trailing stop" is "Off" for the profile or the listener, only one trade was left, the broker refused the move, or MetaTrader was not running. The signal's story shows each move or refusal.
- **"With One trade the price passed TP1 and nothing closed."** MetaTrader was closed at that moment. Choose Split if your computer is not always on.
- **"One trade opened separate trades."** The trading bridge in MetaTrader is older; close MetaTrader and open it again.
- **"Some take-profits were not placed."** The lots were too small to split, a position cap was full, "Max take-profits per signal" cut them, or "Max jump between take-profits" took them as typos. "Legs not placed" gives the reason for each.
- **"My runner was closed on Friday afternoon."** "Close runners before the weekend" is on. Turn it off for the profile or one listener to keep them.
- **"The runner's stop never moves."** It has not reached "Start following at", "Protect runners" is off, or it is measured in R with no original stop. Switch "Measure in" to pips.
- **"A late signal was skipped though I wanted it."** The price had passed a take-profit; choose "Trade the take-profits still ahead" or "Wait for the price to come back to the entry" on that listener.
- **"My buys closed when the group posted a sell."** "Opposite-direction signals" is on "Close them, then trade it" or "Close them only".

## Related

- https://relay2trade.com/help/sizing-and-risk.md
- https://relay2trade.com/help/stops-and-follow-ups.md
- https://relay2trade.com/help/listeners-and-modes.md
- https://relay2trade.com/help/settings-overview.md
- https://relay2trade.com/features/take-profits
- https://relay2trade.com/features/settings