Trailing Stops Using Bid and Ask Prices in MQL5

Summary

This document describes an MQL5 method for trailing stop losses on open positions. A function runs on each tick, loops through positions, and uses bid prices for long positions and ask prices for short positions to calculate a stop level at a configurable distance. It preserves the take-profit value when modifying a position and attempts to set an initial stop after price moves favorably, then advance the stop as the market continues to move.

The material is an implementation example rather than a tested trading strategy: it provides code and setup notes, but no performance evidence or market-specific guidance. The logic includes an apparent weakness for short positions: its test for a missing stop loss compares the stop with the open price in a way that may fail when no stop is set. Users should also account for broker stop-distance rules, symbol point size, and trade modification errors, none of which the document discusses.

Key ideas

• The example checks for open positions on every price tick and applies trailing logic to each one.
• It calculates long-position stops from the bid and short-position stops from the ask.
• A configurable distance controls how far the stop trails the market price.
• The position modification calls retain the existing take-profit level.
• The code does not address broker constraints or report whether stop modifications succeed.

Tags

This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.