Can You Set Relative Take Profit and Stop Loss Based on Fill Price in Tradovate?

Fact checked by
Mike Christensen, CFOA
January 20, 2025
Tradovate does not support setting take profit and stop loss orders relative to the fill price. Due to execution delays and lack of conditional bracket orders, traders must either use predefined price levels or manage exits manually.

Does Tradovate Support Relative Take Profit and Stop Loss?

Currently, Tradovate does not support setting a take profit and stop loss relative to the fill price. This limitation makes it challenging to automatically calculate exit levels based on the actual executed entry price.

TradersPost could theoretically build a workaround where the entry order is submitted first, then the take profit and stop loss orders are placed after the fill price is confirmed. However, this approach has a critical risk—a short window where the position remains unprotected. If the market moves quickly, the trade could experience unexpected losses before the stop-loss order is in place.

Why This Is a Limitation in Tradovate

1. No Built-In Conditional Bracket Orders – Tradovate does not allow take profit and stop loss orders to be linked conditionally. If one is filled, the other does not automatically cancel.

2. Execution Delay – Orders would have to be placed in two separate steps:

• First, the entry order is executed.

• Then, the stop loss and take profit orders are submitted based on the fill price.

• During this process, the trade remains exposed without a protective stop.

Workarounds and Considerations

Manually Adjust Exit Orders – Traders can monitor their fills and manually set stop loss and take profit levels accordingly.

Use Fixed Price Offsets – Instead of setting exits based on the fill price, traders can predefine fixed price levels when placing orders.

Explore Alternative Brokers – Some brokers offer true bracket order support, where take profit and stop loss orders are conditionally linked at the time of entry.

Conclusion

At this time, there is no reliable way to set a relative take profit and stop loss based on the fill price in Tradovate. While TradersPost could develop a workaround, the risk of unprotected trades during execution makes this approach impractical. Traders needing bracket order functionality may want to explore brokers that fully support conditional exits.

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