Trigger Types

Triggers specify the price pattern that will trigger a Stop, If Touched order, or Activation rule. This feature is designed to help the trader mitigate the risk of a bad price tick triggering a stop order inadvertently.

  There is no guarantee that this feature will prevent all circumstances of a bad price tick triggering a stop order or prevent a bad stop order fill price.

 From the TradeStation platform, access using the menu bar File > Preferences > TradeStation Order Entry and select Options > Triggers.

Stop/If Touched Trigger Types

Controls the TradeStation order server settings for stop order trigger types for all asset classes.

  • Select an item from the drop-down list to use as the trigger for a Stop or If Touched order.

Definitions

  • Bid/Ask and Ask/Bid triggers use your order side (Buy/Cover or Sell/Sell Short) to determine which tick price to use:
    • Stop orders = Bid/Ask = Sell on Bid tick/Buy on Ask tick
    • Stop orders = Ask/Bid = Sell on Ask tick/Buy on Bid tick
    • If Touched orders = Bid/Ask = Buy on Ask tick/Sell on Bid tick
    • If Touched orders = Ask/Bid = Buy on Bid tick/Sell on Ask tick
  • A Double Trade Tick (DTT) refers to two consecutive ticks, and Twice Trade Tick (TTT) refers to two ticks (can be non-consecutive) within the same trading day.
  • NBBO refers to National Best Bid and Offer (Offer means Ask).

  When working with multi-leg options orders, there are no trade ticks, so natural pricing is used. See below for examples of trigger types for all asset classes.

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Trigger Types for Stop and If Touched Orders

The following describe the use of single, double, and twice triggers with stop and if touched orders.

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Examples

The following are examples of different types of Stop and If Touched triggers. Click an arrow to expand an item, or again to collapse.