Bot Settings: Trade Stop, Trailing Stops, and Launch on Stop
The Trade Stop section controls how a bot cuts losses: what triggers a stop, who manages the order, how aggressively it fills, and what happens afterward. This reference covers every setting in the section of the bot form, including trailing stops and launching a follow-up trade after a stop.
Many controls here appear only for certain choices. Each entry below notes when the control is visible. For a task-oriented walkthrough, start with Stop Losses Explained.
Stop Loss Type
Stop Loss Type turns monitored stops on and picks the math that triggers them. Choose Disabled to run without a stop.
| Type | Triggers when |
|---|---|
| Percent Loss | The trade's value moves against you by a percentage of the opening order value. You set the threshold in the Stop Percent Trigger field. |
| Dollar Loss | The trade's mark moves a set dollar amount beyond the opening price: added to the open credit on net-credit trades, subtracted from the open price on net-debit trades. |
| Underlying Points | The position is a set number of points in the money or out of the money, based on where the underlying is trading. |
| Underlying Percent | Same idea as Underlying Points, measured as a percent distance instead of points. |
| Fixed Delta | The option delta reaches the target you set. |
| Relative Delta | The delta moves a set amount from its value at open. |
| Short/Long Ratio | The ratio of total short premium to total long premium crosses your threshold. Only available with Net Position groupings. |
Stop Controller Type, Stop Order Type, and Stop Based On
Stop Controller Type sets who manages the stop order:
- Bot Algo is the default. tradeSteward monitors the trade dynamically and submits stop orders once your parameters are exceeded, with the retry and slippage behavior you pick under Stop Speed.
- Broker Resting places a standing stop order directly at your broker. Because of broker API limitations, choosing it disables profit targets, limits the trade to one leg as the primary stop trigger (one short leg or one long leg), and restricts your grouping options to Long Only or Short Only. Broker Resting stops always go in as stop-market orders, and they are not available for Underlying Points, Fixed Delta, or Relative Delta stops.
Two extra controls appear for Broker Resting:
- Stop Order Type (Schwab accounts only) picks the trigger price: Bid/Ask triggers on the bid for a short leg or the ask for a long leg, while STD triggers on the option's last price. Orders are submitted good-till-canceled.
- Stop Based On sets the price the stop target calculates against: Stop Leg Only uses the opening price of the leg being stopped, and Entire Trade uses the opening price of the whole position, all legs included.
The stop value inputs
One value input appears, matching the Stop Loss Type you chose:
- Stop Percent Trigger (Percent Loss): the stop target as a percent of the opening price. On a short or net-credit trade, a stop at 3.5 times the opening credit is entered as 250 (350 percent loss minus the 100 percent open credit). On a long or net-debit trade, a 30 percent loss is entered as 70, the percent of premium remaining.
- Stop Dollar Loss (Dollar Loss): the dollar distance from the opening price. Entering 2.00 stops a net-credit trade when its mark rises 2.00 above the opening credit, or a net-debit trade when the mark falls 2.00 below the opening price.
- Stop Underlying Points or Stop Underlying Percent (the two Underlying types): the distance from the underlying that triggers the stop. Negative values are allowed. These pair with Stop When ITM or OTM, which sets the direction: with a 200 call and 5 points, In the Money stops when the underlying rises above 205, while Out of the Money stops when it falls below 195.
- Stop Loss Delta (Fixed Delta and Relative Delta): the target delta as an unsigned number from 0 to 100 for puts or calls.
- Short/Long Ratio Stop plus Short/Long Ratio Stop Direction (Short/Long Ratio): the ratio is the summed mark of all short legs divided by the summed mark of all long legs, so 2.0 means the shorts are worth twice the longs. Direction Above stops at or above the target ratio, Below stops at or below it.
Broker Resting side controls
Broker Resting stops can only stop out one side of the trade, so two dedicated controls replace the normal groupings:
- Side to Stop: Long Only closes just the long leg when it falls below the stop target; Short Only closes just the short leg when it rises above the target. The other side is unaffected by the resting order itself.
- Close Remaining Legs After Stop: when enabled, the opposite-side legs are closed automatically after the resting stop fires, each with its own market-price closing order.
Stop Speed
Stop Speed (Bot Algo stops) controls how aggressively the bot confirms a stop and works the closing order: how many confirming hits are needed, how long it waits between checks, and how quickly orders are canceled and replaced with more slippage.
| Speed | Confirmation | Order handling |
|---|---|---|
| PDQ | Stops on the first hit | Immediately sends a market order to close |
| Lightning | 1 hit out of 1 check | Cancel/replace after 1.5 seconds, 5 limit attempts before market, 80% initial slippage, 10% more per attempt |
| Turbo | 2 hits out of 4 checks, 2-second interval | Cancel/replace after 3 seconds, 5 limit attempts before market, 62% initial slippage, 7.5% more per attempt |
| Fast | 2 hits out of 3 checks, 8-second interval | Cancel/replace after 8 seconds, 4 limit attempts before market, 65% initial slippage, 10% more per attempt |
| Normal | 2 hits out of 3 checks, 20-second interval | Cancel/replace after 15 seconds, 4 limit attempts before market, 60% initial slippage, 12% more per attempt |
| Slow | 2 hits out of 4 checks, 30-second interval | Cancel/replace after 20 seconds, 4 limit attempts before market, 52% initial slippage, 10% more per attempt |
| Turtle | 3 hits out of 5 checks, 60-second interval | Cancel/replace after 60 seconds, 4 limit attempts before market, 65% initial slippage, 10% more per attempt |
| Custom | Your settings | Your settings |
PDQ is unavailable for multi-leg trades on tastytrade accounts.
Choosing Custom reveals two groups of fields. Stop Trigger Settings control confirmation: Stop After (hits required), Out Of (the check window), and Check Delay After First Hit (seconds between checks once a hit occurs). Stop Order Settings control the closing order: First Attempt Slippage (0% is the near side of the spread, 50% is the mid, 100% is the far side), Replace Order After (seconds before cancel/replace), Add'l Slippage/Order (extra slippage each replacement), and Market Order After (limit attempts before converting to a market order).
Stop Groupings and Triggers
Groupings decide which legs are evaluated together and which legs close when the stop fires. Partial Trade Stops close part of the position and keep monitoring the rest:
- Each Leg: every leg is evaluated individually; an offending leg closes on its own. Long legs close below the stop threshold, short legs close above it.
- Verticals: detected call or put verticals stop independently. In an iron condor, the put spread and call spread each stop on their own. Debit spreads stop below the target, credit spreads above it.
- Each Short: only the offending short leg closes; other shorts and all longs are untouched.
- All Shorts on Short: when any short leg violates the stop, all short legs close. Long legs have no stop and stay open.
- Net Position-Stop Shorts: the net delta or net credit/debit of the whole trade is evaluated, and all short legs close when it violates the trigger. Long legs count toward the calculation but are left open. Not valid for the Underlying Points and Underlying Percent types.
Entire Trade Stops close everything at once:
- Entire Trade on Short: any short leg violating the trigger closes the whole trade.
- Entire Trade on Long: any long leg violating the trigger closes the whole trade.
- Net Position: the whole trade closes when its net delta or net credit/debit violates the trigger. Deltas are negative for puts and positive for calls; marks are positive for longs and negative for shorts. Not valid for the Underlying Points and Underlying Percent types.
Two more controls appear for delta-based stops with a Net grouping: Net Delta Stop Direction (Above stops when net delta is above the target, Below when below it) and Net Delta Absolute Value (Absolute Value treats a net delta of -21 the same as 21; Signed Value keeps the sign).
Stop Adjustments
The Stop Adjustments toggle lets the bot change its stop target as the trade ages. With it enabled:
- Stop Adjustments on Days in Trade or Days to Expiration chooses how the schedule counts days: To Expiration keys rows to days remaining until expiration, In Trade keys them to days since the trade opened.
- Stop Adjustments by Time holds the schedule itself. Each row sets an Adjustment Time, the new Stop Adjustment target that takes effect at that time, and an optional Disable Stops switch that turns stops off entirely from that time forward instead of adjusting them.
Trailing Stop Configuration
The Trailing Stops toggle closes a trade based on a stop level that tightens as the trade becomes more profitable. Its companions:
- Trail Calculated By: Percentage works in percent profit. With a 30 percent Profit Trigger and a 10 percent Allowance, trailing arms once profit first exceeds 30 percent, and if the best profit seen is 35 percent, the trade stops when profit drops below 25 percent. Opt Dollars works in option dollars per one quantity ($1.00 equals $100 real dollars). A $2.00 trigger with a $1.00 allowance arms at $2.00 profit and stops when profit drops $1.00 from the best seen.
- Profit Trigger for Trailing Stop: the best-seen profit that arms the trail. Once crossed, the trailing stop stays armed for the life of the trade.
- Trailing Stop Allowance: how far profit may revert from its maximum before the trade stops out.
- Trailing Stop Speed: the same speed ladder as Stop Speed (PDQ through Turtle, or Custom). Choosing Custom reveals the trailing versions of the trigger and order fields: Stop After, Out Of, and Check Interval After First Hit, plus First Attempt Slippage, Replace Order After, Add'l Slippage/Order, and Market Order After.
Launch New Trade After Stop
This sub-section fires a follow-up trade when all or any portion of a trade is closed by a stop:
- Launch on Stop: the master toggle.
- Launch on Stop Bot Selection: which bot opens the new trade, this one or any other. Only enabled bots are offered; if a previously saved target has since been disabled, it shows with a DISABLED label until you pick a new one.
- Launch on Stop Quantity: Use Bot Settings to size by the launched bot's own settings, or a fixed 1 to 50 contracts.
- Launch on Stop Delay: No delay, or a wait before the launch begins: 10-second steps up to 3 minutes, 30-second steps to 10 minutes, then 1-minute steps to 15 minutes. To cancel a pending launch during the delay window, disable the bot on View Bots or pause autotrading.
- No Launch After Time: an optional cutoff in U.S. market (Eastern) time. Toggle Enabled and pick an hour, minute, and second between 9:00:00 AM and 4:00 PM; choosing the 4 o'clock hour locks the minutes and seconds to :00, the market close. The check runs against the projected launch time, the stop's fill time plus the Launch on Stop Delay: a projection later than the cutoff skips the launch and notes the skip in the bot's activity log, while one landing exactly at the cutoff still fires. Leave the toggle off to always launch.
For guided walkthroughs of these settings in action, see Stop Losses Explained, Stop Adjustments and Trailing Stops, and Launch a New Trade After a Stop.