Managing open orders

Beginner Questions
1

I have had some success in placing profitable orders and a lot of success in placing loss orders. In both cases I cannot seem to manage setting stop losses and t/p prices. The only thing that works is to place an order, modify it by clicking the copy for sl and tp. Every time I set a value the response is "invalid s/l or t/p."
So, is there a tutorial someplace that will walk me through orders execution.
I have been using RSI(8) and exponential moving average and at first got some very large gainers, 200-300 pips by letting the order run, but that no longer works as well.
Also note that every order starts with a significant loss even when it eventually turns a nice profit.
I went through the baby pips school and learned a lot but must have missed something.
I have about 4+ brokers with paper accounts that behave pretty consistently.

Thanks for pointers.

Bill Barnes

2

Part of the issue is the spread. You have to account for it, which is why trades start in the negative as you catch up. Another issue is the room a broker gives you for a trade. For example Alpari US insists a SL or TP be at least 10 pips away from the current price. Then also there is price movement while you input your order.

I’m learning about these factors too, it’s one of the reasons I avoid EURNZD, the spread is often 16-20pips that I have to make up.