My take profit line got hit, but MT4 didn't do anything?

Beginner Questions
1

Here’s the screenshot.

tp.jpg1462×367 72 KB

It even exceeded the TP line.

It supposed to stop my order and take profit already right?

Is it because my broker is adding the spread? so even if it hit the TP line, it needs to cover the spread as well?

It’s like, if I want $10 TP and the spread is $2. I need to set a TP of $12 and the TP line is just for the $10?

Anyone can confirm this? My borker is FXPro.

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2

Hi @matzhee,

Your MT4 charts display the bid (sell) price in the market. However, when you are in a short (sell) position, then it is the ask (buy) price that must reach your take profit level.

Therefore, you must take into account the bid-ask spread. Our previous post explains this in more detail: Take profit in sell order does not works! reason?

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3

@FOREX.com

Thanks! So in layman’s term, they do include the spread for the TP to get triggered right?

and the TP line is for my target pip only not including the spread right?

If YES, Is there a way MT4 can automatically add the spread on the TP line?

4

Hi @matzhee,

We believe the way you say it makes it more complicated. Try to think of it in the following way:

If you buy to open a trade, then you must sell to close it. That means you enter at the ask price (which is the chart price plus the spread) and exit at the bid price (which is the chart price).

If you sell to open a trade, then you must buy to close it. That means you enter at the bid price (which is the chart price) and exit at the ask price (which is the chart price plus the spread).

Either way you pay the spread only once. When you look at the chart, what matters is whether you are interested in the buy price or the sell price.

If you want to know the buy price, then you must add the spread. If you want to know the sell price, then you don’t need to add anything to the chart price you see.

The closest functionality to this built into the MT4 platform is the option to “Show Ask line”.

  1. Right-click on your chart.
  2. Select “Properties” from the pop up menu.
  3. Check the box that says “Show Ask line” and hit OK.

That will show the current Ask price in the market with a horizontal line on your chart.

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5

@FOREX.com

So spread has nothing to do with it?

For my TP to get triggered, the asking price must be included, am I right?

So if my TP is set to 10pip and asking price is 2pip. For my tp to get triggered it should be 12pip?

Kindly excuse my ignorance. Kinda still confusing to me.

6

Try thinking of it in terms of prices instead of pips, and it might become clearer:

  1. At what price did you open the trade?
  2. Was it a long (buy) or short (sell) position?
  3. At what price did you set your take profit?
7

@FOREX.com

Thank you very much! I now get it.

My question now is, Let’s say I go short, is there a way to include the ask price to the TP line?

9

Matzhee.
Have you asked fxpro?

1 Like
10

It’s our pleasure, @matzhee. Glad we could help you!

Please refer to this solution we provided in an earlier post:

11

I see, you already got your answer! By the way, try to use few pips (3-6) wider SL & tight TP, thus you can avoid this kind of scenario.