OrderType.SELL_TO_CLOSE after a certain profit/loss is hit?

[hashy]

Hi. I'm working on my first Strategy to hopefully do some back testing. I have everything pretty much working except for the very end. I have what I'm calling signal1 defined and a order to buy:
AddOrder(OrderType.BUY_TO_OPEN, signal1, tickColor = GetColor(0), arrowColor = GetColor(0), name = "Long");

What I can't figure out is how to code a sell to close order after price hits my target or stop. For simplicity's sake let's say I want to sell to close once price is $1.00 (up or down) from my entry price.

AddOrder(OrderType.SELL_TO_CLOSE ???

I assume it's going to be something with entryprice, close, and/or ohlc, but I'm new to ThinkScript and can't figure it out. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[tomsk]

Assuming you have a variable called entryPrice that calculates your entry price
You now define your sell condition in the variable sellCond as well as your sell order.
I prefer using BUY_AUTO and SELL_AUTO as it reverses each other

def sellCond = close crosses above entryPrice + 1;
AddOrder(OrderType.SELL_AUTO, sellCond, tickcolor = GetColor(1), arrowcolor = GetColor(1), name = "Sell");

 

[hashy]

Thank you so much. Not only for answering my questions but all the other stuff you contribute on the site. Seriously, it is appreciated.

 

[tomsk]

Thank you so much. Not only for answering my questions but all the other stuff you contribute on the site. Seriously, it is appreciated.

Not at all, glad you found it useful. I try to help whenever I can

 

[hashy]

Not at all, glad you found it useful. I try to help whenever I can

Is there a way to make it sell when price hits $1 instead of waiting for the bar to close? I've tried OHLC4 but that doesn't seem to do it? Thanks again

 

[tomsk]

Unfortunately no.
The strategy signal will always be on the bar following the condition regardless of what you do.
You're aware that the strategy is just simulated trade, it does not turn into a live trade.

 

[hashy]

Okay, thanks. And yes I realize it's not a live trade. I'm just trying to automate some backtesting instead of manually crawling through charts for hours on end. Thanks again

 

[tomsk]

@hashy That's the spirit, start with simple tests and as you gain more experience you can tackle more complex tests
That's how I learnt

 

[Raphaell22]

@tomsk can you change aggregation period so you can sell at lower timeframe?

 

[tomsk]

You will find that strategies are similar to studies in that you can without a doubt set timeframes to whatever aggregation period you see fit. However please do bear in mind that there are rules for viewing aggregation periods on charts, you can read about it at the following link

https://usethinkscript.com/threads/...s-mtf-labels-for-thinkorswim.1129/#post-10157

 

[Raphaell22]

Thanks tomsk. I will check that. Do you know if there is a way to get the barnumber() of the last entryprice(). Could we than reference from the barnumber from a different study?

 

[tomsk]

Presumably your entryPrice must be based on some condition, so one way of doing so is that once that condition is triggered you capture the bar number. That should theoretically work. Note that you cannot reference a custom study from another custom study, I suppose the same would apply for strategies.

 

[Raphaell22]

Thank you Tomsk. I was reading what you wrote on the other thread and it is really helpful. thank you very much