Trailing Market if Touched for Desktop

The IBKR Trailing Market if Touched order type is like the Trailing stop order except that while both order types can be used for opening and closing, investors typically use the Trailing Stop to close a position while using the Trailing Market if touched to open a position. The Trailing Market if Touched serves as an entry strategy to establish new positions at favorable prices by creating a dynamic entry point that adjusts as the market moves away from your desired entry direction but will remain fixed once the market reverses direction.

In Desktop the investor creates an order ticket then they then click on “Advanced” in the lower right-hand corner to bring up the Advanced Order Ticket window. Once the Advanced Order Ticket window is up, the investor selects the quantity and selects Trailing Market-if-Touched in the order type drop-down In the Description section.

Setting the trigger price is optional, if the investor does not set the price, it will be automatically calculated using the trailing amount.  The investor sets the trailing amount in either dollar or percentage terms. To fully understand how the Trailing Market if Touched orders works let’s review the following example:

An investor believes stock ABC is going to drop before it reverses its trend and increases in price. They set up the Buy Trailing Market if Touched for 100 shares with a $2.00 trailing amount.

The investor buys stock ABC for $94.52, or $$5.48 lower than when the order was placed.

When ready the investor can either preview the order or click submit. Details of the order can be seen by clicking on the Orders tab in the Portfolio screen.