# Trailing

Trailing Stop Loss is a dynamic risk management tool that **moves your Stop Loss closer as price moves in your favor**, helping you **lock in profit** while still giving the trade room to breathe. In SmartChoise EA, the trailing system supports **multi-level trailing** (different trailing behavior at different profit stages) and lets you choose **which trades** in the chain should be trailed.

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### What these options control

#### 1) Which trades get trailed

**Trades to trail** decides how many open trades will use trailing:

* `0` = trail **all trades** (including recovery trades)
*  \> 0 trail only the **first N trades** (based on open order)

This is especially useful with Recovery: many users trail only the early trades so recoveries aren’t closed too early.

***

#### 2) When trailing starts (activation threshold)

**Trailing Start threshold in points** sets the minimum profit (in points) required before trailing becomes active:

*  `empty` = trailing will activate based on Stop Loss setting
* A list (e.g., `1000,2000,2500`) = activates trailing in **levels**, each level starting at its own profit threshold

Important rule: when you use Trailing Start, it should be **strictly increasing**, and it should be **greater than spread / stop level** to avoid broker restrictions.

***

#### 3) How far the Stop Loss follows price (trailing distance)

**Trailing Stop Loss in points** defines the distance between price and the trailing Stop Loss:

*  `empty` = trailing is disabled
* A list (e.g., `700,600,500`) = **multi-level** trailing distances (distance can tighten as profit grows)

You can use it in two ways:

* **With Trailing Start**: explicit level pairs (Start + Distance)
* **Without Trailing Start**: the EA can auto-build activation thresholds from the distances (cumulative logic)

Also note: Trailing requires a valid trailing distance; Trailing Start without Trailing Stop Loss is invalid.

***

#### 4) How often the Stop Loss is allowed to move (step)

**Trailing Step in points** controls how “smooth” trailing is:

*  `empty` = SL can update continuously (tick-by-tick behavior)
* A list (e.g., `50,100`) = different step sizes per trailing level (last value is reused if levels exceed the list)

Bigger steps mean fewer SL updates (sometimes too few), so keep step values realistic
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### How the 3 inputs work together (quick mental model)

1. **Trailing Start** = *when* trailing is allowed to begin
2. **Trailing Stop Loss** = *how far behind price* SL sits once trailing is active
3. **Trailing Step** = *how often* SL is allowed to advance
   {% endhint %}

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### Small example (multi-level trailing)

If you set:

* Trailing Start = `1000,2000`
* Trailing Stop Loss = `700,600`
* Trailing Step = `50`

Then:

* From **+1000 points** profit → trailing uses **700** distance, SL moves in **50-point** increments
* From **+2000 points** profit → trailing tightens to **600** distance, still moving in **50-point** increments
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### Practical notes

* Trailing only makes sense if trades aren’t being closed too early by other profit rules; otherwise trailing may never get a chance to activate.
* You can also toggle trailing from the chart panel; if trailing is enabled from the panel while disabled in settings, the EA uses a default trailing value (to keep protection on).
  {% endhint %}

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[Number of Trades to trail](/smartchoise-manual/options/trailing/number-of-trades-to-trail.md)
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[Trailing Stop Loss in points](/smartchoise-manual/options/trailing/trailing-stop-loss-in-points.md)
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[Trailing Start threshold in points](/smartchoise-manual/options/trailing/trailing-start-threshold-in-points.md)
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[Trailing Step in points](/smartchoise-manual/options/trailing/trailing-step-in-points.md)
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