The EXIT condition can be used to exit trades initiated by the SAME order block. There are two variants of this exit structure: EXIT and EXIT INDIVIDUAL. EXIT (similar to EXIT Combined in the Exit Action window, discussed below) exits all orders initiated by the order block. EXIT INDIVIDUAL can be used to exit only those trades that meet security specific conditions (discussed below). Specifying either type of exit condition is similar to specifying the WHEN conditions for the trade.

The EXIT INDIVIDUAL condition allows greater flexibility in exiting trades when more than one security is involved in the same order block. The query below shows an example where both US and BP are bought at the same time. If we also want to exit both US and BP at the same time, we can just use the EXIT condition. If, however, we want to exit a trade (i.e. US or BP) only if the trade becomes unprofitable, we can use EXIT INDIVIDUAL. In this case, regardless of what happens to US, the BP trade is exited only if it becomes unprofitable. Similarly, US is exited if it becomes unprofitable. An application of this might be to first initiate a pseudo-hedged trade and then lift one ‘leg’ of the hedge when that ‘leg’ becomes unprofitable.

In the example below, also note how additional order blocks are used to exit the profitable trades.

The following query highlights some of the various ways of exiting a trade.

The first block enters a trade in both US and BP. Note the EXIT INDIVIDUAL condition in this block. This exit type triggers an exit only for the security that meets the conditions. In this example, if only US has open equity less than –500, then only the US trade is exited. On the other hand, if the exit type were EXIT (meaning, EXIT COMBINED) and not EXIT INDIVIDUAL, both US and BP would have been exited when either lost more than 500.

The second and third order blocks highlight the use of the Exit trade order. Block 2 handles the exit for US while block 3 takes care of BP.

   1: ORDER 
     1.1: Buy 1 contract of US 
       Enter on the close 
     1.2: Buy 1 contract of BP 
       Enter on the close 
     1.3: Exit individual 1.1: on the Close 
   WHEN 
       Date is after 1/1/1990 
     AND 
       Close of US is more than 30 day highest of US  1 day ago  
     AND 
       Close of BP is more than 30 day highest of BP  1 day ago  
   EXIT individual 
       open_equity  is less than -500 

   2: ORDER 
     2.1: Exit individual 1.1: on the Close 
   WHEN 
       Close of US is less than 30 day lowest of US  1 day ago  

   3: ORDER 
     3.1: Exit individual 1.2: on the Close 
   WHEN 
       Close of BP is less than 30 day lowest of BP  1 day ago

Another way to exit a trade is to place an Exit trade order () in the Exit Trade area () of the Order window. The main benefit of this structure is that it can be used to exit orders and trades initiated by another order block. Each trade order can be referenced by unique labels (1.1, 1.2, etc., in the example below). This allows the behavior of one block to influence the behavior of another. Also, as with the EXIT condition described above, this structure also has two variants: Exit Combined and Exit Individual. The steps involved in using the Exit order are shown below.

A new window displays to add the Exit information.

Perhaps the simplest way to exit a trade is when an opposite trade signal is generated. To exit a trade when a reverse signal is generated, select the check box for Exit On Reverse Signal in the Execute Options window (from the menu bar, select Options>Execute Options then select the Order tab) (see and below). Exit on Reverse Signal is the system default.

The following shows a query that would be used with the Exit on Reverse Signal setting.

   1: ORDER 
     1.1: Buy 1 contract of US 
       Enter on the close 
   WHEN 
       Date is after 1/1/1980 
     AND 
       Close of US crosses above 30 day average of US  

   2: ORDER 
     2.1: Sell 1 contract of US 
       Enter on the close 
   WHEN 
       Date is after 1/1/1980 
     AND 
       Close of US crosses below 30 day average of US

This exit type Maintain Positions Overnight is listed in the Execute Options window (from the menu bar select Options>Execute Options then select the Order tab). This option controls the treatment of open trades at the end of the day. Uncheck this option if all open trades are to be exited at the end of the day. Otherwise (with this option selected), all open positions will be maintained until the next day and the trade will have to be exited via other methods.

Some price based exit rules (stops and objectives, for example) can be specified directly in the Exit Options area of the Order window. The main benefit of this structure is that it is a convenient way to specify trailing stops and moving objectives. The system takes care of updating stops and objectives as the trade progresses.

Stop-loss and trail stop-loss are two types of loss control stops employed in XMIM. In the Exit Options area of the Order window they are called Exit Loss Value and Exit Loss Trail. Exit Loss Value is the same as the traditional money management stop. It can be used to specify the initial stop loss point. Exit Loss Trail can be used to specify a trailing stop that moves with the market as the trade develops in the expected direction. In stop-loss and trail stop-loss, 100 and $100 is different. 100 is price and $100 is value and they are not interchangeable. The system ensures that if a trailing stop is used, it always moves to protect greater and greater profits. For example, in a long position, the trailing stops will always be moving up with the market. The system will ignore a trailing stop calculation that is below the current trailing stop value. If both Exit Loss Value and Exit Loss Trail are used, the Exit Loss Trail is ignored until it protects greater profits than the Exit Loss Value. In the Order windows, the Exit on Open, Close, or Market buttons can be selected to govern when the stop-loss orders are checked and executed. An example of a stop-loss order is presented below.

   1: ORDER 
     1.1: Buy 1 contract of US 
       Enter on the close 
       Exit with stop_loss at entry_price  - 0.005 
         trail stop_loss at 4 day lowest of US  1 day ago  - 0.003

Exit Profit Value and Exit Profit Trail: There are also two types of profit objective exits in the Exit Options area of the Order window. In fact, Exit Profit Value and Exit Profit Trail are exact mirror images of Exit Loss Value and Exit Loss Trail. An interesting use of Exit Profit Value and Exit Profit Trail objectives might be to exit a trade when the market exhibits extraordinary momentum in the favorable direction. Of course, such a trade should be exited when the market is expected to reverse or consolidate. As with Exit Loss Value, Exit Profit Value specifies the initial profit objective. Exit Profit Trail can be used to specify a profit objective that always moves with the market as the trade develops in the expected direction. An example of profit objectives is presented below.

   1: ORDER 
     1.1: Buy 1 contract of US 
       Enter on the close 
       Exit with stop_loss at entry_price  - 0.005 
         trail stop_loss at 4 day lowest of US  1 day ago  - 0.003 
         take profit at entry_price  + 0.006 
         trail profit at High of US 1 day ago

This section will describe how the system executes Limit and Stop orders: