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Close Signal Conditions (TP/SL, Crossover, Limit)

What It Is​

Close signal conditions define when your strategy exits a position. Strateda supports four exit types: Take-Profit, Stop-Loss, Crossover exit, and Limit exit. Take-Profit and Stop-Loss can be defined as a price percentage or using ATR (Average True Range) for volatility-adaptive exits. These can be used individually or combined — TP/SL exits act as hard boundaries while indicator-based exits provide dynamic, market-responsive triggers.

Close signal conditions interface showing Take-Profit, Stop-Loss, Crossover exit, and Limit exit configuration

How to Access It​

Close conditions are configured in the Close Conditions section of the Strategy Builder at app.strateda.com. All exit types are available on all plans. However, indicator-based exits (Crossover and Limit) count toward your plan's condition limit.

What You See​

Take-Profit (TP)​

An exit that closes the position when unrealized profit reaches the specified threshold. Two modes are available:

  • Price % — The profit target as a percentage of the entry price (e.g., 2%). Fixed regardless of market conditions.
  • ATR (Average True Range) — The profit target is defined as a multiple of ATR, making it adaptive to current volatility. Parameters:
    • Value — The ATR multiplier (e.g., 2.0 means the target is 2× the ATR distance from entry).
    • Timeperiod — The lookback period for the ATR calculation (e.g., 14).

When the position's unrealized gain hits the threshold, it is closed automatically. Take-Profit is evaluated on every candle.

Stop-Loss (SL)​

An exit that closes the position when unrealized loss reaches the specified threshold. Two modes are available:

  • Price % — The maximum acceptable loss as a percentage of the entry price (e.g., 1%). Fixed regardless of market conditions.
  • ATR (Average True Range) — The stop distance is defined as a multiple of ATR, adapting to current volatility. Parameters:
    • Value — The ATR multiplier (e.g., 1.5 means the stop is 1.5× the ATR distance from entry).
    • Timeperiod — The lookback period for the ATR calculation (e.g., 14).

When the position's unrealized loss hits the threshold, it is closed automatically. Stop-Loss is evaluated on every candle.

Crossover Exit​

An indicator-based exit that closes the position when a crossover event occurs — typically the reverse of the entry crossover.

  • Indicator A — The first indicator.
  • Indicator B or Value — The second indicator or a fixed value.
  • Crossover direction — Determined automatically based on the timeperiods of Indicator 1 and Indicator 2. For buy signals, the fast timeperiod crosses above the slow timeperiod. For sell signals, the fast timeperiod crosses below the slow timeperiod. Hover over the arrow icon next to the Type field to see this reminder in the UI.

For example, if your entry is DEMA(14) crosses above EMA(14), the natural Crossover exit would be DEMA(14) crosses below EMA(14).

Limit Exit​

Closes the position when an indicator-based limit condition becomes true. The same two variants available in open signal conditions apply here — Indicator vs Fixed Value and Indicator vs Indicator. See Open Signal Conditions — Limit Condition for full parameter descriptions and examples.

The exit fires on the first candle where the limit condition is true after a position is open.

Example: close a long position when RSI(14) rises above 70 — use Variant A with RSI(14), limit 70, indicator > limit.

How to Interpret It​

How Exit Types Interact​

When multiple exit types are active, the first one triggered closes the position. Here is how they work together:

  • TP and SL as safety boundaries — Whether set as a price percentage or ATR multiple, TP and SL provide an envelope around every trade. They ensure no single trade exceeds your risk tolerance (SL) or misses a profit target (TP), regardless of what indicators are doing. ATR-based exits automatically widen in volatile markets and tighten in calm ones.
  • Indicator-based exits as dynamic triggers — Crossover and Limit exits respond to changing market conditions. They may close a trade before TP or SL is reached if the market signal shifts.
  • Combined approach — A common configuration uses a Crossover exit as the primary exit signal with TP and SL as protective boundaries. The indicator exit handles normal market behavior; the percentage exits handle extreme moves.

Priority of Exit Types​

All active exit conditions are evaluated on each candle. Whichever condition is satisfied first triggers the close. There is no explicit priority ranking — it is purely a matter of which threshold is reached first in the price action.

tip

Indicators available for strategy conditions are grouped by category — trend, momentum, volatility, volume, and price-derived — in the Indicator Library. For parameter definitions and descriptions of the most commonly used indicators, see Configuring Indicators.

Example​

A strategy with layered exit conditions:

Entry: DEMA(14) crosses above EMA(14) on M30 candles (Buy)

Exit conditions:

  • Take-Profit: 3%
  • Stop-Loss: 1.5%
  • Crossover Exit: DEMA(14) crosses below EMA(14)

In this configuration, the crossover exit closes the trade when the momentum signal reverses. The 3% take-profit locks in gains if the move extends rapidly before a crossover occurs. The 1.5% stop-loss limits downside if the trade moves against you immediately. Most trades will exit via the crossover; the TP and SL handle the tails.