Bracket Order
An entry order submitted together with its stop loss and take profit.
Also called: bracket · entry with stop and target
Written by Javier Sánchez Ros
In plain language
A bracket packages all three decisions into one submission: the entry, the level where you are wrong, and the level where you are right.
Once the entry fills, both exits go live. When either one triggers, the other is automatically canceled.
The practical value is that it forces the exits to be defined before the position exists, when you are still thinking clearly.
Worked through
One ticket: entry, stop and target submitted together
- Entry limit
- $18.20
- Stop
- $17.60
- Target
- $19.40
- Orders live the moment you fill
- both
The stop and the target are attached before the position exists. The instant the entry fills, both are working — no window in which the trade is open and unprotected, and no separate action required from a trader who is now watching a live position instead of a plan.
That window is where discipline actually fails. It is very easy to intend to place a stop and then not do it, because by the time the entry fills the trade is already moving and every instinct says watch it for a moment first. A bracket removes the opportunity to make that decision badly.
It also forces the ratio to be stated up front. You cannot submit this ticket without naming both exits, which means the risk/reward is decided while you are still deciding whether to take the trade at all — rather than discovered afterwards, when the answer can no longer change anything.
Two things worth checking on your platform: whether filling one leg automatically cancels the other, and what happens to the bracket on a partial fill. The answers differ between brokers, and finding out during a live trade is expensive.
Why it matters
Brackets make the disciplined version of a trade the default version. The stop is already working before you have any emotional stake in the outcome.
Common mistakes
- Placing the bracket and then manually widening the stop once the trade is open.
- Using identical bracket distances across instruments with very different volatility.
Keep exploring
These concepts are connected. Understanding one usually makes the next one easier.
A pair of orders where filling one automatically cancels the other.
A predefined exit that closes a losing trade before the loss becomes serious.
A predefined price where a winning trade is closed automatically.
The price at which you open a position.
A written set of rules defining what you trade, how you size it, and when you exit.