FlowPilot enters with a fixed 16-tick target and 16-tick stop. Two optional tools change what happens in between: a break-even move that is on by default, and a trailing stop that is off by default. Each one trades some full losses for some smaller wins, and getting that trade-off right is mostly about your bracket.
The four settings
| Setting | Default | Suggested |
|---|---|---|
| Break-Even Trigger (Ticks) | 11 | 50 - 75% of Take Profit |
| Break-Even Offset (Ticks) | 1 | 0 - 2 |
| Trailing Stop Trigger (Ticks) | 0 (off) | 0, or between the break-even trigger and the target |
| Trailing Stop (Ticks) | 6 | 4 - 12 |
How the break-even move works
Once a trade is Break-Even Trigger ticks in profit, FlowPilot moves the stop to the entry price plus Break-Even Offset ticks, on the profit side. It happens once per position.
A worked example on ES, where one tick is 0.25 points:
- Long entry at 5000.00. Stop at 4996.00 (16 ticks), target at 5004.00 (16 ticks).
- Price reaches 5002.75, which is 11 ticks in profit.
- The stop moves to 5000.25, entry plus 1 tick.
- From here the trade either reaches the target or exits around 1 tick in profit, before slippage.
The offset exists for costs. An offset of 0 is a true break-even, which means commission is not covered and a "break-even" exit is a small loss. The trigger has to be lower than Take Profit to have any effect, and the offset should stay smaller than the trigger.
Choosing the trigger
- Earlier trigger: fewer full losses, but more trades are knocked out at break-even before reaching the target. The guide's Conservative profile uses 8.
- Later trigger: fewer break-even exits, but more trades come all the way back to the full stop. The Active profile uses 12.
- 0 turns it off. Every trade is then decided by the target or the stop alone.
How the trailing stop works
With a Trailing Stop Trigger above 0, once the trade's open profit reaches that many ticks, the stop starts to follow price at Trailing Stop ticks behind it. It only moves in your favour.
One detail changes how it behaves: the trail is checked once per bar, when a new bar starts. It does not follow every tick. On a fast chart it updates often. On slow bars it can lag well behind price, and a sharp move inside one bar will not tighten the stop until the bar closes.
Where the trail fits with a fixed target
FlowPilot keeps its profit target in place. So with the default 16-tick target, a trail only matters between its trigger and the target. If you want a trail to do more work, the target has to be wide enough to leave it room. The guide suggests placing the trail trigger between the break-even trigger and the target.
- Looser trail (more ticks): more room, more open profit given back.
- Tighter trail (fewer ticks): keeps more profit, but small pullbacks stop the trade out.
Testing these settings
FlowPilot can be backtested in the NinjaTrader Strategy Analyzer with Tick Replay, which makes exit settings easy to compare on the same history. The guide's advice applies here: settle the signal first, then the regime, then the bracket and exits. Use the same bar type and size as your live chart, because both the per-bar trail and the bar-based signal depend on it.
When comparing, look past net profit. Count how many trades ended at the target, at break-even, at the trail and at the stop, and check average trade and drawdown alongside.
Every setting above is documented in the FlowPilot guide. BookPilot has its own break-even settings, off by default, and you can see how the two strategies' exits differ on the compare page. Full plan details are on the FlowPilot product page.
Protective stops limit a loss but cannot rule one out, and futures can gap past them. Compare exit settings in backtests and on Sim101 before running them on an evaluation, funded or live account.