How to Set Multiple Profit Targets in ThinkorSwim | OCO Bracket Orders

Advanced orders are an incredibly useful tool in ThinkorSwim that provide you a very simply way to automate some of your trading. These will allow you to set up multiple orders in advance, orders that trigger other orders, or set parameters to include both a profit target and stop loss.
In today’s video we’ll be discussing on the many advanced orders types available within ThinkorSwim. Focusing mainly on the 1st triggers OCO, 1st triggers 2 OCO, and 1st triggers 3 OCO. These order types will allow you set your profit target and stop before you’re even in the trade. The 2 OCO and 3 OCO order types will allow to setup multiple different profit targets or stop targets before you even enter the trade.
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:39 1st Triggers OCO
6:36 1st Triggers 2 OCO
9:11 1st Triggers 3 OCO
11:09 Active Trader Templates
13:27 Outro
➤ Open a tastyworks account: start.tastyworks.com/#/login?...
➤ Start Investing with M1 Finance: m1finance.8bxp97.net/151KXm
Disclaimer: Some of these links go to one of my websites and some are affiliate links where I'll earn a small commission if you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

[@shortthestrike]

Any others tools on ThinkorSwim you have questions on?

[@CharlesPayne]

Thanks for this video. Can you create a Video on how to automate advanced option orders tied to trigger at certain stock price.

[@tradeinvest2074]

Great video! Is there a way to set up hot keys in ThinkorSwim to sell say, 50% of your position?

[@RogerL-20]

Can you please create a video on how a short Put spread that ends up ITM at expiration is handled in TOS? More specifically, I am trading the Russell 2000 index (RUT) and I don't understand what I would be paying for if the trade were exercised. How can I own an index?

[@shortthestrike]

@@RogerL-20 I can absolutely make a video on it, but for index options its actually pretty straightforward. If it's a PM option itll settle in cash based off the close. So no risk of being assigned stock. For example, if I sold a 4120 x 4110 put spread on SPX and received $4. Lets say SPX closes at 4118, my 4110 put would expire worthless. My 4120 would get assigned and settle to a a loss of $2, but since I received $4 originally, I would end up making $200 on the trade. No assignment of stock, all cash.

[@RogerL-20]

@@shortthestrike Thank you for the information and the quick response.

[@Jean100ES]

This video makes so much more sense then the Charles Schwab article on these types of orders - your effort is much appreciated!

[@coppcar]

Excellent. Best video I've seen on this. Most explain how, but not why. Good teachers always provide the why.

[@michaelrohde1186]

These videos are by far the best series on how to handle and or implement various strategies or utilities available on TOS. You're concise, professional and thorough. Thank you for your contributions to this series of tutorials. Simply excellent!

[@veer934]

Excellent video. Well paced, clear verbal delivery without a lot of hype, and the examples are very clear.

[@davidedmundson8402]

Great content. Just what I needed. BONUS: if you use the ladder for a custom/saved 2 OCO, the number of shares will be handled correctly. For example, let's say you originally saved a template with a 100 shares buy with two exit brackets of 50 shares each. When you use this saved template from the ladder with the ladder quantity set at 500, it will populate the buy side correctly with 500 shares and it will populate the sell brackets with 250 shares each.

[@retsdon]

I'm finding these tutorials of yours incredibly helpful. Thank you very much for putting them out here.

[@shortthestrike]

Glad they’re helping!

[@sjsphotog]

Excellent tutorial. Keep up the good work

[@tonypayson8306]

I sure could have used this strategy last week. Would have saved me a lot of headache. Thank you so much for this. Keep up the good work.

[@shortthestrike]

Hope it helps!

[@stevenschwend8395]

Great video and pleasant voice to listen and learn from.

[@Nightbreed357]

This is a very useful tutorial! Thanks!

[@kevinconnelly3341]

Great Tutorial! This automation takes the "emotional bad decision" off the table for me! The examples were for purchasing stock shares. When trading options will the percent profit/SL closing orders be based on the percent gain/loss of the underlying or a percent gain/loss of the contract price?

[@EdwardZabinski]

Thats just the answer I am needing too.

[@shalenadiva]

Great tutorial. Thank you sooo much!!!

[@seansinerius8181]

Is there a way to create an order with the percentage profit targets with a position that's already in play? Having the order reference what you had gotten filled at and then being able to set the profit and stop percentages?

[@AlexWinkler]

This video is really good, well explained.

[@davidedmundson8402]

Excellent presentation!

[@juliem3783]

Excellent video. Thank you!

[@tomm9493]

Great & helpful instructional video. Question: I don't see how you're selecting a time in the option chain? Thank you.

[@JohnDoe-kx6wb]

Professional and Concise

[@computerman91.]

Great video! Thanks!

[@marvinmercadomusic]

Thanks for this valuable Tutorial.

[@briangood435]

Thanks for a simple tutorial!

[@shortthestrike]

Hope it helps!

[@1000eyes55]

Awesome presentation very clear and to the point it got me up and running 😃i was wondering what does OCO stand for?

[@Vade1313]

Awesome, thanks buddy!

[@serraanindhita]

very useful and helpful video thank you I am still learning in the nusantara fx community

[@penguinlittle6305]

Amazing, really really really helpful !!!!!!

[@shortthestrike]

Glad it helped!

[@user-ro4mt5bg9n]

Amazing video, thank you so much! Is there a way to combine trailing stops with an OCO/Bracket order?

[@med50028]

Very helpful video. Can I check can this OCO order be created in options ? Is there another video I can refer to please

[@lewis48473]

hi, great video. can you create more than 3 oco bracket? is it possible to create 5 or 6 oco brackets for scaling out of a trade? thanks

[@eugeniodillenburg998]

Great video! How about Advanced Orders: Pair... I cannot find if that was covered just after the OCO explanations?

[@abdulmohsen7132]

Thanks for these videos, it help us to make our trading easier. Could you please explain how to use zigzag to scan stocks , maybe we can use for breakout & retest strategy. Thank you ..

[@shortthestrike]

I'm not familiar with the zigzag indicator, but I can definitely dive into and make a video!

[@nickyniku7280]

thank you so much!

[@joshuadaniel0217]

Thank you so much for this! I’ve been using the 2OCO custom orders w/ active trader and it’s honestly game changing. Is there any automation where once the first target hits, the stop loss for the second half moves to breakeven?

[@IndigenousPathways]

I think you would just enter "+0.00%" as your second stop for the second half of the move; or enter "+0.50%" if you want your stop raised to a .50% instead of break even (or enter that value as your third stop if using 3 OCO). Have you tried this?

[@soypapajorge8889]

Awesome video, really nice explanation and information in general. I saw this is the sme or very similar for options, wondering if you have another video or something similar with the following details: When having a 25% profit Then turn this order into a trailstop The stop limit then would be cancelled or erased and instead of limit order we would have trail stop. I don't like to have trailstop from begging cause it could be cancelled very soon and instead I like to have it with a little profit at least so I can get the best profit if I may. Thanks for sharing :)

[@EricRobbinsDeathDefyingNinja]

I agree. This would be a great video or even just an answer @shortthestrike

[@GetB22]

nice stuff-- is there a way to sell remaining cons to break even when it hits first profit target?

[@brians.4403]

I have been studying your tutorials on A/T & orders very helpful. Question- I like to ladder my purchases- ex: target 5k laddering up in 1k increments. How do I create stop for ladder w/o manually editing after every rung? thanks

[@minemoney4us]

Shortthestrike, another great video, waoo amazing, the details that you offer on your videos help those like me to learn quick about TOS. Could you Please have a similar for the Fidelity Active Trader Pro ? I have an account at Fidelity and would like to place OCO orders to help improve my profit and cut on my loses.

[@aliciajackson2205]

Thanks for the video! I always wondered what the 2 and 3 OCOs were used for. Can this be used for multiple contracts on Options?

[@shortthestrike]

Yep, absolutely!

[@caw1996ify]

Would love to see this for options if possible

[@jordann1599]

Thanks for this video. If I entered a trade without OCO and then I want to add OCO, is there a way to duplicate the OCO group a few times if I want to partial take profits at different price? Currently I see that it can only duplicate order (1 leg - either the stop or limit leg) but not the entire OCO group consisting of both the stop and limit legs.

[@marcusware6343]

Great vids!! Can I save templates on mobile?!

[@dwiliams6596]

GREAT INFO, THANKS A MILLION! Is there a way to set up a 2 or 3 OCO using an indicator as a trigger? For instance if the price crosses a 10 or 50 day price average or the VIX hits a certain value or volume reaches a certain level?

[@EricRobbinsDeathDefyingNinja]

Agree! This would be awesome!!

[@danmcclaren5436]

Awesome man! I was about to contact TD bc I couldn't figure it out lol

[@stevecrim4557]

Great Explanation! I have tried and tried to create an order that - let's say buys 10 shares, set to sell 5 shares (limit) at 2%. Next it has an order to sell the last 5 on a Trail Stop at 1 percent. To work this has to be sequential or the 1 percent stop catches it more times than not. If I stop right there all is fine. However if I set a stop at say 8% on a sequential order the TOS system thinks I'm shorting the shares and won't allow the order. There has to be a way to make this work. Any thoughts? By the way, I always buy on a Trail Stop Buy of one to two tenths of a percent. At least for a few second that stock is moving up before it's bought.

[@kevinconnelly3341]

Thanks!

[@shortthestrike]

Wow, thank you!! Let me know if there’s ever anything you want me to cover

[@SheaGoldCo]

This is exactly what I needed, especially with the % …. Now I will have to force myself to use TOS…bec i originally found TOS too deep and complicated.

[@taduko5398]

Is there a way on the oco for the profit order of a dollar can a trailing stop loss be selected instead incase the stock doesnt rise a dollar or it goes above a dollar

[@DenisOliva]

Thank you nice video. Is there a way to create an order that sells if it goes down $2 or 2% after a target profit? For instance imagine I set my first sell order to sell at 10% but only if it change direction is the stock keep rising after that I don't want to sell it but if it starts changing dir. and goes up to 11% profit I want to sell as soon as it get down of that 2% thus I will sell if it goes down to %9 but if it has a rally until 20% I only will sell it of it go back there to 18%

[@DerekLightfoot69]

Plese cold you advise how to set up OCO orders on multi leg option trades such as iron condor?

[@Oct-jy4dz]

Is it possible to use ATR to setup a OCO order? Such as profit target is 2 ATR and stop loss is 1 ATR.

[@johnnorris4511]

Can I create a "1st Triggers 3 OCO" on a Weekly option i.e. QQQ???

[@rthom]

For the FB example of 2OCO, what happens if the price goes up 10% to trigger the first OCO? Will the 5% stop automatically be cancelled, leaving only the 20% take profit / 10% stop?

[@Drizz1717]

How do you do this with options. Thank you

[@BJ-fu4zy]

How much money you recommend to start? 10k?

[@BMartin1776]

Is there a way to do it with with and entry, 2 profit LMT's and 1 stop??Ive tried I cant make it go

[@richc7394]

Can we use OCO 3 for option credit spreads ?

[@giavonna5714]

Do these methods work for both buying and selling orders because I wasn’t sure if this example was for selling a stock or buying or is the process the sand either way?

[@shortthestrike]

Yes! However, if you shorted the stock to open the position, the closing tickets would be buy orders. So essentially if you shorted it, the order would all be flipped.

[@giavonna5714]

Ok. Thanks!

[@MattHayes-ew8ko]

How can you set an OCO order with multiple profit target prices as well as a stop loss if you already are long on the stock?

[@oozification]

I keep getting order is not safely calculated rejection when I do 1st triggers 2 OCO order any idea why

[@alicialewis9001]

How do you do this on mobile

[@sssheatx]

I have just started using these, but at the first target, if the trade goes against me I want to sell all of the shares, not just the first target amount. For example, I buy 10, but want to sell 5 at the first target. If it goes against me, I want to sell all ten. The next oco sells the 5 at the second target or sells the last 5 at my new stop. When I sat it up this way, the trade originally went against me and sold the 5 in the second oco instead of the 10 in the first oco. Why would it do this?

[@shortthestrike]

I'm not sure I completely follow. If you're purchasing 10 shares and have two separate profit-targets, yet a single stop target. You would still use the 2OCO bracket order, set the two limit prices you wish to sell at if it goes up, then the stop for each would be the exact same. So if it goes down to the stop you've set for both, you'll stop out of all 10 shares immediately. Do you remember how you set it up? Was it 2OCO brackets with two different stops at the same price?

[@sssheatx]

@@shortthestrike Thanks for replying. I figured out what I was doing wrong.

[@giavonna5714]

Why would you buy and set your entry price and set it as Day and set the other opposite orders with your stop and limit for GTC?

[@shortthestrike]

For me it's just a personal preference. If I don't get into the trade today, I generally want it to cancel at the end of the day and then reevaluate tomorrow if I want it to go out again. However, if the opening trade does fill today, I want my stop and profit taking order to work everyday until they fill.

[@giavonna5714]

Can this OCO method work for both buy and sell orders?

[@Patzfan4eva]

Why would you have 2 stop loss targets when employing multiple sell targets for profit?

[@randyrodriguez2481]

The videos are clear but the platform is not user friendly. There are too many repetitive actions to accomplish simple tasks with tools requiring constant re-selection to continue working with the charts. This video falls short of explaining the direct use of a 1st trgs 2OCO (naming the action in two different ways is confusing, is it TRG w/ 2 brackets or 1st trgs 2OCO-please land on one name for the action). It would have been more useful if the presenter just used the existing template instead of his long way-poor choice. I want to like the platform but it feels clunky and old compared to others, we need speed and fluidity with tools that are clearly labeled for their functions.

[@MobtacticsBruh]

Bruh, OCO means “order cancels order”. Once the first sell order is hit, the others are canceled.

[@shortthestrike]

It stands for one-cancels-other. But yes, you have the meaning correct. Whichever order fills first, the other is automatically cancelled.

[@2275922759]

Way too fast, take your time.

[@EricRobbinsDeathDefyingNinja]

Watch it again and slow the speed down in KZbin. You can do that. And that’s what the pause button is for. Don’t be “that guy” that comes in for a FREE AND EXCELLENT VIDEO and complains. And if you think the video is fast, I wouldn’t get into stocks. The movement will kill you. Just my two cents. I’m grateful @shortthestrike does these FOR US. So please don’t complain.