A practical guide to placing hidden orders, managing risk, and setting exit conditions using OANDA Stealth Orders in MT4.
An introduction to OANDA Stealth Orders
OANDA Stealth Orders is a tool for managing trades within MT4.
It is designed for traders who prefer not to reveal their order details to the broker.
Note: Stealth Orders are executed only when specific conditions are met.
Slippage may occur because they are placed slightly later than standard pending orders.
The order will not be executed if the Stealth Order tool stops working or your internet connection is lost.
Therefore, and separately from any stop-loss level set within the Stealth Order tool, it is suggested to manually place a secondary, guaranteed stop-loss at a level slightly beyond your loss limit.
For example, if you wish to place a Stealth Order for a EUR/USD long position, a secondary, guaranteed stop-loss could be set slightly below your original Stealth Order.
In this instance, the secondary guaranteed stop-loss acts as a safety net to limit excessive losses and provides protection against market slippage should markets move rapidly. Please note that only a GSLO guarantees protection against slippage.
Setting up OANDA Stealth Orders
To launch OANDA Stealth Orders, double-click it in the Navigator panel or drag and drop it onto a chart.
As this is an EA-based tool, automated trading in MT4 must be activated.
How to trade using OANDA Stealth Orders
Stealth Orders support the following order types:
New entries (or pending orders)
To set up a new limit or stop order, select the “Entries” tab.
The parameters are as follows:
Symbol: Select the instrument.
Lot size: Specify the trade size in lots.
For FX CFD, 1 lot = 100,000 units.
For other CFDs, 1 lot = 1 contract.
Type: Choose from Buy-limit, Sell-limit, Buy-stop, Sell-stop, or market orders (Buy or Sell).
Price: Specify the price using either “Fixed price” or a number of pips “From current price”.
s/l: Set your stop-loss level using Fixed price, Pips from fill price, Cash (estimated loss amount), or Trailing.
t/p: Set your take-profit level using Fixed price, Pips from fill price, or Cash (estimated profit amount).
Max spread: Limit trades based on the spread at the time conditions are met.
The order will be cancelled if the spread exceeds your set level during high-volatility events such as economic announcements.
OCA group: Short for “one-cancels-all”.
If one order is executed, the others in the group are automatically cancelled.
Magic number: Enter a magic number (instead of a text comment) if you wish to assign one.
Take-profit/stop-loss orders for open trades
To set take-profit or stop-loss orders for open trades, use the “Exits” tab.
The parameters are as follows:
Ticket: Select the position you want to set the order for.
Close: Specify how much of the position to close: the Whole ticket, Percentage, or Quantity.
Trades are executed in units of 1,000 with a minimum of 10,000 units (0.1 lot).
Any amount below 0.1 lot will be rounded up to 10,000 units.
For example, a 50% close on a 0.1 lot position will result in a full close of 0.1 lots.
For sizes above 0.1 lots, fractions will be rounded up in 1,000-unit increments.
s/l: Set your stop-loss level using Fixed price, Pips from current, Cash (estimated loss), or Trailing.
t/p: Set your take-profit level using Fixed price, Pips from current, or Cash (estimated profit).
Take-profit/stop-loss orders by symbol
You can also set exit orders for a specific instrument rather than individual positions.
To do so, select the “Symbols” tab.
The parameters are as follows:
Symbol: Select the instrument.
Exit: Choose the exit target — either Total profit (specify the profit amount) or Price (specify a target price).
Lower limit: Set a lower exit price.
Upper limit: Set an upper exit price.
Close %: Enter the percentage of the position to close for that symbol.
Trades are executed in units of 1,000 with a minimum of 10,000 units (0.1 lot).
Amounts below this threshold are rounded up to 0.1 lot.
For example, if you place a 50% close on a 0.1 lot position, the system will close 0.1 lots.
When the size exceeds 0.1 lots, rounding is done in 1,000-unit increments.
Percentage-based closes apply per ticket.
For instance, if you hold four 0.1 lot positions (total 0.4 lots) and choose to close 50%, the system will close all four positions because each ticket is rounded up to 0.1 lot.
Pending orders: Choose whether to cancel pending orders.
Select “Close pending orders” to cancel them, or “Don’t close pending orders” to keep them.
Long/short: Select Long trades only, Short trades only, or All trades.
Comment filter: Enter the comment here to close positions with a specific comment only.
If “All symbols” is selected under Symbol, all positions with that comment will be closed.
Magic # Filter: To close positions with a specific Magic Number, enter it here.
If “All symbols” is selected under Symbol, all positions with that Magic Number will be closed.
Repeat: Choose whether the rule should repeat.
Select “Delete this rule when triggered” for a one-time rule, or “Keep this rule when triggered” to retain it.
Closing every position on the account
To close all open trades on your account, go to the “Account” tab.
The parameters are as follows:
Metric: Choose the account exit setting for closing.
Options include Floating P/L (unrealised P/L), Equity, Free margin, and Used margin.
Lower limit: Enter a threshold below the current value (a less favourable level).
Upper limit: Enter a threshold above the current value (a more favourable level).
Pending orders: Choose whether to cancel pending orders, as well as open trades.
Select “Close pending orders” to cancel them, or “Don’t close pending orders” to keep them.
Modifying or cancelling Stealth Orders
Once a Stealth Order is set, the display (example shown above) will appear under each tab.
To modify or cancel an order, click on it.
A settings window will appear.
Adjust the necessary fields and click “Save” to modify the order.
To cancel the order, click “Remove”.
If no changes are required, click “Cancel”.
This article and its contents are intended for educational purposes only and should not be considered trading advice.
