Why does my Sell trade hit Stop Loss or Target before the Bid price reaches that level?
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Yes sir, this is completely normal and one of the most common confusions among traders.
The reason is that Sell positions are executed and closed based on the Ask price, not the Bid price.
By default, MT5 charts display only the Bid price, so it may look like your Stop Loss or Target was hit early.
To verify this, simply enable the Ask price line in MT5.
Follow these steps:
-Step 1:
Right-click anywhere on the chart and select “Properties”.
-Step 2:
Enable the option “Show Ask Line”.
That’s it.
Now you will see both the Bid price and the Ask price on the chart.
For Sell trades:
-Stop Loss is triggered when the Ask price reaches your Stop Loss level.
-Take Profit is triggered when the Ask price reaches your Target level.
So even if the Bid price hasn’t touched your level yet, the Ask price may already have reached it, which is why the order gets closed.
For Buy trades, it’s the opposite.
-Buy positions are executed and closed based on the Bid price.
So, in simple terms:
-Buy Trade → Watch the Bid price.
-Sell Trade → Watch the Ask price.
Once you enable the Ask price line, you’ll notice that your Stop Loss and Take Profit are being executed exactly where they should.
