Key points
- Partial take profit closes a part of the trade at each target and lets the rest run.
- It gives up some of the profit of a perfect trade in exchange for booking profit on trades that turn around.
- Combined with break-even, it can turn many "winner turned loser" trades into small wins, but it never removes risk.
- Your broker's minimum lot decides how many steps your lot size allows.
What partial take profit means
With a single take profit, the whole trade closes at one price. With partial take profit (also called "scaling out"), you set several targets (TP1, TP2, TP3 and so on), and each closes a part of the position. The last part can run to a far target.
Traders use it for three reasons: to lock in profit on a fast market like gold, to take emotion out of the exit ("should I close now?"), and to still catch the big moves with what is left.
How the steps work, with numbers
Example: a BUY of 0.10 lot with five steps, each closing 20% of the original lot (0.02 lot). On gold, 0.02 lot is worth 0.20 USD per pip.
| Step | Distance | Closes | Books | Left open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TP1 | 20 pips | 0.02 lot | +4.00 USD | 0.08 lot |
| TP2 | 40 pips | 0.02 lot | +8.00 USD | 0.06 lot |
| TP3 | 60 pips | 0.02 lot | +12.00 USD | 0.04 lot |
| TP4 | 100 pips | 0.02 lot | +20.00 USD | 0.02 lot |
| TP5 | 200 pips | 0.02 lot | +40.00 USD | none |
If every step is reached, the trade books 84.00 USD in total.
What changes in good and bad scenarios
Compare the same 0.10 lot trade with a 100-pip stop loss: once with one take profit at 200 pips, once with the five steps above plus break-even after TP1 (stop loss moved to the entry + 1 pip).
| What gold does | One target at 200 pips | Five steps + break-even |
|---|---|---|
| Goes straight to 200 pips | +200.00 | +84.00 |
| Reaches 100 pips, then falls to the stop | −100.00 | +44.20 |
| Reaches 60 pips, then falls to the stop | −100.00 | +24.40 |
| Reaches 20 pips, then falls to the stop | −100.00 | +4.80 |
| Goes straight to the stop | −100.00 | −100.00 |
USD, before spread, commission, swap and slippage. After break-even, the open part closes at the entry + 1 pip in this example; in real markets the fill can be worse.
The honest summary: steps earn less on the perfect trade and lose the same on the trade that never works. Their value is in the middle: the many trades that move in your favour and then turn. Whether that suits you depends on your strategy, and you should test it on a demo account.
How to choose your steps
- Make the first step worth it: it should be clearly bigger than the spread and commission, or it books almost nothing.
- Match gold's movement: a scalper on M1 uses smaller steps than a swing trader on H4.
- Keep a runner: a small last part with a far target lets you profit from the days gold trends.
- Write it down: the same steps on every trade make your results easier to judge.
Examples (not recommendations): a scalper might use 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 100 pips, a day trader 20 / 40 / 60 / 100 / 200 pips, a swing trader 100 / 200 / 300 / 500 / 800 pips.
Lot size: how many steps can you have?
Most brokers' smallest lot is 0.01, and lots change in steps of 0.01. So five equal steps need at least 0.05 lot; with 0.02 lot you can only split into two parts. If a step would be too small (for example 20% of 0.03 lot = 0.006), it cannot be closed exactly. Gold Position Manager then either asks you or splits as close as possible. You choose which in setting 512.
Doing it by hand in MT5 vs. automatically
In MetaTrader 5 you can close part of a position by hand: open the position window, type the volume to close and confirm, for every step and every trade. It works, but it needs you at the screen at the right moment, and it is easy to hesitate. That is exactly the job a trade manager takes over. Step by step, with the lot rules: how to partially close a trade in MT5.
How Gold Position Manager helps
Set up to ten steps once (distance and % each). Every gold trade then closes its parts automatically, the panel table shows each step's price, part, profit and status, and you can still move one step, all steps, or book an extra % or lot with one click. Break-even can follow automatically after the step you choose.
This guide is education, not financial advice. Partial take profit does not remove the risk of loss, and examples are not typical results. Trading gold carries a high risk of losing money.