I'm not sure if I'm clear on exactly what you're asking but this may work.
a: Use a simple conditional order, set up your stop price then open conditional tab in order ticket, preview (if you wish) and submit.
https://www.interactivebrokers.com.hk/en/index.php?f=584
Problem: The conditional order is *only* available for Limit or Market orders. I need it for a Stop Limit order. In my example, if I used a simple Limit order, I would get an immediate fill, which is not desired. I want a fill only when the stop price is hit. The purpose of the submit condition is to ensure price is approaching stop/limit entry in the desired price-action direction (up for buys, down for sells).
b: couldn't you do the same with OCA's, set up your brackets, set the conditions, submit.
https://www.interactivebrokers.com.hk/en/index.php?f=617
https://www.interactivebrokers.com.hk/en/index.php?f=583
Problem: According to the TWS support staff and the 3rd party vendors, they told me that on IB servers, open orders can only have *one* stop. Please let me know if you think this is incorrect. I do not necessarily need to have multiple stops, that is just how TOS handles these "adjustable stops" in their software. An alternative is to allow "two adjustments" to a stop, however TWS only allows one adjustable stop to a stop order. If you know of a clever way to use an Adjustable stop (which takes care of two stops) and somehow add a 3rd Stop bracket, I would love to hear it.
I think the above will work but don't have time to test it right now. Try it out with the paper trader. For a full list of algos and order types, take a look at this link
https://www.interactivebrokers.com.hk/en/index.php?f=4985&ns=T
Ans: I've now worked with 3 different TWS 4.0 support staff, and 4 3rd party vendors and they are all telling me that this simple automation is not possible with IB. If you believe they are all in error and know of a way to do this, I would love to hear it. I want very much to use IB as it offers directed orders, show/hide order size, much lower commision/margin, etc. However, I really need to be able to do this simple automation.
If you have any way of influencing the TWS software dev staff, the following 2 items would suffice:
1. Allow conditional orders for Stop/Limit order types.
2. Allow 2 adjustments to stops. This would kill my need for 2 additional stops on a bracket if I cans set 2 adjustments to stop orders.
Thx,
Bob
Hope this helps.