Direct answer: why Multiple Targets can “change” in volatile markets
Multiple Targets are orders designed to take partial profit (or partial execution) at more than one price level. In volatile markets, what you get can differ from what you expected because (1) prices can move with gaps, (2) there can be a delay between market movement and your order reaching the matching engine, (3) liquidity can thin out or disappear, and (4) the way platforms handle related take-profit legs can differ. The result is often that some target levels are skipped, filled in a different order, or not filled at all.
Mechanism: what “Multiple Targets” typically means
A simple way to think about Multiple Targets is as a set of take-profit “legs” tied to a position. Each leg has a target price and an allocated size (a portion of the position). When the market trades at a leg’s target price, that leg can execute, and the remaining legs may still be open.
Key stable mechanics behind changing outcomes are:
- Price path matters. Having target prices set is not enough; the market must trade those prices in the order your platform checks them.
- Execution is event-driven. Fills depend on real-time matching: whether there is a counterparty to trade at (or through) your level.
- Legs are not always independent. Some systems link legs so that filling one leg can trigger changes to the others (for example, cancel remaining legs, adjust quantities, or maintain them).
Why volatile markets create “gaps” between targets
Volatility increases the odds that the market moves quickly enough that it does not trade every intermediate price level.
When price jumps (often described as a gap), your order might encounter a market that has already moved past some target prices. In that case:
- A leg that would have executed at an “earlier” target may never trade at that level.
- Later legs might execute only if the market trades at their prices (or if the system allows fills at better or worse prices based on its rules).
This is not a problem with the concept of Multiple Targets; it is a property of how markets move and how order matching works.
Latency: why you can be late even when targets are correct
Even if your target prices are correct, the market can change between these steps:
- Your request/decision is created.
- It is transmitted through your network and trading software.
- It reaches the trading venue (matching engine) or broker/proxy.
- The venue evaluates whether and how it can match the order.
During volatile markets, the time between these steps matters more. A leg intended to execute at a certain price may arrive after the market has already traded away from that level. That can change which legs execute, even though the target prices you set were never changed.
Assumption for understanding: the analysis assumes non-zero end-to-end delay (network + system processing). If delay were exactly zero, timing-related skipping would be less likely.
Liquidity withdrawal: why target levels may exist but be untradeable
Liquidity is the presence of buy and sell interest that can fill orders. During strong moves, liquidity can thin out or temporarily vanish. When that happens:
- There may be no counterparty interest at a particular price level.
- Your order may not get matched at the exact target price.
- The market might trade through your level without offering enough depth for your order to execute as expected.
A material limitation (failure mode): Multiple Targets can be sensitive to liquidity conditions, meaning two periods with the same “volatility” label can produce different outcomes because the order book depth and willingness to trade are not the same.
Order-handling differences: legs that cancel, adjust, or persist
Platforms and providers implement order logic. That logic can affect what happens when one leg executes.
Common examples of how legs can behave differently (without assuming any one provider):
- Partial execution and persistence: One leg fills, and the remaining legs stay active.
- Linked cancellation: When one leg fills, other legs may be canceled or their quantities reduced.
- Rounding and sizing rules: Allocated portions may be rounded to allowed increments, slightly changing intended sizes.