Dear Yacht Fund:
A sell trailing stop order sets the stop price at a fixed amount below the market price with an attached "trailing" amount. As the market price rises, the stop price rises by the trail amount, but if the stock price falls, the stop loss price doesn't change, and a market order is submitted when the stop price is hit. This technique is designed to allow an investor to specify a limit on the maximum possible loss, without setting a limit on the maximum possible gain. "Buy" trailing stop orders are the mirror image of sell trailing stop orders, and are used in falling markets.
Trailing stops are available for all Smart-routed stocks and options, and on all futures exchanges which currently support traditional stop orders.
In addition, IB offers auto trailing stop orders, which allow you to attach a trailing stop order to a limit order. The trailing stop will activate when the limit order is executed.
For more pariticulars on how trailing stops work, as well as how our other 30+ order types please refer to the following link
http://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/orderTypesMatrix.php?ib_entity=uk