When to Move Stop Loss

[Chris Mac]

To answer your question : you should never move your stops when you are in the wrong direction.
Once you chose it, don't change your mind during the action. If you put this stop, there should be a rational at this moment so stay disciplined and logical.
The only case you can move them is for protecting your gains.

 

[Turveyd]

To answer your question : you should never move your stops when you are in the wrong direction.
Once you chose it, don't change your mind during the action. If you put this stop, there should be a rational at this moment so stay disciplined and logical.
The only case you can move them is for protecting your gains.

Well sometimes you might realise your SL is to tight, or change your trading plan, but stops should only be moved the right way no point having them if you move them.

 

[Visaria]

hello,

My instrument is ES.

When you are winning (say by 1-2pts), when do you move your stop to breakeven?

I have thought long and hard about this. My answer is that it depends on whether you have a profit target or not.

If you have a profit target, then you need to start trailing the stop once the position goes in your favour by a pre determined amount otherwise you no longer maintain your risk reward ratio.

If you don't have a profit target, then you still need to move the stop as the position goes in your favour, but not as aggressively as if you have a profit target.

You could also use other criteria such as the length of time you have been in the trade.

 

[Turveyd]

I have thought long and hard about this. My answer is that it depends on whether you have a profit target or not.

If you have a profit target, then you need to start trailing the stop once the position goes in your favour by a pre determined amount otherwise you no longer maintain your risk reward ratio.

If you don't have a profit target, then you still need to move the stop as the position goes in your favour, but not as aggressively as if you have a profit target.

You could also use other criteria such as the length of time you have been in the trade.

There is no right or wrong answer, it depends on your method, your TF, how much time you have to monitor the trade the market conditions, any news! bla bla bla

 

[kut2k2]

hello,

My instrument is ES.

When you are winning (say by 1-2pts), when do you move your stop to breakeven?

Seriously? OK if your initial stop is X points below your entry price and you're going long, then maintain that difference when price increases.

 

[murray t turtle]

hello,

My instrument is ES.

When you are winning (say by 1-2pts), when do you move your stop to breakeven?

Break even is still a loss; study many , many trends would be wise answer. thanks

 

[NoDoji]

hello,

My instrument is ES.

When you are winning (say by 1-2pts), when do you move your stop to breakeven?

The answer to this question can be found by doing statistical analyses of your trading tactics.

If you're trading on gut feeling (instinct), then it's not possible to do this, but if you have specific things that signal/trigger your trades you can analyze price movement for, say, the last 100 consecutive appearances of these setups and determine if/when it makes sense to move a stop to break even (if at all).

My personal trading plan demonstrated a better result without break even stop management on most of the setups I trade, but the difference was really small and I chose to honor the peace-of-mind I get from not watching a decent profit turn into a loss. The level of favorable move at which I move a stop to break even is specific; however, there are times where moving the stop at that point makes no sense technically, so I'll often give price a second chance in that case.

Without knowing more about how you trade, no one here can give you a useful answer to your question.

 

[futrstrdr]

It is important to set your stops based on the volatility of the market your following in the time frame that you are using. What I've done is set my alerts to trigger a potential trade only if the volatility at the time it occurs is less than what I'm willing to risk. That way I have some confidence that the stop I use likely won't be hit unless I'm really wrong.

 

[doggyfx]

Never move your SL and TP because your trading plan just loses the sense. In any conditions you SL should be of permanent value for example 2% or more percents from deposit. Though I trade on Hotforex fixed spreads (make a shift from their micro) I changed SL from 2% to 3% and it remains constant in any trade..

 

[taowave]

Let's make believe you have qualitatively or quantitatively determined that a 3 -1 reward
to risk ratio works best for your trading style/ risk appetite. Let's also make believe that
despite all the back testing you have done,it simply bugs the shit out of you when you place
a trade,it moves in your favor and you now find yourself risking 3 to make 1.
Can't blame you for your distaste of the "new parameters ",but you need to understand that
as soon as you move that initial stop,you have invalidated all the hours of pouring over charts
and or backtesting.
If you are a programmer,the simple solution is to simply code a trailing stop once price has moved x percent and compare that with a 3 -1 initial risk reward that you live and die with.
I'll give you a little food for thought. Everyone talks about moving up the stop,yet very few
suggest raising the profit target as well. Buy a stock at 10 with. 1 point stop and 3 point profit
target..Stock moves to 12 and you start getting itchy as you now find yourself risking 3 to make 1.
moving the stop to 12 puts you in a 1-1 bet. Moving both your stop and target up 2 puts you back at
your initial 3 to 1..balls in your court