NexusFi: Find Your Edge


Home Menu

 





Stop Loss


Discussion in Traders Hideout

Updated
      Top Posters
    1. looks_one Martin Hannon with 4 posts (0 thanks)
    2. looks_two worldbfree with 3 posts (2 thanks)
    3. looks_3 tpredictor with 2 posts (2 thanks)
    4. looks_4 VMtrader with 1 posts (0 thanks)
      Best Posters
    1. looks_one TradingOgre with 4 thanks per post
    2. looks_two Pa Dax with 2 thanks per post
    3. looks_3 tpredictor with 1 thanks per post
    4. looks_4 worldbfree with 0.7 thanks per post
    1. trending_up 3,160 views
    2. thumb_up 14 thanks given
    3. group 10 followers
    1. forum 16 posts
    2. attach_file 0 attachments




 
Search this Thread

Stop Loss

  #1 (permalink)
Martin Hannon
monaghan
 
Posts: 4 since Sep 2018
Thanks Given: 7
Thanks Received: 0

Do I really need to use 'Stop Loss' in my trades?
Thank you for any help youcan give me.
Im very new to trading.

Reply With Quote

Can you help answer these questions
from other members on NexusFi?
The space time continuum and the dynamics of a financial …
Emini and Emicro Index
ZombieSqueeze
Platforms and Indicators
Futures True Range Report
The Elite Circle
Ninja Mobile Trader VPS (ninjamobiletrader.com)
Trading Reviews and Vendors
Better Renko Gaps
The Elite Circle
 
  #3 (permalink)
 
JonnyBoy's Avatar
 JonnyBoy 
Montreal, Quebec
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: NinjaTrader 8
Broker: Kinetick
Trading: ES
Posts: 1,561 since Apr 2012
Thanks Given: 706
Thanks Received: 3,854



Martin Hannon View Post
Do I really need to use 'Stop Loss' in my trades?
Thank you for any help youcan give me.
Im very new to trading.

No you don't need to. But should you? Yes.

--------------------------------------------------------
- Trade what you see. Invest in what you believe -
--------------------------------------------------------
Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #4 (permalink)
 
TradingOgre's Avatar
 TradingOgre 
Evans GA/USA
Legendary Market Wizard
 
Experience: Intermediate
Platform: NinjaTrader
Broker: NinjaTrader Brokerage - Philip Capital
Trading: NQ,ES,6E,CL
Posts: 556 since Jul 2018
Thanks Given: 908
Thanks Received: 1,672


Martin Hannon View Post
Do I really need to use 'Stop Loss' in my trades?
Thank you for any help youcan give me.
Im very new to trading.

Think of it as an insurance policy against the OMG WTF moments in life. Such as you open a new trade and like it normally does it moves slightly against you, not much just a little....then the internet goes out or you lose power or your computer dies. Panic sets in. You don't have a stop in place and you can't see where price is going. In theory, you could have lost your entire account and you wouldn't know it. A stop will give you peace of mind in knowing your losses are limited.

These markets can move very quickly. A stop loss will react far faster than you can.

So as @JonnyBoy said "No you don't need to. But should you? Yes."

Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)
 tpredictor 
North Carolina
 
Experience: Beginner
Platform: NinjaTrader, Tradestation
Trading: es
Posts: 644 since Nov 2011

Proper treatment of stop losses is an intensive subject. But generally, yes you need to use a stop loss when trading with higher leverage; although, other treatments might be applicable in specific scenarios. It is, also, true that bad stop outs are a primary cause of futures trader losses.

Without getting into other types of treatments, the safest way to use stops for futures traders is generally going to be stops such that you give yourself some reasonable risk per day, I think around 3% is a balance between aggression and conservation-- but depends on account size, and then to manage your positions in an intelligent way such that your probability of hitting the 3% is still marginal.

This management style doesn't require a rigid specialization. However, for many futures contracts your minimum risk per day will still likely be in the $500-$1000 range which implies a minimum account size of between $15,000 to $25,000 (or about 3x to 5x the average starting account). This is just one idea though; certainly many other possibilities.

Keep in mind the price based stop loss is just one type of stop loss. There are other types of stop losses such as time based, condition based, etc. Keep in mind, effectively when trading with futures you always have a stop loss which is the point your broker liquidates you (although there is no guarantee they will liquidate you in-time to avoid additional losses, though generally that is the case).


Martin Hannon View Post
Do I really need to use 'Stop Loss' in my trades?
Thank you for any help youcan give me.
Im very new to trading.


Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)
Martin Hannon
monaghan
 
Posts: 4 since Sep 2018
Thanks Given: 7
Thanks Received: 0


JonnyBoy View Post
No you don't need to. But should you? Yes.

Thank you all for your response.
In Particular you "JonnyBoy" who was the first to answer me.

Much appreciated all.

Reply With Quote
  #7 (permalink)
 
Pa Dax's Avatar
 Pa Dax 
Netherlands
Price Action Scientist
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: NinjaTrader, IB TWS
Broker: InteractiveBrokers, CQG
Trading: ES
Posts: 1,236 since Oct 2017
Thanks Given: 2,006
Thanks Received: 6,318


Martin Hannon View Post
Do I really need to use 'Stop Loss' in my trades?
Thank you for any help youcan give me.
Im very new to trading.

Hi @Martin Hannon,

If you enter a trade, you do so under a premise, right? So, you enter long for example under the premise that you're in a bull trend. That means higher highs and higher lows, right? So if price dives under a higher low, you're no longer in a bull trend which means your premise is wrong and the premise of all your fellow bull trend traders is wrong as well, hence they all put their stop there.

In general, traders put their stops in a logical place in the market where their premise would be incorrect. Stops protect traders. Preservation of capital is key as is the ability to trade another day if today wasn't your day. Your first goal is to not lose money and stops help you to stay in the game.

Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #8 (permalink)
alexandra
Glasgow
 
Posts: 1 since Sep 2018
Thanks Given: 0
Thanks Received: 1

When I just started trading I forgot to close position in the evening (btw I was 100% confident that i didi it). Next morning i was very surprised and upset... So it's always better to be sure you wont lose all your money

Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #9 (permalink)
 Tickworks 
Minneapolis MN
 
Experience: Advanced
Posts: 17 since Mar 2018
Thanks Given: 36
Thanks Received: 32


Martin Hannon View Post
Do I really need to use 'Stop Loss' in my trades?
Thank you for any help youcan give me.
Im very new to trading.

Whether or not you place a stop loss order is almost secondary to the fundamental matter of risk management. The real question is whether one has truly limited risk relative to expected reward per trade. Otherwise one A) Is left exposed to disaster and B) Can't accurately gauge risk-adjusted returns or expectancy.

To mitigate "A", most seem to find placing a stop order is advisable for a number of reasons: loss of connectivity, discipline in risk control, unexpected price fluctuations, etc.

@tpredictor also makes a great point: risk management affects trade outcome, and must be optimized per strategy to allow enough cushion for trade success but not so much as to offset net profit.

Hope this is useful.

Reply With Quote
Thanked by:
  #10 (permalink)
worldbfree
Houston
 
Posts: 17 since Feb 2018
Thanks Given: 4
Thanks Received: 12



Martin Hannon View Post
Do I really need to use 'Stop Loss' in my trades?
Thank you for any help youcan give me.
Im very new to trading.


It really is tough for me personally because I trade strictly systems and I've learned the hard way not to have stops on. If I put them on, I usually put them way outside the ATR.

Reply With Quote
Thanked by:




Last Updated on October 3, 2018


© 2024 NexusFi™, s.a., All Rights Reserved.
Av Ricardo J. Alfaro, Century Tower, Panama City, Panama, Ph: +507 833-9432 (Panama and Intl), +1 888-312-3001 (USA and Canada)
All information is for educational use only and is not investment advice. There is a substantial risk of loss in trading commodity futures, stocks, options and foreign exchange products. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
About Us - Contact Us - Site Rules, Acceptable Use, and Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy - Downloads - Top
no new posts