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On
other hand some stocks can move $2 or $3 in a heart beat and reverse just as quickly for $2 or $3 move into
money for a total of $4-$6 or more. A $.50 stop on these will have you stopped of
trade and out of
money more often then not. I suggest that unless you are familiar with these stocks that have a history of wild swings that you avoid them until you get familiar with them.
The Trading Stop Itself
It is
opinion of many experienced traders and one that I share, that
stop order should not actually be placed. Instead you determine what price it should be and be ready to place
order if and when
trade turns against you and nears your stop price. This is referred to as "mental stops". You can even go as far as having
order form all filled out and ready to execute as
price approaches your stop price. A lot of
newer trading platforms will allow you to actually place
order in their system but it is not sent to
market for execution until
price is reached.
When you actually place
order, you lose control of you trade. Many systems do not allow you to have two orders on
same position at
same time. If you want to sell
stock you first have to cancel
stop and get confirmation back before you can place another order.
On a stock that is moving rapidly against you some traders prefer to use a market order for
quick exit. I do not like
use of market orders any under circumstances. There are too many pitfalls involved with
use of market orders. Instead I suggest you use a limit price that is significantly lower then
bid that assures you get a fill.
However you chose to exercise
use of stop loss orders is up to you but it has to be done. DTM with
use of stop orders is
only way to defend against
dreaded death spiral.
See more Trading Tips at http://www.TraderAide.com
There are many excellent books on learning to day trade. My favorites are found at http://www.TraderAide.com/books
No permission is needed to reproduce an unedited copy of this article as long
About The Author tag is left in tact and hot links included. We do request that we be informed of where it is posted so reciprocal links can be considered. Email floyd@sbmag.org.

Floyd Snyder has been trading and investing in the stock market for three decades. He was on the forefront of the day trading craze that swept the nation back in late 1990’s as a trader and moderator of one of the Internet’s largest real time trading rooms. He is the owner of http://www.TraderAide.com and Strictly Business Magazine at http://www.sbmag.org. He is currently the Room Moderator at the live trading desk at http:www.daytraders.com