Trailing Stop
A trailing stop follows price as it moves in your favour, locking in profit while leaving room to breathe.
A trailing stop follows price in your favour and only moves one way, locking in profit while giving the trade room. Price must reverse by the trail distance to trigger it.
A trailing stop is a stop-loss that moves with the market in your favour and never backwards. As price advances, the stop trails behind at a fixed distance, locking in gains; if price reverses by that distance, the stop triggers. Trailing stops automate the hardest part of trading: letting winners run while protecting the profit already made.
How It Works
- Trail by a fixed pip distance, percentage or chart level (like a swing low)
- Only ever tightens, never loosens
- Triggers as a market order once price reverses through it
Trading Tips
Set the trail wide enough to survive normal noise - too tight gets stopped out on the first pullback
Trail by structure (recent swing points) rather than a fixed distance in trending markets
In choppy markets, consider banking profit manually instead of trailing
Related Terms
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