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Why Are We Giving Away These Trailing Stop Loss Tips For Nothing - This Is
Not A Misprint
By: David Jenyns
A trailing stop loss is calculated in a manner like the way we calculated our
initial stop loss. The only difference being that while we calculated our stop
loss from the entry price, we're calculating our trailing stop loss from the
highest price since entry. The key to the trailing stop loss is that you need to
make continual adjustments to make sure that the stop is moved in your favour.
The method that you use to set your trailing stop loss can vary dramatically.
However, if we use the ATR method that we used to calculate our initial stop to
set our trailing stop loss, we'll have the ability to lock in the profit as the
share price increases.
For example, if you bought a share at one dollar, and your initial stop was set
at 90 cents, your trailing stop would also have a value of 90 cents. If, after
the first day, the share price moves in your favour and moves to $1.10, you
would recalculate your trailing stop loss by subtracting two times the value of
the ATR from the new high price of $1.10. For simplicity, let's assume that your
stop size hasn't changed, and is still ten cents wide. When you calculate your
new trailing stop loss, by subtracting the 10 cents from $1.10, it would be set
at one dollar.
At this point, your initial stop was at 90 cents, and your trailing stop loss is
now at a dollar, with the share price is at $1.10. Since your trailing stop loss
is higher than your initial stop, the initial stop becomes obsolete, and our
trailing stop loss becomes your active exit.
Now, my question is, How much profit have you made on this trade? The share
price is at $1.10 and we entered at one dollar. If you thought, No, I haven't
made any money, then you'd be right on track. Remember, our stop loss strategy
gives the share price a little bit of room to move.
You're not going to exit this position until the share price reverts to one
dollar. I'ts important to note that when you are valuing any open position, you
should always value it based on its stop loss value, since if you were to exit
this share, you would wait until that price point was breached.
Let's go back to the example. Now, what happens if the share price begins to
fall? Let's say that the share price falls from $1.10 down to $1.05. What does
your trailing stop loss do? Would it move down also? Here's another important
point. A stop loss will never, ever move down. A trailing stop loss can only
move up. This ensures you lock in profit and that you'll also get out of the
shares once they start to turn. A trailing stop loss is always calculated from
the highest price since entry, so the highest price is still $1.10.
It's not until the share price makes a new high since entry that the trailing
stop loss would begin to move in your favor again. However, if you're using the
ATR method, there's another way for our trailing stop to move up. This would
occur when the volatility of a stock begins to decrease. If a share price were
to begin to move sideways, the ATR value would start to drop off. This would
cause the trailing stop to move up as the share price became less volatile.
The best way to understand these concepts is to print out a chart with the ATR
values along the bottom. Then on the chart, identify the point where you would
have received an entry signal, and mark your initial stop loss and your trailing
stop loss.
As the trend progresses make sure that you recalculate the value of your stop so
you can begin to get a feel for the way this method of using a stop loss works
Seeing how the changes in stock price affect you trailing stop loss will give
you the confidence to make them a key part of your trading system.
About the Author:
Trading Secrets Revealed is a step-by-step trading roadmap to having excellent
money management. http://www.trading-secrets-revealed.com
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