Since the stop loss subject is extensive, involving many other topics, I will discuss only the initial stop loss that is necessary to control the losses if the trade will not be successful. Let us now see the four best stop-loss techniques applicable to many different trading systems.
Stop based on volatility (Volatility Stop)
Imagine a market where the candles have a width of 120 pips. It makes sense to put a stop loss at 5 pips away from your point of entry? Unless your strategy is not a form of super-extreme scalping the answer is No. If you get into a certain direction you have to ask if you’re giving the market time to develop in your favor, without which, insignificant fluctuations close down your position prematurely. On the other hand, one stop too distant, will lead to losses that you can hardly recover. Looking at the average volatility you can understand, therefore, where it makes sense to place the stop loss based on the breadth of recent market movements. Thanks to the ATR (Average True Range) indicator you can easily obtain the volatility of the last N bars. The value obtained will be the basis for choosing your stop.
Stop based on support and resistance
Another powerful way to set the initial stop loss is based on what is the reality of the graph. Markets will offer a wealth of information: the prices are clearly moving in one direction? The prices are moving wildly within a certain range? Through observation you can have a number of ideas to find a price level above which we have little hope that the trade turns in our favor in the short term, or not to proceed further against us by exposing them to excessive drawdown.
Stop based on indicators
Some traders, lovers of technical analysis, tend to base every aspect of their trading on the results offered by various indicators: list the various methods used would be impossible, so I will limit myself to one example. A fairly common technique is to enter and exit a trade based on the crossing of two moving averages.