Stock Trading: How to Place Stops and Limits by Doug Newberry

Getting into a trade is often the most glamorous part of stock trading. Knowing which trades are likely to turn a profit and diving into those trades can make a day trader feel really knowledgeable and involved in the market.

Being a good trader doesn't only mean knowing when to get into a trade, it also means knowing when to get out. The following guidelines are meant to get you started, but remember that trading is a continuing journey of discovery about the tradable nuances of market moves.

Make sure you're familiar with historical support and resistance levels. Also, check out momentum readings as well as Bollinger Bands to inform you about where to put stop and limit orders.

It's also a good idea to use trailing stops. They will allow you to ratchet up a sell stop slowly as your positions change to be in your favor.

When getting involved in stock trading, sometimes avoiding mistakes is more important than doing the right thing. Don't place your stops according to how much money you need to make. The market doesn't distribute profits based on the needs of its investors. Just because you need to make 500 dollars this week and you can't afford to lose more than 250, the market doesn't really care.

Sometimes the amount of money you need to make will correlate with how you set your limits and stops. However, these figures rarely work out to be the same. Thus, you should never use your needs as a guide to where to place your stops and your limits.

Another important thing to remember is not to invest when you are "on tilt". Being on tilt means that you have just lost some money on a trade and you want to make it back quickly. Suppose you have just lost $300 on your last trade. You shouldn't set your exit limits to make all that money back on your next trade. After all, the smart limits on this next trade are not dictated by how well (or how poorly) you did on your last trade.

Stock trading "on tilt" is a sure way to lose money. Use the stock trading tips mentioned earlier to guide your trades rather than using impulses based on flimsy reasoning and financial need.

Always let the market determine where you should put your stops and how you should set your limits. Letting go of your expectations will help you be an objective trader and will increase your profits.

About the Author

Doug Newberry founded Investing Systems Network. As one of its directors, he helps provide stock trading tools and services to more than 20,000 customers in more than 70 countries to help them become more disciplined, better investors.