
Apple, iPad, and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. Telephone calls and online chat conversations may be recorded and monitored. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.ĬMC Markets UK plc (173730) and CMC Spreadbet plc (170627) are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom. 66% of retail investor accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider. Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. The screenshot below shows how you can modify order settings for trailing stop-loss orders on your CMC Markets account. However, any significant unexpected volatility, such as that caused by breaking news, wouldn’t be taken into account. This gives them an indication as to how much fluctuation in the price they can expect over the course of the trading day. For example, they could use average true range ( ATR indicator) to understand how much the instrument they want to trade moves over a given chart timeframe. Some traders may also decide to use technical indicators to guide their trailing stop placements. Some traders may choose to use a regular stop-loss in a similar way to a trailing stop, by moving it manually themselves whenever they see the market price move in a favourable direction. The stop-loss moves in line with favourable price moves automatically. The stop-loss will then remain this distance from the market price while the price moves in your favour. Trailing stop-loss placement is usually specified by setting a price the desired distance away from the market price, in line with how much capital you’re willing to risk on the trade. In order to exit a trade at an exact price, rather than the next available market price, you would need to set up a guaranteed stop-loss order. If you’re going short (selling), then your trailing stop-loss will be placed above the market price. If you’re going long (placing a buy trade), then the trailing stop needs to be placed below the market price. Placing the stop-loss too close to the market price may result in an early exit, whereas setting it too far away would mean risking more capital. It’s important to look at the volatility of the market over an extended period of time, as well as how it behaves on a daily basis. This is why the placement of the trailing stop-loss is very important, and the historical performance of the stock and market conditions should be taken into consideration. However, it’s important to remember that higher levels of volatility may result in your stop-loss being triggered early on. Using forex trading as an example, a trailing stop-loss may be useful when trading a particularly volatile currency pair, which has erratic price moves.
