As of 03/18/2024
  Indus: 38,790 +75.66 +0.2%  
  Trans: 15,418 -81.05 -0.5%  
  Utils: 853 +3.06 +0.4%  
  Nasdaq: 16,103 +130.28 +0.8%  
  S&P 500: 5,149 +32.33 +0.6%  
YTD
 +2.9%  
-3.0%  
-3.2%  
 +7.3%  
 +8.0%  
  Targets    Overview: 03/13/2024  
  Down arrow38,000 or 39,350 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow16,300 or 15,350 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow885 or 830 by 04/01/2024
  Down arrow15,200 or 16,600 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow5,250 or 5,000 by 04/01/2024
As of 03/18/2024
  Indus: 38,790 +75.66 +0.2%  
  Trans: 15,418 -81.05 -0.5%  
  Utils: 853 +3.06 +0.4%  
  Nasdaq: 16,103 +130.28 +0.8%  
  S&P 500: 5,149 +32.33 +0.6%  
YTD
 +2.9%  
-3.0%  
-3.2%  
 +7.3%  
 +8.0%  
  Targets    Overview: 03/13/2024  
  Down arrow38,000 or 39,350 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow16,300 or 15,350 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow885 or 830 by 04/01/2024
  Down arrow15,200 or 16,600 by 04/01/2024
  Up arrow5,250 or 5,000 by 04/01/2024

Bulkowski on Stop Placement: Example

My book, Trading BasicsTrading Basics: Evolution of a Trader book., pictured on the left, has an entire chapter dedicated to stops, starting on page 41.

If you click on the above link and then buy the book (or anything) while at Amazon.com, the referral will help support this site. Thanks.

-- Tom Bulkowski

$ $ $

 

Apache (APA) on the daily chart

Many of you will know to place a stop below a support zone, such as a minor low or region of tight horizontal price movement, but what do you do with the situation pictured in the chart (point B)? Where do you place the stop?

If you noticed the broadening top with a partial decline at A (which happens to rest on a 38% Fibonacci retrace of the move up from the January low) and bought in, stop placement was easy. You just placed it a few pennies below A.

Now that price has climbed to B, placing the stop below a support zone would be foolhardy. The nearest support zone is a small knot of congestion circled in green (if you look closely, you can see a closer one, just above the volatility stop line, but ignore it).

You can use a Fibonacci retracement of the AB move. To do that, take 38% (or 50% or 62% or whatever your favorite number is) of the difference between the two end points and subtract it from the top point: Stop Price = B - (38% x (B - A)). To plug in numbers, we have: 143.67 - (38% x (143.67 - 103.5) or 128.41. I show the approximate level on the chart as a blue line. That stop location (128.41) is well below (nearly 11%) the 143.67 close, so it is not the ideal case.

Another, and perhaps better, method is to use a volatility stop. My free Patternz program will calculate it for you. Refer to my volatility page for the calculation (it amounts to taking the average of a month's worth of high-low ranges, similar to an average true range). The idea behind the stop is to place it far enough away so you do not get stopped out on normal price volatility. I show the volatility stop as a red line.

When I place a stop, I always check the volatility stop setting before deciding where the stop should go. In a case where a straight-line run is occurring, such as in APA, a volatility stop can keep you in the trade longer than using other methods.

Chandelier Stop

Similar to a volatility stop is a chandelier stop. Compute the average true range over the past month, multiply it by 3 and subtract it from the current high price. The result is the stop value. My volatility stop uses the high-low average instead of the ATR with a 2x multiplier but subtracts the result from the daily low.

-- Thomas Bulkowski

Top of page More

See Also

 

Support this site! Clicking any of the books (below) takes you to Amazon.com If you buy ANYTHING while there, they pay for the referral.
Legal notice for paid links: "As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases."

My Stock Market Books
My Novels

Copyright © 2005-2024 by Thomas N. Bulkowski. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer: You alone are responsible for your investment decisions. See Privacy/Disclaimer for more information.
Some pattern names are registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Home Advertise Contact Donate Privacy/Disclaimer

Statisticians do it with 95% confidence.Smiley