How
much do I believe the market will move and
where do I want to take my profit?
Limit
Orders allow traders to exit the market at profit
targets. If you are short (sold) a currency
pair the system will only allow you to place
a limit order below the current market price
because this is the profit zone. Similarly if
you are long (bought) the currency pair the
system will only allow you to place a limit
order above the current market price. Limit
orders help create a disciplined trading methodology
and enable traders to walk away from the computer
without constantly monitoring the market.
How much
am I willing to lose before I exit the position?
Stop/Loss orders allow traders
to set an exit point for a losing trade. If
you are short a currency pair the stop/loss
order should be placed above the current market
price. If you are long the currency pair the
stop loss order should be placed below the current
market price. Stop/Loss orders help traders
control risk by capping losses. Stop/Loss orders
are counter-intuitive because you do not want
them to be hit, however, you will be happy that
you placed them! When logic dictates, you can
control greed.
Where should
I place my stop and limit orders?
As a general rule of thumb traders
should set stop/loss orders closer to the opening
price than limit orders. If this rule is followed,
a trader needs to be right less than 50% of
the time to be profitable. For example, a trader
that uses a 30 pip Stop/Loss and 100 pip limit
orders, needs only to be right 1/3 of the time
to make a profit. Where the trader places the
stop and limit will depend on how risk-adverse
s/he is. Stop/Loss orders should not be so tight
that normal market volatility knocks the position
out. Similarly, limit orders should reflect
realistic expectation of gains given the markets
trading activity and the length of time one
wants to hold the position.