Inappropriate Stop Loss Triggered

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41

There is a trigger number followed by another lower number. The second lower number is a no lower than this.

42

Rich, if the price had dropped to, say, £12 and stayed there, would you be complaining? A stop loss is just that - if the price falls it closes the trade and prevents you losing any more money. If you want to avoid momentary drops in a share price then either set the stop much lower or don’t use one at all. When I started out I used to religiously set stops but I found it’s the quickest way to lose money! I’ve not used them for a couple of years. If you researched your investment properly and have confidence in the business then trust your judgement and put up with rises and falls.

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43

I wouldn’t be complaining if the price had fallen below my stop loss; I think I have explained my issue is around the data that was used to trigger the stop loss order I was under the impression it was based on last price and it is not clear even in Freetrades own info what value is used.

There was no drop in the last price of the stock; due to low trading volumes the highest bid on the order book for a split second was 5% below last price (I can only assume someone trying their luck?) but this then triggered my stop loss and placed a market order to sell my shares no matter what.

There is clear ambiguity over what triggers the stop loss market order and this is what my issue is based upon.

Worth pointing out; it’s one thing to have conviction in a share and riding out the ups and downs but holding ETCs for the long term is generally ill-advised and short term trades are a valid strategy; it’s up to individual investors to choose their trades and durations.

Thanks everyone for their thoughts on this and as a few have mentioned; be very cautious of using a stop loss when the trade volume of the share is low as it is triggered by bid/mid price (still not had confirmation from Freetrade as to exactly what value is used).

Hopefully Freetrade clarify what data is used to trigger the stop loss order to avoid others getting caught out as well.

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