Stop-loss placement lab
Compare the three ways of placing a stop on the same trade, and see what an overnight gap does to each — because the stop you typed is not necessarily the price you get.
Runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere. Educational only, and not investment advice.
How to use this calculator
Each step names a control you will find on screen above.
- Stop placement method
Switch between percentage, ATR and structure. A fixed percentage ignores the stock; ATR scales with how much it actually moves; structure puts the stop where the chart says the idea fails.
- Stop distance
For the percentage method, how far below entry. Watch what a 2% stop does on a stock whose average daily range is 3% — you are guaranteeing an exit on noise.
- ATR multiple
For the ATR method, how many average true ranges of room to give it. Between 1.5 and 3 is the usual band. Lower gets you stopped constantly; higher costs more per loss.
- Overnight gap down
The part most calculators skip. Set a gap and watch the fill price drop below your stop — a stop-loss is an instruction to sell at market once touched, not a guarantee of price.
Worked example: The same stop, three ways, then a gap
You are long at ₹1,000. The stock’s average true range is ₹30, roughly 3% a day. Compare a 2% stop against a 2× ATR stop, then apply a 4% gap down on bad news.
What to enter
- Entry
- ₹1,000
- Stop placement method
- Percentage, then ATR
- Stop distance
- 2%
- ATR multiple
- 2×
- Overnight gap down
- 4%
What it shows you
- Percentage stop
- ₹980
- ATR stop (2×)
- ₹940
- Price after the gap
- ₹960
- Actual fill, % stop
- ≈ ₹960
- Loss taken
- 4%, not 2%
inside a single normal day’s range
₹60 = 2 × ₹30 ATR
opens below the ₹980 stop
not ₹980 — the gap jumped it
double what was planned
Where this is taught
A calculator gives you a number. These explain what the number means and when it misleads you.
- Risk & Psychology10 minStop-losses, and exactly when they failWhere to place one, why a fixed percentage is wrong in both directions, and the honest limits of what a stop can protect you from.
- Technical Analysis12 minWhere the stop actually goesA stop belongs where your idea is proven wrong, not where your loss reaches a comfortable number. Four methods, and how to choose between them.
- Technical Analysis11 minCircuit limits, halts and when the chart stopsA price band means the stock can show a move you could not have traded. Where they apply, what they do to a stop-loss, and why smallcaps are worst affected.
- Technical Analysis12 minCutting false signals without cutting the good onesEvery filter that removes bad trades removes some good ones too. How to measure that trade-off instead of guessing at it.
- Technical Analysis12 minGIFT Nifty and the seventeen hours the market is shutIndian equities are shut while America trades a full session. GIFT Nifty fills the gap — and says far less about tomorrow’s open than people assume.