Mistake: Not Moving the Stop with the Market to Protect Profit

Let’s illustrate with a trade in sugar. Say we buy an October sugar futures contract at $15.44 and then we set our sell stop order below the market at $15.00. Now the market moves higher, to $15.95. Our smartest strategy is to move our stop up now from $15.00 to our entry point of $15.44, or breakeven. In other words, we would break even on the trade, more than likely. Later, if the market moves even higher, we can move the stop again, and now almost guarantee a profit. This type of activity is called placing a trailing stop, because it trails behind our trade and moves as the trade moves. This is smart trading. Master it, and use it.