Which side a stop actually triggers on
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2026 11:48 am
Which side a stop actually triggers on
A buy stop opens on the ask. A sell stop opens on the bid. That much is common knowledge. What gets forgotten is that the stop loss on a long position triggers on the bid, and the stop loss on a short triggers on the ask.
Charts normally show the bid. So a short position with a stop above the entry can get hit while the chart's high never reaches the line. The ask went up through the stop because the spread was wide, and the chart only displays the bid.
This explains a whole category of stop-outs that look like the market "just touched" the level or even missed it. During rollover and around news, the spread can open up for a few seconds, and the ask jumps through levels the bid never visited.
Practical consequence: shorts need more room than the chart suggests, particularly in the hours when the spread breathes. Longs trigger on the bid so the chart looks honest for them.
Some platforms offer an ask line on the chart. Turning it on for a week is a cheap education.
How many stop-outs from the last month would have survived if the ask line had been on screen and the stop placed with the spread in mind?
A buy stop opens on the ask. A sell stop opens on the bid. That much is common knowledge. What gets forgotten is that the stop loss on a long position triggers on the bid, and the stop loss on a short triggers on the ask.
Charts normally show the bid. So a short position with a stop above the entry can get hit while the chart's high never reaches the line. The ask went up through the stop because the spread was wide, and the chart only displays the bid.
This explains a whole category of stop-outs that look like the market "just touched" the level or even missed it. During rollover and around news, the spread can open up for a few seconds, and the ask jumps through levels the bid never visited.
Practical consequence: shorts need more room than the chart suggests, particularly in the hours when the spread breathes. Longs trigger on the bid so the chart looks honest for them.
Some platforms offer an ask line on the chart. Turning it on for a week is a cheap education.
How many stop-outs from the last month would have survived if the ask line had been on screen and the stop placed with the spread in mind?