Stop orders on news: the slippage is not a bug
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2026 1:59 am
Stop-loss orders become market orders when triggered. In a calm market, that means a fill at or very near the stop price. In a news spike, it means a fill at the first available price after the trigger, which can be well beyond it.
It's not an error. It's how stop orders work in a market where the price can jump. The platform's displayed stop level is a trigger, not a guarantee.
During high-impact releases, liquidity can vanish for a moment. If the book jumps from 1.0850 to 1.0835 without trading in between, any stop sitting between those prices fills at 1.0835 or worse.
A few brokers offer guaranteed stops for a premium. The cost is a wider spread or a fee, and the guarantee often has conditions. Most scalping accounts don't include them.
Traders who run tight stops during news find that the stop isn't tight at all. A 5 pip stop with 15 pips of slippage is a 20 pip loss.
An alternative is not to hold positions through the event. That sounds like a risk management cliché, but the point here is narrower: the slippage on stops at news is a structural feature of the market, not a broker trick, and it applies even to the best brokers.
The cost of the guaranteed stop, where offered, is usually built into the spread or charged as a premium if triggered. It changes the economics. A stop that is certain to fill at its level protects against the gap, but the extra spread on every trade adds up for a high-frequency style.
There's also the matter of where the stop goes. A guaranteed stop often has a minimum distance from the market, which may be larger than a scalper's usual stop. That makes it a poor fit for tight setups.
Comparing the options clearly: a normal stop is cheap, tight, and exposed to slippage. A guaranteed stop is certain but costly and loose. Staying out of the market during the event avoids the issue and the opportunity together.
None of these is correct in all cases, and the right choice depends on how often events occur in the strategy's active hours and how large the typical slippage has been. A fill log for stop orders at news shows the actual numbers.
What is the worst slippage seen on a stop during a news event, in pips?
It's not an error. It's how stop orders work in a market where the price can jump. The platform's displayed stop level is a trigger, not a guarantee.
During high-impact releases, liquidity can vanish for a moment. If the book jumps from 1.0850 to 1.0835 without trading in between, any stop sitting between those prices fills at 1.0835 or worse.
A few brokers offer guaranteed stops for a premium. The cost is a wider spread or a fee, and the guarantee often has conditions. Most scalping accounts don't include them.
Traders who run tight stops during news find that the stop isn't tight at all. A 5 pip stop with 15 pips of slippage is a 20 pip loss.
An alternative is not to hold positions through the event. That sounds like a risk management cliché, but the point here is narrower: the slippage on stops at news is a structural feature of the market, not a broker trick, and it applies even to the best brokers.
The cost of the guaranteed stop, where offered, is usually built into the spread or charged as a premium if triggered. It changes the economics. A stop that is certain to fill at its level protects against the gap, but the extra spread on every trade adds up for a high-frequency style.
There's also the matter of where the stop goes. A guaranteed stop often has a minimum distance from the market, which may be larger than a scalper's usual stop. That makes it a poor fit for tight setups.
Comparing the options clearly: a normal stop is cheap, tight, and exposed to slippage. A guaranteed stop is certain but costly and loose. Staying out of the market during the event avoids the issue and the opportunity together.
None of these is correct in all cases, and the right choice depends on how often events occur in the strategy's active hours and how large the typical slippage has been. A fill log for stop orders at news shows the actual numbers.
What is the worst slippage seen on a stop during a news event, in pips?