The 0.2 pip stop adjustment
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2026 7:12 pm
The 0.2 pip stop adjustment
A stop sits at 1.0848. Price approaches 1.0849. A quick hand moves the stop to 1.0846, giving it a bit more room. Price turns and goes in the planned direction.
Or price continues down, and the stop at 1.0846 now loses two more tenths of a pip than planned.
Moving a stop by a fraction of a pip is rarely a rational decision. It's a micro-regret reaction: the desire to avoid being stopped out by a hair, to avoid the feeling of a near miss.
Over hundreds of trades, those little adjustments add up. Each one slightly increases the loss on trades that fail, and slightly changes the win rate on those that survive. The net effect is typically negative, because the strategy was designed with a specific stop distance.
The strategy's tested results don't include discretionary stop moves. Anything done differently from the plan is untested.
A rule that stops can't be moved away from the market is simple and strong. Stops can tighten or stay put. Widening is not allowed.
The urge to adjust is normal. The discipline is in not acting on it.
Stop adjustments in the journal: how many, and what was the net result of those trades?
A stop sits at 1.0848. Price approaches 1.0849. A quick hand moves the stop to 1.0846, giving it a bit more room. Price turns and goes in the planned direction.
Or price continues down, and the stop at 1.0846 now loses two more tenths of a pip than planned.
Moving a stop by a fraction of a pip is rarely a rational decision. It's a micro-regret reaction: the desire to avoid being stopped out by a hair, to avoid the feeling of a near miss.
Over hundreds of trades, those little adjustments add up. Each one slightly increases the loss on trades that fail, and slightly changes the win rate on those that survive. The net effect is typically negative, because the strategy was designed with a specific stop distance.
The strategy's tested results don't include discretionary stop moves. Anything done differently from the plan is untested.
A rule that stops can't be moved away from the market is simple and strong. Stops can tighten or stay put. Widening is not allowed.
The urge to adjust is normal. The discipline is in not acting on it.
Stop adjustments in the journal: how many, and what was the net result of those trades?