How to Set a Stop-Loss (and Actually Keep It)

A stop-loss is a pre-set order that exits your trade once price reaches a level where your idea is wrong. It turns an open-ended loss into a known, fixed one.

Step by step

1. Decide the invalidation level first. Before entering, ask: "at what price is this trade simply wrong?" That price — not a round rupee figure — is your stop.
2. Place the order with your broker. On most Indian brokers (Zerodha, Upstox, Groww, Angel One) you choose a stop-loss order type when you place or modify the position.
3. Pick the order type (see table below).
4. Size to the stop. The gap between entry and stop is your risk per unit; choose a quantity so the total loss is a fixed percent of capital.
5. Leave it alone. Moving a stop further away to "give it room" is the most common way a disciplined plan falls apart.

SL vs SL-M

Order type	What it does	Trade-off
SL (limit)	Triggers a limit order at your price	May not fill in a fast move
SL-M (market)	Triggers a market order	Always fills, but price can slip

Size the position around the stop

A stop only protects you if the position is sized correctly. If you risk 1% of a ₹1,00,000 account and your stop is ₹5 away, you can hold 200 shares. Change the stop and the size must change too — the position size calculator does this for equity and futures (with margin).

Keeping the stop

The hardest part is not placing the stop — it is honouring it. Logging every trade against its planned stop makes broken-stop habits visible, which is the first step to fixing them.