Concept
Fixed Stops
Fixed Stops, also known as percent, dollar, time, session-close, are Risk, Sizing & Exits concepts. The Library holds 3 implementations, each one a working definition you can pull into Quant.
Top Fixed Stops indicators
3 total
What are Fixed Stops?
Fixed stops are exits defined by a predetermined rule rather than by chart context: a set percentage or dollar distance from entry, a time stop that closes the trade after a set number of bars, or a session-close rule that flattens everything by a chosen time. The family also includes the disaster stop, a deliberately wide catastrophic order sitting behind subtler exit logic, and broker-side guaranteed stops, which for a premium fill at the exact level, while an ordinary stop converts to a market order when triggered and can slip or gap.
Their strength is that risk is known before entry, which keeps percent-risk sizing trivial and audits simple. Their weakness is context-blindness: the same 2% sits inside the noise of a volatile symbol and far outside the noise of a quiet one, which is the gap volatility stops and structure stops exist to close.
How traders use it
- As the sizing anchor in mechanical systems: a fixed percent or dollar stop gives every trade a known worst case before slippage, so size and R accounting stay simple.
- As clock discipline: time stops close trades whose thesis expired unfulfilled, and session-close stops keep intraday strategies from carrying overnight gap risk.
- As the backstop layer: a wide disaster stop ensures a resting order exists if the primary exit logic fails or a move runs away; gaps can still fill beyond it.
Related concepts · Stop taxonomy
Concept family
Risk, Sizing & Exits
37 concepts mapped · 19 in the Library
Fixed Stops FAQ
Are guaranteed stop-loss orders worth the premium?
They convert slippage risk into a known fee: the broker commits to your exact exit level even through a gap, charging a premium or wider spread. The value scales with gap exposure, which is highest around closes, scheduled news, and weekends. In continuously liquid conditions ordinary stops usually fill near the level anyway; across binary events they cannot promise that, and the guarantee is the product.
What is a time stop in trading?
A time stop exits after a fixed interval, measured in bars, hours, or sessions, regardless of price. The logic is that a setup carries an implicit deadline: a trade that has gone nowhere by then is dead capital still carrying open risk. Time stops usually run alongside price stops, and whichever triggers first closes the trade.
Build Fixed Stops your way.
Quant writes, tests, and refines it with you — then it runs on LuxAlgo charting or ports to TradingView.