Risk Management Tools

Set 'Close at Profit' [Stop Limit] and/or 'Close at Loss' [Stop Loss] Price Levels

‘Close at Profit’ [Stop Limit] and ‘Close at Loss’ [Stop Loss] orders can be added to your trades when opening a new position/pending order, or when editing an existing position. These orders allow you to set a specific rate at which your position will close, in order to protect your profit, in the case of Close at Profit order or minimise your loss, in the case of Close at Loss order. Note that Close at Profit and Close at Loss orders do not guarantee your position will close at the exact price level you have specified. If the market price suddenly gaps down or up, at a price beyond your stop level, it is possible your position will be closed at the next available price which can be a different price than the one you have set. This is known as 'Slippage'.

Example:

Gold CFD is trading at $1,405/$1,410 (Sell/Buy) per bullion. You decide to open a Buy position on 10 units of Gold CFD at $1,410 while placing a Close at Loss order at $1,390.
Gold CFD price falls directly to $1,390 and then to $1,350. Your position will automatically close at $1390.
Your loss is: 10 * (1,390 - 1,410) = -$200
If Gold CFD’s price ‘gaps down’ from $1,410 directly to $1,350, the trade will close at $1,350 instead of $1,390 which was the Stop Loss level you have set. Since the Stop is not guaranteed, when the market suddenly dropped and passed $1,390, the position was triggered to close at the next available price which was $1,350. In this case your loss will be: 10 * (1,350 - 1,410) = -$600

Guaranteed Stop

Adding a Guaranteed Stop order to your trading position puts an absolute limit on your potential loss. Even if the price of the instrument moves significantly against you, your position will automatically be closed at the specified price, with no risk of Slippage.
Guaranteed Stop is available for some instruments only. If an instrument supports the Guaranteed Stop order, a checkbox will be available for use in the platform (after you select the ‘Close at Loss’ checkbox).
Guaranteed Stop details:
A Guaranteed Stop order can only be placed on a new trading position/pending order, and cannot be added to an existing position.
A Guaranteed Stop can only be activated/edited when the instrument is available for trading. Once your Guaranteed Stop order is active, it cannot be removed, only a Close at Loss order can be amended/removed.
The additional spread charge for a Guaranteed Stop is non-refundable once activated and will be displayed before approval. The level of the Guaranteed Stop must be at a certain predefined distance away from the current trading price of the instrument.

Example:

Apple CFD is trading at $148/$150 (Sell/Buy) per share.
You decide to buy 10 contracts (shares) on Apple CFD while placing a Guaranteed Stop at $130. The spread adjustment for a Guaranteed Stop is $10.
Apple CFD drops below $100, but you are guaranteed to close out the Buy position at $130.
With a Guaranteed Stop order on 10 contracts (shares): P&L = 10*(130 - 150) - 10 [Guaranteed Stop spread adjustment] = -$210
Without a Guaranteed Stop order: P&L = 10*(100 - 150) = -$500

Trailing Stop – Automatically Limit a Position's Losses While Locking in Profits

Placing a Trailing Stop order helps you lock in a certain amount of profits. When you open a position or pending order with a Trailing Stop, it will remain open as long as its price moves in your favour, but will automatically close if its price changes direction by a specified amount of pips*.
Trailing Stop allows you to place a Close at Loss order which automatically updates when the market moves in your favour. The Close at Loss order is activated if the market moves unfavourably (in accordance with the requested pips change). This feature is free of charge, however there is no guarantee that your position will close at the exact Close at Loss level, because of ‘Slippage’.

Example:

The price of EUR/USD is 1.19400/1.19500 (Sell/Buy).
You decide to open a buy position for 100,000 units while placing a Trailing Stop at 100 pips (100 pips = ‪0.00100). This sets a Trailing Stop order at the Sell rate of 1.19300 (1.19400 - 0.00100). The price of EUR/USD starts to rise and Sell rate reaches 1.19450; the Trailing Stop order trails the change to 1.19350 (1.19450 - 0.00100).
EUR/USD continues to rise and the Sell rate reaches 1.19750; the Trailing Stop order automatically adjusts according to the new market price, and changes to 1.19650 (1.19750 - 0.00100).
If the price of EUR/USD suddenly changes direction and falls by 100 pips (i.e. to 1.19650, your Trailing Stop price) or more, Plus500 will execute the order at 1.19650 if it is applicable; otherwise, the position will be closed at the next available rate.
If the position closed at the rate of 1.19650 - Your profit is: 100,000 * (1.19650 - 1.19500) = €150 (by using Trailing Stop you were able to lock in your profits).

* Pip (price interest point). For all Plus500 instruments, refers to the smallest unit of price change.