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Stop Loss Guide

Protect your positions with stop-loss orders. Automatically sell when prices drop to limit your losses.

Before You Start

  • What is a stop loss? An order that automatically sells your position if the price drops to a specified level.
  • Why use it? To limit potential losses without constantly monitoring the market.
  • Monitoring: PolyBot continuously monitors prices and executes your stop loss when triggered.
Risk Management

Stop losses are a key risk management tool. They help you define your maximum acceptable loss on any position before you enter the trade.


How Stop Loss Works

  1. You set a trigger price or trigger percentage on an open position.
  2. PolyBot monitors the market price continuously.
  3. When the price drops to your trigger level, the stop loss activates.
  4. Your shares are sold automatically (at market or limit price, depending on your settings).
  5. You receive a notification with the execution details.

Trigger Types

Choose how to define when your stop loss triggers:

Fixed Price Trigger

Set a specific price in cents where you want to sell.

Example: You bought at 50¢. Set stop loss at 40¢.

  • If price drops to 40¢ or below → Stop loss triggers.

Best for: When you know the exact price level you want to exit at.

Percentage Trigger

Set a percentage drop from your entry price.

Example: You bought at 50¢. Set stop loss at -20%.

  • Trigger price = 50¢ × (1 - 0.20) = 40¢
  • If price drops to 40¢ or below → Stop loss triggers.

Best for: When you want consistent risk management across different entry prices.


Execution Modes

Choose how your stop loss executes when triggered:

ModeHow It WorksProsCons
⚡ Stop-Loss (Market)Sells immediately at current market priceFast, guaranteed executionPrice may vary (slippage)
🎯 Stop-LimitPlaces limit order at trigger pricePrice guaranteed if filledMay not fill if price gaps

When to Use Each Mode

Use Market Mode when:

  • You prioritize getting out of the position.
  • The market has good liquidity.
  • You accept some price uncertainty for guaranteed execution.

Use Limit Mode when:

  • You want to ensure a specific exit price.
  • You're okay with the risk of not filling if price moves quickly.
  • You're protecting a large position.

Creating a Stop Loss

Step 1: Open Stop Loss Menu

  • Command: /stoploss
  • Or go to Main Menu📈 Orders🛡️ Stop Loss

Step 2: Select a Position

  1. Tap ➕ New Stop Loss.
  2. Choose from your open positions.
  3. Shows available shares (excluding shares already covered by other stop losses).

Screenshot

Step 3: Choose Trigger Type

  • 💲 Fixed Price — Enter a specific price in cents.
  • 📊 Percentage — Enter a percentage drop from entry.

Step 4: Set the Trigger

For Fixed Price:

  • Enter the price in cents (e.g., 40 for 40¢).
  • Must be below the current price.

For Percentage:

  • Enter the percentage (e.g., 20 for 20%).
  • Shows the calculated trigger price.

Step 5: Select Quantity

Choose how many shares to protect:

OptionDescription
25%Protect a quarter of your position
50%Protect half your position
75%Protect most of your position
100%Protect your entire position
CustomEnter a specific number of shares
Multiple Stop Losses

You can create multiple stop losses at different levels. For example, sell 50% at -15% and remaining 50% at -25%.

Step 6: Choose Execution Mode

  • ⚡ Stop-Loss — Market execution (default)
  • 🎯 Stop-Limit — Limit execution at trigger price

Step 7: Confirm

Review your stop loss details:

  • Shares protected
  • Trigger price
  • Execution mode
  • Estimated proceeds (approximate)

Tap ✅ Confirm to activate.


Managing Stop Losses

Viewing Active Stop Losses

  1. Command: /stoploss
  2. See all active stop losses with:
    • Market and outcome
    • Current price vs trigger price
    • Shares protected
    • Execution mode
    • Estimated proceeds

Editing a Stop Loss

  1. Open the stop loss.
  2. Tap ✏️ Edit.
  3. You can change:
    • 🎯 Trigger — New trigger price or percentage
    • ⚖️ Quantity — Number of shares

Canceling a Stop Loss

  1. Open the stop loss.
  2. Tap 🗑️ Delete.
  3. Confirm cancellation.

Cancel All Stop Losses

  1. Go to the stop loss list.
  2. Tap 🗑️ Cancel All.
  3. Confirm to remove all active stop losses.

Stop Loss Lifecycle

Your stop loss goes through these stages:

ACTIVE → TRIGGERED → EXECUTING → FILLED
↘ FAILED (if execution fails)
StatusMeaning
ActiveMonitoring price, waiting to trigger
TriggeredPrice hit trigger level, preparing to sell
ExecutingSell order being placed
FilledSuccessfully sold, funds in wallet
FailedExecution failed after retries
CanceledYou or the system canceled it

Auto-Cancellation

PolyBot automatically cancels stop losses in certain situations:

ReasonWhat Happened
Insufficient SharesYou sold shares elsewhere, not enough left for stop loss
Position ClosedYour position no longer exists
Market ResolvedThe market has settled

When auto-canceled, you receive a notification explaining why.


Notifications

When Stop Loss Executes

You receive a message showing:

  • 🔔 Stop Loss Executed!
  • Market and outcome
  • Trigger price
  • Shares sold
  • Average execution price
  • Total proceeds

When Stop Loss Auto-Cancels

You receive a message showing:

  • 🔔 Stop Loss Auto-Canceled
  • Reason for cancellation
  • Required vs available shares

Price Calculations

Fixed Price

You enter the exact price. No calculation needed.

Constraints:

  • Must be between 0.1¢ and 99.9¢.
  • Must be below the current market price.

Percentage from Entry

Trigger Price = Entry Price × (1 - Percentage / 100)

Examples (Entry at 60¢):

PercentageCalculationTrigger Price
-10%60 × 0.9054¢
-20%60 × 0.8048¢
-30%60 × 0.7042¢

Reserved Shares

When you create a stop loss, those shares are "reserved":

  • Reserved shares cannot be used for other stop losses.
  • Available shares = Total shares - Reserved shares
  • If you sell shares manually, stop losses may be auto-canceled if not enough remain.

Example:

  • You hold 100 shares.
  • Create stop loss for 60 shares → 60 reserved.
  • Available for another stop loss: 40 shares.

Commands

CommandWhat It Does
/stoplossOpen stop loss menu

Example Strategies

Simple Protection

Protect your entire position with one stop loss:

Position: 100 shares at 50¢
Stop Loss: -20% (trigger at 40¢) → Sell 100%

Scaled Exit

Multiple stop losses at different levels:

Position: 100 shares at 50¢
Stop Loss 1: -10% (45¢) → Sell 50 shares
Stop Loss 2: -25% (37.5¢) → Sell 50 shares

Tight Risk Management

For high-conviction trades with strict limits:

Position: 100 shares at 70¢
Stop Loss: -7% (65¢) → Sell 100%

Stop Loss vs Presets

FeatureStop LossPresets
CreationManual per positionTemplate-based
Take Profit❌ No✅ Yes
Stop Loss✅ Yes✅ Yes
Auto-Apply❌ No✅ Yes
Edit Individual✅ YesLimited

Use Stop Loss when:

  • You want standalone protective orders.
  • You need fine-grained control per position.
  • You want to add protection to existing positions.

Use Presets when:

  • You want combined take-profit and stop-loss.
  • You want automatic application on every buy.
  • You prefer template-based strategies.

Troubleshooting

  • Cannot create stop loss: Ensure you have an open position with available (unreserved) shares.
  • Trigger must be below current price: Stop losses only trigger on price drops.
  • Stop loss not triggering: The market price must reach your trigger level. Check current prices.
  • Auto-canceled unexpectedly: You may have sold shares elsewhere. Check the notification for details.
  • Failed after triggering: The sell order couldn't execute. Check market liquidity.
  • Limit order not filling: In Stop-Limit mode, if price gaps past your trigger, the limit order may not fill.