Risk Academy
+$91 open profit, and the trade could still close red.
A position in profit feels like money made. It is not, until the stop says so. While the stop sits below your entry, the whole move can come back and take more with it. Open profit is not protected profit. Where the stop sits decides which of the two you have.
Three stops, one trade
The film uses one real trade and moves its stop twice. Each move changes what the trade can still cost you:
| Stop at | MT5 shows | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 4270.39 | −$91.30 | Below entry. The position shows about +$91, and a hit on this stop would still lose about $91. Open profit, no protection. |
| 4280.26 | +$7.40 | Just past break-even, 74 points above entry. The initial downside is largely removed. |
| 4283.58 | +$40.60 | Further above entry. Part of the open profit is now protected. |
Break-even is not risk-free
Moving the stop to or just past your entry removes most of the initial downside, which is why it is the first move most traders make. It does not make the trade free of risk, for three reasons:
- A stop is not a price guarantee. When it triggers, it sends a market order, and MT5 fills it at the stop price or worse. In a fast market the fill can be further away.
- A gap steps over it. If the market opens past your stop, the order fills at the first available price, which can be well below a break-even level.
- Costs still apply. Commission and overnight swap are charged whatever the stop says, so a stop exactly at entry can still close slightly negative.
That is what the asterisks in the film mean: the initial downside is largely removed, not guaranteed to be zero.
How close is too close
Once the stop is above entry, every further move protects more of the profit. It is tempting to keep it as close to the price as possible. That is the part most traders get wrong, because a stop has two jobs that pull against each other.
Tighter stop
More profit protected
Less room for a pullback. An ordinary retracement, the kind the market makes on its way up anyway, is more likely to close the trade before the move continues.
Wider stop
More room to breathe
A normal pullback is less likely to reach it, so the trade has more chance to keep going. If the move does turn, more of the open profit is given back first.
Neither is correct in the abstract. A useful anchor is how far the market you trade normally pulls back on the timeframe you trade it, measured from its own recent swings, rather than how much of the profit you would like to keep. A stop inside the normal pullback is a stop the market can reach without the idea being wrong.
By hand, or automatic
- The film shows a stop moved by hand on MT5 mobile: tap the stop line on the chart, drag it, and confirm. The same principle applies on any platform. Move it only in the trade's favour, never back.
- MT5's automatic Trailing Stop is a desktop feature. Once set, the stop follows the price at a fixed distance while the position moves into profit, and does not move back when it retraces.
- It runs in the platform, not on the broker's server. MetaQuotes' own help says it will not work if the platform is off. Your last stop level stays on the server; it just stops trailing.
Not the same as trailing drawdown
A trailing stop is something you do to one position. A trailing drawdown is a rule some prop firms apply to your whole account, and it follows your balance up rather than your price. The names are close and the mechanics are not: trailing drawdown explained.
The stop sets the size
Sources
- MetaTrader 5 Help, Basic Principles: Stop Loss, break-even and Trailing Stop
- MetaTrader 5 for Android Help, Types of Orders: how stop orders are executed
- The trade in the film: a screen recording of MT5 mobile, 25 September 2026. Only stops that were placed are shown. Checked 26 September 2026.
Educational content only, not financial advice. Nothing here is a trade idea, and no stop distance on this site is a recommendation. Execution and platform features vary by broker.