“Stop-loss orders are not guaranteed”

This clause looks boring until it becomes the only thing that matters. Translation: stop orders are not guaranteed to fill at your stop price. In fast or gapping markets, they fill at the first available price.

Stops become market orders when triggered. If there is no liquidity at your stop level, the next available quote becomes your fill. The broker cannot manufacture liquidity that doesn’t exist.

• Slippage can materially increase loss beyond plan.
• Weekend gaps can skip stops entirely.
• Stop distance that is ‘fine’ in calm regimes becomes fragile in spikes.

• Size for tail fills, not ideal fills.
• Do not carry oversized positions into known discontinuity windows.
• Use catastrophe planning: if a worst-case gap occurs, you still survive.

If your strategy requires stop precision within a few pips, you must avoid regimes where stops behave like blunt market orders.

Plain English: your stop converts into a market order when triggered. If the market gaps or liquidity disappears, your fill can be materially worse.

Where it bites: macro releases, weekend gaps, sudden risk-off moves, and thin holiday sessions.

Hard truth: a stop is a survival tool, not a price guarantee.