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Stop Widening Alert

Detects "moving the stop the wrong way"

A repeated failure mode is widening stops or "giving it room" after price invalidates, which is frequently tied to hope and loss aversion. This recipe alerts when stops are moved farther away.

House RecipePersonal4 min setup

INGREDIENTS

🔔Notifications📄Google Docs

PROMPT

Build "Stop Widening Alert". If I move a stop farther from entry such that max loss increases by more than 10%, alert me and require a one-sentence thesis change justification. Tag the trade as stop-widen.

Pain point

Traders often sabotage expectancy by letting losers expand beyond planned risk.

Triggers

  • Stop price modified farther from entry (increases max loss)

Conditions

  • Only flag if new stop increases risk by > riskIncreaseThresholdPercent
  • Ignore tightening stops (moving closer)

Actions

  • Alert: "Stop widened — is the thesis changed or is this emotional?"
  • Require a one-sentence reason to proceed
  • Auto-tag for weekly review: "stop-widen"

Parameters (defaults)

  • riskIncreaseThresholdPercent: 10
  • requireJustification: true

Examples

  • If you move stop from -$100 risk to -$140 risk, send an alert and require justification.
  • If you tighten stop, do nothing.
Tags:#trading#stop-loss#loss-aversion#discipline