Add the spread

A stop sitting exactly on a level is taken by the two prices every market quotes, before the level is broken at all.

This lesson is mechanical rather than analytical, and it is the reason every stop in this course sits one dollar past its level.

Two prices, always

Every market quotes two prices at once. The bid, where you sell, and the ask, where you buy. The gap between them is the spread.

Your chart normally draws the bid. The ask sits above it, invisible.

The price on your screen is one of two prices, and it is not the one that closes a short.

A short position is closed by a buy order, so it is triggered by the ask.

The course is free. The account is only there to save your place and let us tell you when new lessons land.