Trailing stop alerts: protect gains without watching the chart

You bought a stock, it went up, and now you're nervous about giving the gain back. A trailing stop alert follows the price up and tells you when it falls a set amount from its high. You get the warning without staring at the chart.

How it works

Say you set a 10% trailing stop alert on a stock at $100. The alert level starts at $90. Triggerly tracks the highest price since you created the alert, and that high only ratchets up. If the stock climbs to $130, the level moves to $117. If the stock then falls to $117, you get the alert.

An alert is not an order

A trailing stop order at your broker sells automatically. A trailing stop alert only notifies you, so you decide. Some people prefer that: a sharp dip on no news can trigger an order you'd rather not have filled, while an alert gives you a moment to check what happened.

Choosing the trail

• Too tight (for example 3% on a volatile stock) and normal daily swings trigger it constantly.
• Too wide and you give back most of the gain before you hear about it.
• A practical rule: look at how much the stock typically moves in a week and set the trail somewhat wider than that. Many people use 8 to 15% for individual stocks and less for broad ETFs.

Trailing buy alerts

The reverse is useful for entries. A trailing buy alert follows the lowest price since you created the alert and pings you when price rises a set amount off that low, so you hear about a possible turn instead of trying to catch the exact bottom.

Set one up on Android

1. Open Triggerly (free, no ads) and search the stock.
2. Choose Trailing Stop or Trailing Buy Stop and set the trail.
3. Make sure push, email, or Telegram is on in Settings → Notifications. Those channels apply to every alert, not just this one.

When it fires, open Alert Analysis to see what likely caused the drop before you decide.

FAQ

What is a trailing stop alert?

An alert whose trigger level follows a stock up by a fixed percent or amount from the highest price since you created the alert, and notifies you when the stock falls back by that much. That high only moves up.

Is a trailing stop alert the same as a trailing stop order?

No. An order sells automatically at your broker; an alert only notifies you so you can decide.

Is there a free trailing stop alert app?

Yes. Triggerly offers trailing stop and trailing buy stop alerts for free on Android.

Triggerly guides are for education only. Not investment advice.