
In intraday trading, profitability isn’t about how many trades you win it’s about how much you lose when you’re wrong.
That’s why professional traders swear by two golden tools:
Setting them wisely protects you from emotional trading and ensures consistent returns.
Let’s explore how to calculate and execute stop loss and target levels using both data and discipline.
A Stop Loss is a pre-decided exit price that limits your potential loss.
It ensures that one bad trade doesn’t wipe out your capital.
Example:
You buy Infosys at ₹1,500 expecting a rise to ₹1,530.
If your Stop Loss is ₹1,490, your maximum loss = ₹10 per share.
Stop Loss is your safety shield, not a weakness.
✅ Protects capital in volatile markets.
✅ Removes emotional decision-making.
✅ Builds discipline and consistency.
A Target Price (TP) is the level at which you plan to book profit.
It’s usually based on your risk–reward ratio or technical resistance levels.
Example:
If you risk ₹10 per share and aim for ₹20 gain, your target is ₹1,520 (2× your risk).
That’s a 1:2 risk–reward ratio the benchmark for sustainable trading.
The Risk–Reward Ratio (RRR) compares how much you could gain to how much you’re risking.
Risk–Reward Ratio = (Target – Entry) ÷ (Entry – Stop Loss)
Pro Tip:
Never take trades below 1:1.5 risk–reward. Professionals aim for 1:2 or higher, ensuring small losses, big wins.
There’s no “one-size-fits-all” stop loss it depends on your strategy and volatility.
Use support or resistance zones on charts:
Use Average True Range (ATR) to set SL dynamically.
Stop Loss = Entry – (1.5 × ATR) for buy trades.
Stop Loss = Entry + (1.5 × ATR) for sell trades.
ATR adapts your stop to market volatility tighter when calm, wider when volatile.
Decide risk per trade as a % of your capital (e.g., 1%).
If your capital = ₹1,00,000, you can risk ₹1,000 per trade.
If stock = ₹500, lot size = 100 shares → ₹10 per share risk = ₹1,000 total.
Targets should always align with market structure not just your wish list.
Use ratios like 1:2 or 1:3 (risk ₹10 → aim ₹20–₹30 profit).
Identify the next resistance (for buy) or support (for sell) on charts as your target.
These dynamic indicators show where price may pause or reverse perfect for setting smart targets in intraday trades.
Let’s put it all together 👇
This approach lets you plan the trade before placing it, ensuring emotion-free decision-making.
🚫 Moving Stop Loss after entry discipline first!
🚫Setting tight SL in volatile stocks allow breathing room.
🚫 No defined target leads to greed-based exits.
🚫 Ignoring trailing stop loss use it to lock in profits as price moves in your favor.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) mandates robust risk systems for intraday traders.
Modern brokers like Swastika Investmart enhance this with:
Trading with a SEBI-regulated broker ensures your trades are secure, transparent, and compliant.
AI now plays a big role in intraday trading.
AI-powered systems track your trade history, volatility patterns, and win-loss ratios to suggest personalized stop loss and target levels.
Swastika Investmart’s next-gen platforms are integrating machine learning analytics that automatically recommend stop levels based on past volatility and trader behavior a big leap toward smarter, emotion-free trading.
1. What is the ideal risk–reward ratio for intraday traders?
A minimum of 1:2 ensures your average profits outweigh occasional losses.
2. How to choose between fixed and dynamic stop loss?
Use fixed SL for stable stocks and ATR-based SL for volatile ones like Bank NIFTY or crude oil.
3. Should I always place a stop loss?
Yes skipping SL is the number one reason traders lose money. Always protect your downside.
4. What is a trailing stop loss?
A trailing SL moves up as the price moves in your favor locking profits without exiting too early.
5. How does Swastika Investmart help in stop loss management?
Swastika provides auto SL order types, AI alerts, and risk calculators, making trade management easy, even for beginners.
In intraday trading, success doesn’t come from predicting it comes from protecting.
Your stop loss defines how much you can lose; your target defines how much you can earn.
By applying a disciplined risk–reward strategy, aligning trades with support/resistance or ATR levels, and using AI-powered broker tools like those from Swastika Investmart, you can trade confidently and sustainably.
Because in the long run, traders who control risk control success.


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