Do you use trailing stops, and how do you set the distance?

A trailing stop moves with the price as a trade goes in your favour, locking in part of the gain while leaving room for the move to continue. The distance is the key choice. Too tight, and normal moves close the trade. Too loose, and much of the gain can be given back before the stop is hit. How to trade with RSI covers one way members judge when a move may be running out, which can tell you when to tighten a trailing stop.

Members who use trailing stops often choose the distance from a volatility measure or a recent level rather than a fixed number of pips, because the market's range changes. The question is whether you use trailing stops, how you set the distance, and what you do with them through a scheduled release, when a normal move can look like a reversal.

We would like to hear how you set it:

• Do you use a trailing stop, or move your stop by hand?
• How do you choose the distance: a fixed number of pips, a volatility measure or a level?
• Has a trailing stop closed a trade too early? What did you change?
• Do you trail stops through a central bank release, or pause them?

Please share your own approach and reasoning, not calls for others to copy. Posts that promise a direction or sell signals will be removed.