Why the stop is the trade, how to place it at the invalidation point instead of the comfort point, and the two rules about moving it.
An entry is where you hope. A stop is where you admit the idea was wrong. Only one of those is a decision with consequences, and it is the stop. Traders who say they manage risk manually are describing the moment they will freeze, because a loss that is growing is exactly when the human brain stops making decisions.
Place the stop where the trade idea is invalid, not where the loss feels acceptable. If you bought a range low expecting it to hold, the idea is wrong once price closes below the range, so the stop goes under the range, not 1% under your entry because that is the number you can stomach. If the correct stop is too far for your risk budget, the answer is a smaller position, never a closer stop.
Your stop must sit before your liquidation price with room to spare, ideally a third of the distance or less. A stop placed just before liquidation is theatre; a fast move skips it and the exchange takes everything. If your sizing puts liquidation within one normal candle of the stop, the leverage is too high for that stop.
You may move a stop closer to the current price to lock in profit. You may never move it further away. Moving a stop away is the same action as adding to a losing position, performed more slowly and with better excuses. Decide this rule when calm; you will not decide it well when a position is red.
If placing a stop takes thirty seconds and four clicks, you will skip it on the day it matters. Choose platforms where the stop is part of the order form. The same applies to practice: a simulator that makes stops a chore trains you to trade without them, which is the one habit you cannot afford to rehearse.