Intraday, swing, positional and long-term

A call read on a daily chart usually has a wider stop-loss than one read on a 15-minute chart, because daily candles span larger moves. A wider stop is not more risk by itself. If you size every trade on the rupees you accept losing, a wider stop simply means a smaller quantity.

The intraday position in the example is worth more than many accounts hold. Brokers collect at least the margin the exchange sets for intraday equity positions, which is a part of the position value, not all of it; a position held past the session needs full payment. The quantity can therefore be limited by your account before it is limited by your risk.

A stop-loss protects less when the price gaps. A stock can open below a BUY call's stop after results or overnight news; the exit then happens near the open, beyond the stop. Intraday calls avoid overnight gaps by closing in the same session. Swing and positional calls accept gap risk in exchange for room to work.

• Quarterly results and company announcements, often released after market hours.
• Policy decisions and moves in global markets while Indian markets are closed.
• Weekends and holidays, when news builds up with no trading.

MCX commodity contracts trade until late evening, so much of the day's international news reaches them in the same session. Equity prices react the next morning.

• Intraday (often labelled MIS): your broker closes the position automatically before the market closes if you have not. The cut-off time is set by your broker.
• Delivery (often labelled CNC): shares are paid for in full and credited to your demat account. Used for swing, positional and long-term equity calls.
• Carry-forward for F&O and commodities (often labelled NRML): the position stays open overnight, with margin blocked and daily mark-to-market settlement until you exit or the contract expires.

• If you cannot watch the screen during market hours, intraday calls are hard to follow as written: entry, updates and exit all happen within the session.
• If an overnight gap through your stop would worry you, size swing and positional trades smaller, or leave them.
• Long-term calls tie up capital for months.
• SEBI's study of individual intraday traders in the equity cash segment found that 7 out of 10 (71%) incurred net losses in FY23, and that trading costs made the losses of loss-makers larger.

• Position sizing and risk per tradeTurn a stop-loss into a quantity
• Position size calculator
• How to read a research call: timeframe and candles