Post-mortem

It was supposed to stop. Here is what actually happened · Nigeria

Every safeguard on a trading account has a documented edge, and complaints cluster at those edges rather than in the middle. This page takes five of them one at a time: what the safeguard does, the gap it leaves, the symptom that gap produces on screen, and the record that settles it.

Open the order history first. Each exit carries a row with a time, a price and a comment, and the comment says whether the position was closed by your own level or by the account. Those two events look identical on a chart and have completely different explanations.

The two numbers every post-mortem starts from

Free margin is what remains after open positions have reserved their share of the balance; it is the number a new order is measured against. Margin level is the percentage relationship between equity and the margin in use, and it is the number that triggers automatic closes. A balance that still looks healthy tells you nothing about either.

Safeguard 1

The exit order — a boundary, not a promise

What it does: a stop-loss is an instruction left in advance to close a position once the price reaches a level you chose. It runs while you sleep and it does not need you to be watching.

The gap it leaves: it asks for the next available price at that level, not for the level itself. If the market jumps over the level — across a weekend, at a session reopen, during a fast move — the exit happens wherever trading resumed.

The symptom: «my stop was at one number and it closed at another». The check: compare the fill price in the history with the high and low of the candle that covered it. A gap in the candles is the answer; no gap means a different cause.

The second gap: the level is measured against one side of the quote and the chart is drawn from the other. A widening spread can reach a stop that the drawn line never touched. Chart and history.

Safeguard 2

The size — the only limit you set before anything happens

What it does: trade size decides what one step of price is worth. It is the multiplier under every other number on this page, and it is the only setting that is entirely yours before the trade exists.

The gap it leaves: nothing checks whether the size is sensible for the account. The ticket checks whether it is possible — that is what «Invalid volume» and «Not enough money» mean — and possible is a much lower bar than sensible.

The symptom: a small move producing an amount that feels wrong. The check: the volume field on the closed order in the history, not the one you intended to type. A decimal in the wrong place changes the scale, not the percentage. Recheck a number.

Safeguard 3

The automatic close — the account acting without you

What it does: when the margin level falls far enough, positions are closed automatically so that the account does not run further into loss. A warning stage comes first; the closing stage follows if nothing changes.

The gap it leaves: it is not a choice and it does not consult your plan. It closes what the rules say to close, at the price available at that second, which may be nowhere near where you would have exited.

The symptom: «my position closed and I did not close it». The check: the comment on the history row, and the margin level in the minutes before it. Both are recorded; neither is on the chart.

Where it surprises people: the balance can look untouched while free margin is already gone, because open positions are holding it. The account does not wait for the balance to run out — it acts on the level. Margin call and stop out, decoded.

Safeguard 4

The floor under the account

What it does: Negative Balance Protection means you never owe more than you deposit — the account does not go below zero, even on a sharp move against an open position.

Terms and conditions apply; this describes the account floor and is not a limit on how much of a deposit can be lost.

The gap it leaves: it is a floor, not a cushion. Everything above zero is genuinely at risk, and the protection has nothing to say until the very bottom is reached.

The symptom: a beginner treating the floor as a reason to size up. The check: the amount you deposited, which is the real number at stake — the deposit is the actual risk setting, and it is set once, in advance.

Safeguard 5

Leverage — a setting that changes what the other four mean

What it does: leverage is extra trading power added to the money on the account. It is not a loan to repay: a position that goes badly enough simply closes.

The gap it leaves: it enlarges losses at exactly the same rate as gains, and it shrinks the distance between an ordinary move and the automatic close. The same price move that was survivable at one setting reaches the closing stage at another.

The symptom: «the account emptied faster than the price moved». The check: the leverage on that account and the margin the position required. Both are recorded, and the arithmetic is the whole explanation. Wrong account, not a bug.

Post-mortem form

Six lines to write after any of the five

Written the same evening, these six lines turn a bad session into something that can be checked — and, if it needs reporting, into a message support can answer in one reply.

1. Instrument, size, direction. 2. Entry time and price, in server time. 3. The exit level you set, if you set one. 4. The exit time and price from the history. 5. The comment on the history row. 6. The margin level before the exit.

Five of the six come straight from panels in the terminal. The sixth — the level you intended — is the only one that lives in your memory, which is precisely why it should be written down before the trade rather than after it. Report it properly.

Trading is risky and may not be suitable for everyone. Nothing here is advice about how much to trade or when.

Can a stop-loss be added after the position is open?

Yes, and the modification is recorded with its own timestamp. What it cannot do is apply to the movement that already happened.

Does an automatic close mean the account is blocked?

No. It closes positions, not the account. Everything else — sign-in, transfers, new orders within the remaining margin — continues.

Why did one position close and another survive?

The closing rules act on positions in a defined order rather than all at once. The history shows which went first.

Can the exit level be moved while the market is closed?

Modifications generally follow the same session rules as orders. If the change is refused, the clock is the reason. Closed, not broken.

Is there a size that cannot lose?

No. Smaller sizes lose smaller amounts, which is a different sentence. Only a practice account removes the loss, and it removes the lesson with it.

The gap none of the five covers

Every safeguard above acts on a position that already exists. Not one of them acts on the decision to open it, on the second attempt after a loss, or on the size chosen at midnight. Those live in a different file: faults people cause themselves.

Reproduce it for free

An automatic close can be triggered on purpose with virtual money in an evening.

Practice account faults

Read the record

Which panel holds the proof, and why the chart is not it.

Chart and history

Start from the top

The six checks that decide whether this page is even the right one.

Open the sequence

Meet the automatic close where it costs nothing

On a practice account you can watch free margin fall, read the warning, and find the closing row in the history the same evening — with virtual money behind every step. The button opens the official exness.com sign-up through a partner link.

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