Stop hunt
Family XII · Other terms
Not to be confused with stop order, stop market order, stop limit price.
Stop hunt is a descriptive term for a price move that reaches a concentration of stop orders, sets them off, and then reverses. The stops become market orders when touched, so the resulting flow can push price further in the same direction for a short period. The term describes the pattern; it does not assert that any participant intended it.
How the pattern forms
Stop orders cluster where traders place protective exits: just beyond recent swing highs and lows, round numbers, and session extremes. Because a stop becomes a market order when its trigger is reached, a move into such an area can produce a run of executions in one direction. Liquidity at those levels is finite, so the same flow can also move price quickly through them.
A stop hunt is identified after the fact by the sequence: an approach to a visible level, a fast extension through it, heavy volume, and then a reversal back across the level. The same sequence can occur without any deliberate attempt to trigger stops, for example when a news release or a large order consumes the resting liquidity.
Worked example
Related terms and caveats
A stop order is the instruction that rests at the level; the hunt is the move that reaches it. A stop market order becomes a market order on triggering, which is why triggered stops can add to the move. A stop limit price sets a limit after the trigger, so such orders may not fill during a fast move.
Whether a stop hunt is deliberate is generally not observable from price data alone. Regulators in some jurisdictions treat certain order patterns as abusive, while the rules and enforcement practices vary by market. The term is therefore best used to describe the price pattern rather than to assign intent.
Often confused with
- stop order
- A stop order is the resting instruction itself, whereas a stop hunt is the price move that reaches and triggers such instructions; the visible sign is that a stop order exists before the move, while a stop hunt is named only after the move and reversal.
- stop market order
- A stop market order is a specific order type that becomes a market order when triggered, while a stop hunt is the market event that triggers a group of them; the visible sign is that the order type is chosen in advance, whereas the hunt is observed in the price chart.
- stop limit price
- A stop limit price is the limit price attached to a stop limit order after its trigger, while a stop hunt is a price movement; the visible sign is that the stop limit price is a number on an order ticket, whereas a stop hunt is a sequence of trades and a reversal.