The stop is placed against structure — a swing, a support or resistance cluster, a range boundary — never a round percentage, plus a volatility buffer scaled to the instrument’s own ATR. Targets are levels the market has already respected. Every price is rounded to the instrument’s tick.
Invalidation, first
The engine looks for a structural level that would genuinely falsify the thesis, and requires it to sit a meaningful multiple of ATR away from price. A level too close to the current price is not invalidation; it is noise that will stop you out on an ordinary wiggle.
When no structural candidate qualifies, the fallback is a fixed ATR multiple beyond price. The fallback is announced rather than disguised — a stop derived from volatility because structure was unreadable is a different claim from a stop sitting under a swing low.
The stop itself
The stop sits at the invalidation level plus a volatility buffer. The buffer exists because a stop resting exactly on an obvious level is a stop resting exactly where everyone else's is.
Targets
A target is a level the market has already respected, and it must sit at least a full R away — and at least one ATR away — before it qualifies. A target closer than that produces a reward-to-risk the engine would refuse anyway.
The second target must clear the first by at least another R, so the two are genuinely different decisions rather than two names for the same exit. Where no qualifying level exists, a measured fallback multiple is used.
Tick rounding
Every published price is rounded to the tick of the instrument it belongs to. A gold level quoted to five decimal places would be arithmetically precise and practically unplaceable.
Worth knowing
- Every figure assumes your stop fills where you placed it. Gaps and thin books do not honour that, and no model here pretends otherwise.
- ORIN never places orders. These are levels for the order you place with your broker.
Frequently asked
- Why did the engine place my stop so far from the entry?
- Because no closer structure qualified. Invalidation candidates must sit a meaningful ATR multiple away, and without one the fallback is a volatility-derived level. A wider stop produces a smaller position at identical dollar risk — that is the formula working, not a fault to correct.
- Why is the second target so far past the first?
- It has to clear the first by at least another R, so the two exits represent genuinely different decisions. Two targets a few ticks apart would be one decision wearing two labels, and would flatter the reward-to-risk figure.
Updated Sep 1, 2026