A mental price or percentage set by traders where they will place a buy or sell order. A soft stop order is a position set by traders where they should buy or sell a security, however it is "soft" because it can be manipulated or changed depending on market conditions and special circumstances.

While a regular stop order is an order which has already been placed to buy or sell a security at a certain point, soft stop orders are used as more of a guide for traders to consider buying or selling at a certain point, taking other factors such as market sentiment and momentum into consideration.