Note that for volatile assets (the very ones where you feel uncomfortable about unbounded risk), stop orders are not guaranteed to help. Remember, prices are not continuous - there is a discrete sequence of bids. Price can go from below your stop to MASSIVELY above it before your stop order can be executed. Most often this happens on news when a market is closed, but it can occur intraday as well.
This thread is for asking any questions that might seem obvious, tangential, silly or what-have-you. Don't be shy, everyone has holes in their knowledge, though the fewer and the smaller we can make them, the better.
Please be respectful of other people's admitting ignorance and don't mock them for it, as they're doing a noble thing.