"I put a stop/limit order on a stock with the same activation price and actual price of 53. The stock was trading at 55. It closed at 52 and my order didn't activate. The guy at Ameritrade said sice the action was so heavy it blew through the price and it never activated. He said I should have had the activation price a few cents higher. Do I have any recourse to this or was I just wrong? Thanks"

In common parlance, stop and stop limit orders are known as stop loss orders because speculators use them to lock in profits from profitable trades.
A stop order automatically converts into a market order when a predetermined price is reached (this is referred to as the stop price). At that point, the ordinary rules of market orders apply; the order is guaranteed to be executed, you simply don't know the price, it may be higher or lower than the current price reported on the ticker symbol.

Contrast that to a stop limit order, which automatically converts into a limit order (not a market order) when the stop price is reached. As discussed earlier in this tutorial, your order may or may not be executed depending upon the price movement of the underlying security.

“stop loss” orders... what the hell is that?

Go to website
Intro to Stock Trading - Stop Order and Stop Limit Orders

The <a href="http://wallstreetsurvivor.com">stock game</a> at WallStreetSurvivor.com helps you learn about stops and losses. The <a href="http://howthemarketworks">trading game</a> at HowTheMarketWorks.com is also a good game to help learn about exit strategies.