Quote from taofinance:
Hi OP,
I have been trading full time for under a year now, and in the beginning I used to do some of what you describe (mainly on sweeps in the opposite direction). Suffice it to say, took big rips, made big chops, and had headaches all day, so I changed.
As time went on and I reviewed my trades, it turned out I was... *early* to enter the position. I saw a chart patten and traded without a catalyst, I averaged a loser when the price movement indicated I was wrong at that time. That is not to say the trade passed, it could happen in a minute, an hour, or not at all. I think that near perfect timing in trades occurs in about a 10 second span for NYSE.
At this point I see more of a need to be efficient. This month I have made around 10k so far (on 600 shares avg trade), but without the sub-par trading responses I still have I could have made probably 10-30% more.
Why lose money? I think improving timing and speed of reaction is much better than taking hits every time you see a play. Much better to be exact and be immediately in the money when you enter a position.
Hope that helps.
p.s.: I think that money/risk management is what it it ALL about, and I believe that a... bit of work is needed in that area. Doubling down is suicide on a breakdown of support.
I don't do this in continuation patterns. I do it at reversal areas after a large decline or rise. Today's premarket drop was a perfect example. DD on something like a support break or a resistance break would be pure stupidity. I don't trade breakouts -- ever! That's the absolute worst strategy for day trading. I trade extreme price movements per statistical analysis. A consolidation area is not extreme anything so I would use this method for that type of setup.