Every so often Iâll be holding a swing trade over night, and it is hit with some bad news after the bell, causing the stock to gap down (BELOW MY MENTAL STOP PRICE) in after hours, and also (below my mental stop) at the open the following day. But it will either open or show some consolidation at a support level (or buy point that I had prior to the bad news)â¦.my question is this, how do you adjust your strategy/stop when something like this happens? Do you basically just sell and get out of the position with a loss and move on to the next trade or do you tend to sit on the losing position and hope that it doesnât break down below the support and then try to just break even?
A recent example of this would be the price movement of PG the past 3 daysâ¦..Iâve been playing PG on the long side during this whole run up to the 52 week high of 62.50, and have been a buyer during the pullbacks to the 50dayMAâ¦..so I was long PG (61.50) prior to the news Monday after the market close (they lowered guidance and raise the divy) the stock gapped down to its 50 day (-3% - 59.60) (passing my mental stop just under 61.00) Tuesday morning then basically settled around $60 Tuesday and Wednesdayâ¦..so it was leaving me holding a losing positionâ¦.but what makes this more difficult is the fact that I would be a buyer right at the 50dayMA (around 59.60) support level (which it bounced off of).
My question is thisâ¦..how do you adapt/change your stop order strategy when a losing position bounces off a support level that you would be a buyer at? Just hope it runs up to your break even price, or place a new stop just below the support level? Or take the loss and move on too the next trade?
With regard to my PG positionâ¦. I sold shares at 60.10 (Tues), and went short (today/Wed) at 60.05 â still holdingâ¦. I do not believe this is a good trade simply because I based my decisions on emotionsâ¦..
A recent example of this would be the price movement of PG the past 3 daysâ¦..Iâve been playing PG on the long side during this whole run up to the 52 week high of 62.50, and have been a buyer during the pullbacks to the 50dayMAâ¦..so I was long PG (61.50) prior to the news Monday after the market close (they lowered guidance and raise the divy) the stock gapped down to its 50 day (-3% - 59.60) (passing my mental stop just under 61.00) Tuesday morning then basically settled around $60 Tuesday and Wednesdayâ¦..so it was leaving me holding a losing positionâ¦.but what makes this more difficult is the fact that I would be a buyer right at the 50dayMA (around 59.60) support level (which it bounced off of).
My question is thisâ¦..how do you adapt/change your stop order strategy when a losing position bounces off a support level that you would be a buyer at? Just hope it runs up to your break even price, or place a new stop just below the support level? Or take the loss and move on too the next trade?
With regard to my PG positionâ¦. I sold shares at 60.10 (Tues), and went short (today/Wed) at 60.05 â still holdingâ¦. I do not believe this is a good trade simply because I based my decisions on emotionsâ¦..