When it comes to BO's Brooks says a trader HAS to use wide stops. Because he can experience deep PB's. For instance, in a bull BO that has say 2 or more large bars (especially if the bars are increasing in size) you can enter for any reason. Just get long. You don't have to wait for a specific setup. Assuming a trader entered long on that larger bull bar that broke out of the range (bar 14:00). The correct stop is at the bottom of the first BO bar. Why? Because 80% of BO's of a range, top or bottom, fail, and price goes back into the range within 5 bars or so.
However, once price stay above the range and there is a minor PB with the BO trend resuming (that is, in other words, a major high compared to other high's on the chart...i.e. a high showing more strength...i.e. the second or third leg of the BO appears strong after minor PB) then a trader can move his stop to just below the minor PB. But to do so he has to see some strength in that resumption of the BO. Otherwise, he needs to keep his SL below the first bar of the BO, in it's first leg. Because, if he entered long on bar 14:00, kept a wide initial SL, and price goes back into the range for a bit, the odds favor another pop back up because the BO bar (14:00) will likely have a test of it's high and the trader (depending on where he entered on the 14:00 bar) may get out at BE, or a profitable scalp.
The way you reduce risks in BO's where you have to use wide SL's is by reducing position size when using wide stops. If you trade BO's with small SL you are likely going to get whipped around all over the place because volatility has increased, which is the natural modus operandi of most all BO’s. Increased volatilty has to mean wider stops because both sides (institutional bulks and bears) are battling it out. Bulls want the BO to succeed and go higher. Bearish institutions are trying to make it fail. Both are pushing hard and pressing bets. One side will win. If the bulls then the bears give up and start running with the bulls. Like in Spain..LOL. In the 5 min chart below by bar 14:40 the bears have given up and the bar shows it. This a “give up” bar for the bears. If the bears win bulls give up and go back to TR strategies.
See, probability MUST be factored into any trade when intraday trading. It is a colossal mistake to just base trades on a reward to risk ratio basis.