I have a theory about this, and am curious to see if I'm right. I'll delay posting how I expect the results to read, in order not to influence the outcome.
Not many extremely short term traders use stops while almost all the longer term traders use stops. I am sure whatever theory you may have, it will not be reflective of all the traders.
I should clarify then, that I'm referring to actual stop orders placed & sent in to the market , and not just 'mental stops'.
"I'm very profitable (over $100k/yr), and rarely to never use stop orders." If you are "very profitable" then you don't really have to worry about 2 or 3 ticks going against you. But, not the case with most 90% of the losers though.
The majority of the "very profitable" traders use mental stops because they are watching the book, futures etc to decide where to exit. A % or cent stop doesn't make sense in most situations.
"Also, anyone can put on a stop order, but it is hard to stick with it when the heat is on." Discipline is what separates the winners from the losers in this game.
The poll results came pretty much as I had expected. My theory was that stop orders are synonymous with detachment and laziness. I've met many traders making 6-8 figures/year, and not one of them EVER uses stop orders.