I think most traders can't read trend, slowing of trend or progression of trend and of course reversal of trend. I believe everything has trend, what most see of chop, there is trend for my methods, whether trades are taken relies on other rules. One reoccurring fact, price drops like a rock usually in few months wiping out years of ragged playful "taking profit" excuses to write about in some magazine or blog. You either play the game well and end result of equity curve prospers when most losing their rumps on the way down and on way back eventually making new highs whether months or years or dacades. Dividend stocks keep paying dividends and keep dancing options about stocks for more. I see no reason to ever sell stocks when I can hedge them when price action warrants. Meaningless to me is direction so long as it keeps going for awhile which is relative.
You're the poetic speculator.. I love it, unique style. I'm talking about the distributions of spot. The illusion IS the drift. Yeah sure, drift is present, but the path-dependency of the movement is equalized. Its like price can "drift" over time, but in the interim its not going anywhere, just oscillating around some mean, until it "drifts" a bit up to a new facilitated mean. Its bizarre.
This has nothing to do with the nature in which price moves itself... but moreso with a traders position risk relative to their total collateralized capital.