The market doesn’t even known where your break even is lol. stops are a psychological crutch. It gives the trader no advantage whatsoever.
Agree 100%. Beyond swing trading, hard stops don't protect you. Have a mental stop if you want and if hit, decide what to do. Proper position sizing is your stop. I can only imagine the pain people felt during the flash crash when they were robbed of their stocks.
Based on my own painful experience putting stops on FB, GOOGL, AAPL... which I was planning to hold for more than a year was a disaster. Knowledgeable people simply drove the stocks down and picked us off those stops then move the stocks up quickly way beyond those stops. I am seeing that happened to BA, folks that put a very "wide" stop at $100 are all regret it now. Day traders need stop, absolutely, short term swing needs stop for sure but any other trading styles need to be very careful.