Initially yes, I give it time to either stop out or move in my favor. Once a $20ish stock or etf like TZA runs up .50 or more I tighten trailing stop to .3 or tighter
Likely better than picking a top which is generally to early. Improvise adapt and overcome comes to mind!
I personally don't like my clients using trailing stops and I advise against it - from my experience trailing stops would take them out of a winner way too early. Was just a recurring problem for clients doing it. And it's devastating - using long term charting they would target 50 or 60 tics, get cute with a trailing stop, get stopped out for a 15 tic winner, and a couple days later it would have been 60 tics. That type of thing. Just the ebb and flow of routine market behavior would get them out of a trade way too early. We've found it to be way more effective setting a profit target and stop-loss using modeled OTR trading range and staying with that. Getting cute can bite you square in the ass.
I had 2 trades today in TZA, a small stop (buy 20.7 sell 20.2) and a big WIN (buy20.41 sell 21.4). Perfect 2:1 risk:reward. If only I'd traded larger size. In this winning trade I tightened trailing stop to 21.4 as it broke over 21.5 because length of pivot run was exactly same as in prior day chart. That's a pro example of pattern daytrading, Pete, agree re t/s often get shaken out too early; that's why I start wide, then tighten; def not for newbs tho. Worked great:
I respect both you coaches and do follow your posts with great interests. Here are some feedbacks from this amateur retail: I tried hard stop and didn't end well. I tried trailing stop and did better, so +1 for @KCalhoun. But quite often got stopped out way too early. I tried no stop, let it ran and often they were quite disastrous. So I gave up day and went swing with mental stops. That is way too much work. Now I am back to trying to automate my mental stops.
Depends on what your trading, fast scarey break out plays then might be better off with a trailing SL to exit, obviously some will be fake and little profit turned to a loss, but then you'll likely hold longer your way, if you walk away.