i know this won't apply as much to intraday traders, but how are you successful traders using stops on swing trades or longer timeframes? as we all know, if you place an actual stop order, it's easier to keep losses small. however, it's also easier for that stop to get hit. an alternative would be to only validate the stop if it closed above/below your stop price. of course, this can lead to larger losses but maybe the stop is less likely to get hit. if this method was used, you could also set an order to at least limit a big loss.
Of course by answering this I am announcing that I consider myself a successful trader. I enter my daytrades with an even quantity of shares so I can halve the position without leaving an odd lot. I enter on a price crossing an S/R line, which gives me a specific number to be right or wrong. These trades are executed on the 1 minute chart, so I use the close of the one minute bars only as a stop loss or reversal. A stock usually doesn't travel very far in a minute so if I'm wrong it doesn't hurt....much. I will cheat on that a little if the stock starts to run some and the end of the T&S minute is approaching I will jump the gun. I use a profit objective for the first half of the initial qty, and then try and use my fabulous trading skills for the other half. My position trades are executed using a price crossing a moving average on the daily chart. Again this gives me an objective and precise number to know if I am right or wrong. Because it is the daily chart, and I am looking for a bigger piece of the pie, I use close only daily data as the stoploss.