Majority of the time you want to stay with the trend cause it's less hazardous to your P&L. But there are always stocks moving against the market. If you can identify them, and figure out which setup is the best to trade those stocks counter trend, then I see no problem with it. I do it all the time, and have pretty good success.
I like to fade momentum right now, seems to be working for me ...a little... good trading all mrktwiz
trend and counter-trend are to general of terms unless you specify the time frame. A trend to me could be a counter-trend to you. i think a more accurate description would be pivot or breakout trader. i'm a pivot trader.
My primary setup is a counter trend divergence trade, so I thrive in chop. If this setup fails because we're in a strong trend, then I'll change to a hold/swing low stop method. It's a lot easier for a scalper to switch to a trend method than a trend follower trying to scalp.