That's all I trade. Stocks and long only. The toughest part is having the discipline to follow your plan. Swing trading makes it easier, set it and forget it.
Swing trading is indeed not as intense as day trading but it's not exactly "set it and forget it" now is it? I assume you still use a stop so you need to watch price to see if it's approaching your stop,correct?
For me it's the A-B-C-1-2-i-ii-(i)-(ii) combo. When I see this (and it doesn't happen every day), I whip out my android and press the e*trade button as fast as I can, before it's too late!
There is no such thing as a "no-brainer" trade. Everything is only crystal clear, and maybe lucky, in past hindsight. Every trade scenario is truly unique. From my personal experiences, obvious easy clear trades are the one's that seems to fuck you up, play mind games with you. And you have to play mind games back with the market. Think independently for a moment. Ultimately, anyways, trading is a gamble. You just have to be more clever than the big bad evil bitch market,,..., Sekiyo yo yo yoooo yo
No when I set a stop it is with a stop limit order. I don't leave them in overnight. If the stock gaps down I have a method of dealing with that. It's all in the plan. My plan is basically an operators manual that answers the question, "What do I do now?"
For me its really how can I put it, "the story" I guess would be the right term. If I can see the charts tell me this story leading up to the crescendo that becomes my trade, I truly love it when that happens.
Stop limit orders. Too many times gap downs have taken me out at the lows. The plan call for me to put a hard stop under the low of the opening range if a stock gaps down below where my planned stop is located. I then trail a stop.