addenum: when it comes to the markets i don't discriminate. i like groupies with big wallets both male and female. (outside of the market i prefer female groupies.)
I don't know why you do that. I do know why I do that from time to time. Two reasons: Impatient and/or ego. Ego meaning that I think I'm smarter than the market. Impatient is simple lack of discipline. When I am humble enough to follow the market rather than try to "will it" to go my way, good trades follow. Discipline in trading, as in life, comes from having your head handed to you a number of times. Keep at it. Trading is an ever learning process.
To the original poster. It seems like you're lacking confidence in your plan or trading w/out a well defined one. Trade setups should be burned into your mind. There's nothing wrong w/ looking for a top or bottom depending on context. The market only goes so far before retracing. Know where to look and what to look for and it comes down to managing risk. That being said, if the entire market is tanking it's not wise to look for swing trades long. One thing that helps me when I get stupid and think I know everything is to use a simulator. I fire off all the risky trades and when I look over it eod I feel like an a-hole. This reinforces my known setups so I only look for them until I get stupid again. Tony Robbins did something similar w/a guy that couldn't stop eatting chocolate. He said "ok, for the next 9 days you can only eat chocolate and drink 4 glasses of water/day". Soon the guy couldn't take it any longer and was sick of chocolate and finally had enough leverage to make a change.