Zeev's Turnips Patch-No Politics (ZEEV)

[Paul A]

I use a physical stop and if the stock runs the stops I allow myself .15 to adjust the stop, and that sometimes saves me but it really takes a special personality to use mental stops and not get caught in a position where the loses become too great so you are now a stuckholder..

I always wanted to post a message about this when people mention not using a solid stop.. On core positions (which I think is what you were discussing) I understand because your allocation is alot looser and every .25 isnt hurting as it would in a day trading position.. but I think the average trader that tries to ride out the market maker running stops by not putting a physical order in will ultimately get crushed when a stock makes a dramatic move.

Funny- I preach about using physical stops over mental stops, but a week or so ago I bought 500 shares of ONXX.. before I could put my stop in the trade immediately went down .70 so I decided id try and sell on the bounce.. Unfortunately, wrong again- and the stock plunged about 2 points in about 20 seconds.. A perfect example why the average trader should put physical stops in and forget trying to out smart the market makers because all it takes is one position like that to go against now your faced with loses 4 times greater than where your plan calls for : )

I think alot of people should take note that your emotions are a bit more err controlled then the average trader and you can afford to catch knives or hold positions which go against you unlike how most of us would handle such a strategy.. and heck- even when the market maker reaches for your stops it still tells me that I made a bad trade and if you keep cutting the losers according to plan you can easily make a days pay regardless.. Obviously if you can keep the emotions out of it and try and ride out those moves your returns will be greater but some of us dont have the capital to 'screw around' like that because all it takes is a stock plunging and you can whipe months of gains out..