I tried to catch the bottom of the SPY today. I took nine swings at it (including one short trade when I thought it had reached resistance). For what it's worth, I had the right idea, but the market made its way higher in a choppy way without a lot of conviction.
The net result was a loss of $147.98.
The main takeaway for me from this day was how important small, quick losses truly are. In my Schwab trading account, which I trade manually, the carnage today was much worse, and that was on only four trades as opposed to nine.
Small losses are so key. And the psychological benefits of this automation are huge. All the hard decisions are made beforehand, when you're not actually in the trade, rather than in the heat of battle.
Could I have done better today with looser stops? Undoubtedly, yes, since the SPY did eventually make its way higher. My bottom call was correct. However, I'm not certain that I would have the stomach for nine attempts, and the losses could have been much greater.
The great thing is that this software can accommodate any type of trader and any approach to trade management.
In fact, if anything, I think I might have done better with smaller profit targets today. There were multiple times that my position was up nicely but never made it to the first profit target. That is something I may try tomorrow.
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