One recurring mistake I had to unlearn was prematurely acting on range breakouts without confirming the daily close. Too many times, an intraday break would fake out, especially on higher timeframes, leading to whipsaws and unnecessary losses, particularly with indices like $SPX.
That's a really interesting point about waiting for the daily close. I often find myself jumping into breakouts as soon as they happen, and I've definitely been burned by fakeouts before. Do you typically use a specific percentage or price level above the range to confirm the break after the close?
Yeah, that's a tough lesson to learn. A lot of retail traders get caught in that trap, chasing intraday moves without waiting for confirmation. Patience really does pay off when it comes to range breaks.
Ah, the classic 'it broke out!' followed by 'oops, it's back in' tango. I've donated my fair share to the market gods learning that lesson. Now I just assume any intraday break is a head fake until proven otherwise, which saves a lot of headaches and a little bit of my trading capital.
That's a super important point, especially with the amount of intraday volatility we've seen lately. I've found waiting for the daily close can often clarify whether it's genuine momentum or just noise, even if it means missing the absolute bottom or top.