Lesson Learned: The Cost of Chasing Gaps

Hey everyone, new to the forum here. Figured I'd kick things off with a lesson I learned the hard way a few years back. I was trading futures, specifically ES, and there was a pretty significant overnight gap up. Instead of waiting for confirmation or a retest of a key level, I just jumped in on market open, chasing the momentum higher, fully convinced it would just keep running. Needless to say, it snapped back hard within the first 15 minutes, not only wiping out what I'd hoped to gain but taking out a decent chunk of my capital for the day. It taught me to always respect the open, especially after large gaps, and to let the market show its hand before committing. Patience is absolutely crucial.