A Lesson from Chasing Breakouts

Hey everyone, just joining the forum. Been trading equities and FX for a good few years now. One mistake that sticks with me, and it's a common one, is the sheer cost of chasing a breakout without confirmation or a solid retest. I remember back in late 2021, I was watching $NVDA make its run. It was showing strong momentum, and I jumped in on a daily candle breakout, thinking I'd missed the bottom and needed to catch the next leg up immediately. My entry was essentially at the peak of an exhaustion move, and within a few days, it reversed hard. I held onto it, convinced it would bounce, effectively moving my mental stop multiple times before finally cutting it at a significant loss. The real lesson wasn't just about the entry, but the emotional attachment that led to moving the goalposts. Now, I'm far more patient, waiting for that retest or consolidation after a breakout, and my stops are sacred once set. Much cheaper lesson than some, thankfully, but it drove home the point that FOMO is a capital killer.