Lesson Learned: Not respecting the daily close on a volatile stock

Back in the run-up of some of the more speculative names post-COVID, I got caught holding a decent-sized position in a small-cap tech stock into a key resistance level on a Friday afternoon. The setup looked good for a breakout on the hourly, but I ignored the clear bearish divergence on the daily chart as the session wound down. I ended up giving back about a third of my paper gains when it gapped down hard the following Monday after some negative sector news hit over the weekend. Should have respected the daily trend and not chased the intraday momentum into a close, especially heading into a weekend with that kind of exposure.