No one catches the top.  If they said they did, they're lying.  Probably  best to follow what Matt said, and use a CLOSE below 9 or 10 dma.   I hate hard stops, 

    Thanks. Three follow up questions: 1.

    Posted by RichieD on 29th of Jan 2026 at 09:03 pm

    Thanks. Three follow up questions:

    1. Doesn't the use of any indicator at the CLOSE leave a trader vulnerable to a major sell off intraday?

    2. What is a DMA and what are the advantages to using it vs either an  SMA or EMA?

    3. Assuming the DMA fluctuates during the trading day, why is it better to use vs a hard stop based upon a support level or trend line?  I had the impression Matt often uses hard stops based upon support levels.

    Matt and others are more

    Posted by Soldtoosoon on 29th of Jan 2026 at 11:38 pm

    Matt and others are more expert at this, my humble answers:

    1. Yes, in the event there's a big down day without any recoveries in the near or even mid-term future.  You are weighing that against what you just experienced, which is an intraday recovery.  I've been victims of intraday "shakeout" recovery before.  Or as Steve used to call it, "liquidity grab".  The myth was always that when the market maker (or algo traders) see hard stops, they move the price down to trigger the stop sales to "grab liquidity", then they move the price up after taking your shares on the low.  I think that's why Matt likes to see a CLOSING price below your stop point (9 dma).

    2. DMA is day moving average.   If you're using a daily. price chart, then the standard moving average is based on day moving average.  so 9 DMA 20 DMA 50, 200.

    3. You have to choose your poison.  If you choose to use closing price for the day, then you avoid intraday shakeout or liquidity grab.  If you choose hard stop, then you NEED to be happy with the price you sold it at.  Nothing wrong with that.  You just need to be happy with where your stop was triggered.  If it went up later, c'est la vie.  You've made your money.

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