I have a question on where to set a stop loss as a general rule on my short term trades (or any of my buys really). Is it generally thought that it's better to set your stop loss when you first buy a stock at a set percent, say 7-8% below your cost basis, or just below a somewhat recent low that looks like a better stop loss location to you, even if that would end up being a much larger loss, say a 17% loss, from your cost basis? I keep reading to keep your losses small, and get out at no more than a 7-8% loss if you were wrong. But I think if I set it at 8%, rather than the chart based location which is 17% down, it's likely going to take out my stop. Example…I'm looking at TSLA which is $123 right now. If I buy that now, and set a 8% down stop loss, that would be at $113.16. But when I look at the chart, I think my stop should be just under the recent low of $101.81 which occurred on Jan 6th….so maybe set it at $101. However, that would be a 17.89% loss. So what do most of you do? Use a set percentage or a stop based on the chart?
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