Good points that I learned from, but I'm ok with the short view. VIX, metal prices and the strong rand are all symptoms that people think the risk is down. It just confirms that everyone that green shoots are in, which isn't a surprise. I think that perception is very brittle. I'm keeping my bear outfit :)
Note that I don't do automatic stops with the types of trades I have. I'm trading within relatively safe cash limits so my bet isn't "must go down within a week", it's that it'll be lower than my short portfolio within a few months. The obvious issue is holding costs. That's still cheaper than going in/out each time the market blinks.
It removes the weekly/daily volatility worry, and lets me move the risk to where I feel comfortable, while reducing in/out trading costs, or the risk that a 1-share trade kicks in a stop-loss. The opposite of "picking up pennies in front of a steamroller".
Having said this - it's not a standard method so I'm having to think it up myself and it'll send some traders into a fit.
