This is how I lose money...

When a spike appears, I try to catch it, each time getting in near the tip. If it can’t move higher, I should normally exit, but I never do. Since the win rate is low, I can only make it work through the risk-reward ratio.
When the market looks like this—a wick on a 15m candle, the candle closes, then keeps making new lows, over and over—I could sit at my computer all day and lose all day, until I’m completely numb to it.
Because once I start catching wicks, I can’t stop. I just keep catching them.
The more I catch, the bigger my position gets. I start with a small position, but before long it’s become a big one.
And I still use tight stops—just a few dozen points.
Then fees and slippage pile on, and in the end I’m down terribly.
That’s why I never lead trades. If I don’t, I can only wreck myself.
If I lead trades, I wreck everyone.