1. Do not be overly concerned about whipsaws a good trend pays for them all.

A whipsaw is when you enter a position but get stopped out quickly when the market reverses opposite to your position.  If you are a trend trader this may happen many times in a row in a range bound market.  This can be very frustrating to a trader and it may cause them to completely change their method.  The fact is that one really good trend will pay for all of these whipsaws as long as you keep your losses small, and if you change your system you lose the benefit of that big trend.

To avoid whipsaw losses, stop trading. -Ed Seykota

2. When you catch a Trend, ride it to the end.

Your system must be able to take a position in a trending market, but then also be able to ride that trend to the end.  Most new traders will jump out of trades before they are finished trending because they are scared the market has gone too far and will take back their paper profits.  Let a trailing stop take you out of a trade when the trend is over, and only exit once you are stopped out.

“The trend is your friend except at the end where it bends.” -Ed Seykota (more…)