Why not sell $4? To a speculator, price is only a relative term. Sell higher than you paid + fees. If you think the price will drop, then why not sell and buy more later.
Why not? I don't know about you, but watching MtGoxLive all day does not seem to be worth my while. Contracting in the range of EUR 60-90 per hour and simply keeping the position until Bitcoin is THE currency seems a much better strategy to me. I trust that Bitcoin will yield >100% a year, the next 10 years. Without doing anything.
Daytrading with $5 Million may be different, but it seems to me that no one is doing that. There must be some trading with 100K, but most seem to trade with less than $1K. You guys are wasting your time.
I don't think I'm wasting my time. If I can double my holdings, then that is double the thousands when a BTC is worth $1000. I started with my first 60 mined BTC. I have since turned that into a fairly large holding with only a small cost from mining the first 60. When we saw very large amounts of volatility in previous months, I was nearly doubling my normal income. Then I decided that I wanted more BTC, not the dollars, so I double down any chance I get.
I trade with <$100k and >$1k.
At $4, a small change in price is a much larger percentage than the same change at $32. So, if anything, it would be more important to keep a close eye on the price at $4, then it was at $32. I'm not a fan of 50% loss. If I can avoid it, I will.
Well, IF you can double your holdings, it will be double the thousands when BTC is worth a mere $10.
But, for me the downside to daytrading isn't having to watch MtGoxLive all day. Its the upside risk of selling.
Selling high and buying low, as a strategy to double to your holdings, works well in a downtrend. But in an uptrend, you're more likely to be forced to buy in higher. You'll end up halving your holdings instead of doubling them. And the higher it goes, so increases the value of what you lost.
During a strong pop, you won't be able to buy in where you sold. And if you trade every time you get an itch, you'll lose the spread (which is worse than the fees). If you're confident, then just hang on tight during an uptrend.
And remember, think logarithmically. It was $2 to $4 with a stop at $3, because that was counter-trend. But, if/when it breaks $5, it will go to $10 ($9/$9.5 more specifically) in the blink of an eye. You'll be very lucky if you get the chance to buy at $4.50 or $6.