Don't fight the market. Livemore: Once a trend is established, it won't end in a day or a week. Downtrends also have inertia. The common problem most people lose money: They shout "buy the dip" after a few days of decline, and call a reversal after a small rebound. They always feel that the price has fallen enough, is cheap enough, and the market should give them a chance to break even. But the cruelest truth of the capital market is: a decline never needs a reason. When the trend is downward, all small rebounds, are just brief respites, intermediate corrections, during the decline, not a bottom, but merely a trap for bulls. What you think is buying the dip, is, in the face of a major trend, just catching a falling knife halfway down the mountain; your persistent efforts to average down, will only accelerate your heavy losses in a downward trend. The market will never change its predetermined direction because of your holding onto losing positions, your unwillingness to accept defeat, or your expectations. The moment the line of least resistance points points downward, the best trade is to go to cash and control your impulses. Making big money in trading relies on following the trend; minimizing losses relies on respecting inertia. Don't fight the trend, don't gamble with the market; Waiting for genuine reversal signals is far more important than blindly gambling. —Insights from *Reminiscences of a Stock Operator*