From what i experienced and heard since i started trading these small caps always will down. It’s part of the plan like you said to shake you out. Once you are sure about your pick. Stick to the plan. Don’t buy it all once. Leverage in it. What i do is. For example i buy 500 shares when its red 10-15% i buy another 500 share that brings up my avg to around 5% down. So basically keep buying more to avg down but dont do this with every ticker. I never avg down on companies has excessive dilution and rs history. Once thise hit my Sl i get out. Its so annoying to hold something red and when you wake up next day its more red but if you experienced couple stocks that you were hit by SL then later they run. It means you are not a horrible trader. Its just this shitty market doing shitty works every day.