Edgy, I suggest a different but time proven strategy for retail buyers/holders such as ourselves. It may seem obvious and ancient wisdom, but too few are able to practise it. When widely and consistently practised, you become the nemesis of the shorts and M&A buyers. The approach is generally applicable, but especially relevant to small caps that you think are being manipulated by shorts and/or M&A traders. All measures stock by stock.
First, keep some powder dry, never be "all in".
Second, recognise the "culprits" do their most productive downside work on weak market days. This weakness is unrelated to your (eg NOT) underlying value but makes downward momentum far easier to create with tiny trades. You religiously save all your dry powder for those weak market days. Market off 1%, your favorite junior off 3 to 6%,(sound familiar ?) deploy some (perhaps up to 30%) of your dry powder for that equity.
Third, do same to the upside - at say +3% on a day, sell up to half of what you added going down. If the stock keeps going up, repeat until original dry powder is restored.
Never listen to or trade off "technicals" for wee caps, they are mostly M&A or hedgr fund artistry at best. The thought that a single day closing trade on NOT could paint its chart forever should be adequate. Thin trade equals misleading technicals. The M&A types can feast on retail chart traders where small caps are concerned.
Finally, only sell the core position when the millenium event you are holding for actually occurs. Throw away the charts and never try to get even. Learned all this the hard way.