TIPS FOR RANGE TRADINGRanges contain elements of certainty which are rare in a speculative industry.
With previously established highs and lows, you can anticipate where the market is likely to hold, change direction or stop all together.
5 interesting facts about range patterns when charting price action.
1 - The range pattern is good for traders who are terrible at cutting their losses. The nature of a range is to not make progress in one direction, so this is the best pattern to trade if you don’t like taking your stops. If the market moves against your open trade during a range, your patience may be rewarded, because chances are price will swing back in your direction.
2 - Ranges contain areas where you can expect momentum. That sounds like a contradiction, right? It's not. You can expect the typical slow market condition in a range, but only in the middle third of the range space. Count on momentum showing up when it runs to and from the outer edges of the range.
3 - Past performance predicts future movement. You’ve heard it - you’ve probably even said it - “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.” However, when it comes to range patterns, I keep track of where price has been in the past 15 bars. Do the math because that’s exactly how far you can expect price to move in the opposite direction in the next 15 bars.
4 - After a trend, it only takes 7 bars of time in the range pattern to tell me which direction is coming next. Add the 50 simple moving average to your chart. If price crosses that line and stays below it for more than 7 bars, it’s probably not going to return to the trend any time soon.
5 - The best range trades happen when your expected high or low is suddenly obliterated. Huh? It's true, and this is my secret weapon in trading. If price breaks out of a well established range pattern, immediately place pending orders to trade in the opposite direction. If price fails the breakout (which it usually does), it comes barreling back through the range pattern, and those trades move into profit very quickly.
