SMC Ebook

Machine Translated by Google
Supply and Demand
General
In trading you try to buy at a higher price and sell at a lower price eg if I buy
a PS5 I buy it cheap and sell it very expensive when there aren't any left to buy.
If the institutions make big moves and dig liquidity and I see that, then I want to
be part of the move -> look for entry
High volume -> many orders, institutional footsteps
• When the price breaks out of the range rapidly
Low volume -> few orders, not really what is happening at this price level
• When the price slowly breaks out of the range •

When the price breaks out of the range and comes straight back
We want to find price levels where there is a lot of volume, where a lot of orders have been placed in the market.
So we want to see rapid movement out of the range.
Ranges and pivots are the footsteps of institutions that have just placed large orders
there.
How to mark ranges

max 6-8 candles
If too many candles, then timeframe go up.
ÿ Always switch timeframes to see if I'm currently in a range

In such a demand zone, always take the smaller range.
Institutions cannot place all orders when moving out of the range because they are too large,
but only 25%. Therefore, the price correctively returns to the range (it fills the imbalance
created by the breakout of the range + liquidity is formed) and only then the real movement is
made (75% of orders).
Continuation and Reversal Model Theory
Continuation Model
Reversal Model
Small candles are a range in lower timeframes.
How Price Returns to Entry Zones
Supply & Demand Zone Map
Task: backtest or collect data + see which marking of supply and demand zones is best for my
trading style.
While continuation models are effective, they are usually only built to build liquidity.
So there is a higher probability that reversal models will work than continuation models -> I need to
focus on reversal models.
The higher the continuation model is in a bullish trend, the less likely it is to work. + always pay
attention to what is on the left side of the chart (supply/demand zones, order blocks, etc.).
Rounded Return
After the large bearish expansion down from the supply zone, there was no supply below to push
the price further down. Demand has to come into the market here. At this point there is confusion
in the market and the market is filling orders to eliminate the imbalance between supply and
demand. Then, when demand catches up with the amount of supply that came into the market (until
enough demand builds up again), the price slowly goes back to the entry (to the supply zone).
That is, there is brief confusion in the market (therefore it moves little) and it takes time for the
price to accumulate enough demand to come back to the supply entry zone.
At the “bottom” of the movement there is almost no longer a supply zone for the institutions.
This is also the reason why the price can break the bottom so easily after entry.
Support and resistance traders would also see a support zone -> Liquidity
V Reversal Return
Meaning of the impulsive move back into the supply zone: the price met a strong demand
zone. The chart shows a strong reversal back to the entry. Most of the time, the price shows a
reaction at entry, only to break the supply zone a little later and go bullish.
One can then look out for Demand Entry Zones.

V Reversal Returns can also work, just statistically less likely. For the other two, liquidity is
formed and then swept. V shape reversals can indicate a potential change in order flow.
Better: look at V Reversal Returns for additional confirmation. If the supply zone holds, then
just take a second entry where the price doesn't come into the entry zone as rapidly, but
corrective/rounded return.
Rounded und Corrective Return
If the last leg move into the Entry Zone is stronger (with more momentum, larger candles
with more volatility) than the rest of the move to the Entry price, then the trade is more
likely to work.
Many retail traders see that the price has made higher highs and higher lows and when
they see this last leg they think the price will go up, but once it touches the supply zone it
falls sharply down.
Here you can see that.
So it is also important to watch the price come back into the Entry Zone.
I can also distinguish between continuational and reversal models when choosing
which back-to-entry model to use.
If I see such a move then I should be less interested in finding supply entry at the range and
more looking at how to get in on the momentum move.
But the market can also do things that don't make sense in the time frame -> just go up a
time frame.
How I know which direction the price will go:
- Demand/Supply zones are respected

- Demand/Supply zones are broken
Fractal Supply and Demand Zones Refinements
Refinements Using Inside Bars & Wicks
This allows you to identify ranges or pivots without going to a smaller timeframe
have to.
Inside Bar = a candle that is inside the previous candle (see blue arrow). The bullish candle
did not break the high or low of the previous bearish candle, it is inside the bearish candle.
This is a continuation model.
Inside bar is a range or pivot in the lower timeframe. A range is an area where price is trading at
fair value and many orders are being placed or low momentum.
How to determine if it's high or low volume/momentum is by wondering what happens next: strong
movement down as in the picture, or very slow movement down.
This inside bar can also be bearish; does not matter. It is important that the inside bar does not
break the high or low of the previous candle.
In the bubble on the far right you can see the candles of the big wig on the lower timeframes (price
goes up and then sharply down)
Large wig = very good supply/demand zone
With this method I don't have to go in lower timeframes + leads to less confusion because you
stay in the higher timeframes.
Orderblocks
Order block = at this point many orders were placed by the institutions. This can be seen in the
rapid up/down movement that follows. This movement or several movements break from the
Structure order block.
The price comes back to the order blocks to place more orders and to rebalance the price (the
imbalance formed by the rapid move lower).
At the order block we get our entry and SL.

The price tends to come back to order blocks before making any further move.
When trading from order blocks, always include the wig.
Wyckoff
Große Candles = Search of Liquidity

Market Structure
General
Supply Failing + Demand Respected = Up-Trend
Supply Respected + Demand Failing = Down-Trend
Supply Respected + Demand Respected = there is a 'battle' between Demand and Supply on the
chart right now -> I have to be patient and wait for the Market Structure and Orderflow to give me
clear indications of what it wants to do and where it wants to go.
Reversal supply/demand zones hold up much better than continuation zones.

Multi-Timeframe Market Structure Theorie
A pullback in a bullish trend in the higher timeframe (daily) is a bearish trend in the
lower timeframe (4h, 15min).
A break of structure in the lower timeframe is the first sign of a trend change (or
Pullback/Continuation) im higher Timeframe.
A higher low is not confirmed until it breaks the higher high (Break of Structure; in a bullish
trend).
Multi-Timeframe Market Structure Anwendung
That's not the higher low, it's liquidity.

When the market makes an impulse move and then a retracement (pullback), you can also
see this as the market breathing in and out.
Therefore, after this big down move, a pullback must come at some point.
The more touches into a supply or demand zone, the weaker the zones become and the
more likely they are to be breached.
4h + 15min timeframe for recognizing/identifying market structure 1min

timeframe for execution: price level entries at POIs
Best trades are those that go in the same direction as the daily, 4h and 15min timeframe.
Don't sit with the 1min chart and look out for breaks of structure, but include higher
timeframes!
If I'm good at identifying and marking Supply and Demand Zones but the price always just
reacts and then reverses and the zone breaks and I feel like I'm always on the wrong side of
the market, I need to more with market structure or
deal with the connection between supply and demand and market structure + liquidity
add concepts.
Task: identify + mark the market structure on the chart (higher highs + higher lows), look at the
fractal structure of the market (i.e. look at how the daily, 4h and 15min charts interact with each
other -> how trends on the higher timeframes and lower timeframes form).
This allows me to understand why the market is moving the way it is and where it is likely to
go + subsequently when a supply and demand zone is likely to be respected or breached.
Trend changes understand theory
It's important to understand when the trend ends so I'm not on the wrong side of the market.
„The trend is your friend until it ends.“
There is therefore an important difference between break of structure and change of character.
Break of Structure = trend continues

Change of Character = Trendwechsel
In a bullish market, I expect the market to make higher highs and higher lows and trade in the
direction of EOF. However, if the last higher low is broken and the price falls further down, then
the bullish trend becomes invalid and the trend changes to bearish (arrow points to it).
If the price has touched a higher timeframe demand zone (green area), then I wait until I see
a Change of Character (CHoCH) in the lower timeframe (red arrow) and then take the trade
(entry = red area).
Attention: The first CHoCH can also be a liquidity grab. One thinks that the market is
changing trend, in doing so it just takes liquidity (the previous lower high then serves as an
inducement) and continues the bearish trend (especially if it hasn't touched the last range).
The two structural points are then seen as one movement (red arrow).
Therefore, it is better to wait for a second BOS (blue line) after the CHoCH to confirm the
change in trend (this allows me to get more confirmations, the probability of my trades
succeeding increases). But it is also possible that this second entry (black area) never
comes -> that is the risk associated with it.
If my approach is more aggressive (get in on the first CHoCH) then I will have more losses.
If my approach is more conservative (get in on second BOS, second entry), then then
I will miss more trades.
ÿ Backtest + collect data and see what suits me best.
The most important thing is to learn how these changes of character behave in a multi-
timeframe context.
Difference between BOS and CHoCH
Are the same, with the difference that CHoCH shows a change in trend. A CHoCH is a BOS
that changes the trend.
At BOS the price respects the trend and does what we expect eg in a bullish trend (forms higher
highs and higher lows in the bullish trend).
Market Structure and Supply and Demand are almost the same, if you also integrate Market
Structure into your trading then you have an even better understanding of the market
(especially CHoCH).
Understanding trend changes Application

Supply Failure and Demand Respect is the first sign that a bearish trend is changing to bullish.
If the price breaks the higher low (black line) then we have a Change of Character.
With the second BOS, the trend change from a bullish to a bearish trend is confirmed.
So the price respects the HTF Supply Zone and breaks the Demand Zone.
The black areas show the 2 entry possibilities and the black lines the CHoCH
Upper black line = Break of Sub Structure

Lower black line = Break of Structural Structure
We see Demand failed and Supply respected.

The price can now react at these two demand zones.
Important: I used to think that ranges are a form of liquidity and that the price here, for
example, goes to the lower entry to take the liquidity of the range. But the price can also
react to the range!
Always switch timeframes + see how the CHoCH looks in other timeframes with a
demand/supply -> don't get lost in one timeframe!
3 Types of Market Structure Theory

Substructure (bearish) always goes against the HTF trend (bullish) + is corrective.
Minor Structure (bullish) always goes towards HTF Trend (bullish).
Although minor structure is trending and is an indication that the bullish trend will continue,
the bullish trend is not confirmed until the price breaks the swing structure (higher high). The
bullish "trend" up to the swing structure break is therefore the minor structure.
Sub Change of Character (in a bullish trend):
- Price reacts at a Demand Zone within the Swing Structure Leg (black area)
and or
- When liquidity is formed and then swept from lower low (black arrow)
Sub Structure ends and Minor Structure begins when a Change of Character (CHoCH) is
formed.
I don't always have to be first in a trade. So better than entering the Demand Zone from the
Swing Leg (black area) rather wait for a CHoCH from Sub Structure and look for a trade in
Minor Structure (green areas) -> I always trade in the direction of the trend and should not try
a buy in one to take strong bearish trend.
In a range between two swing points, the price can also make a “fake” bullish CHoCH (blue
arrow) and then continue down again. However, the trend will not turn bearish until the swing
points are broken.
Black arrows = Sub Structure

green arrows = minor structure
So substructure was formed, then minor structure, then substructure again, and then
minor structure again before the swing high was broken.
Task: Look at Swing Structure Legs + mark Demand Zones + analyze the reaction of
the substructure at these Demand Zones + find out when a Demand Zone is respected
and when not.
This concept allows me to better understand order flow.
Understanding about swing structure helps me figure out if the trend is bullish or bearish.
Understanding Sub Structure helps me figure out at which Demand Zones Turning Points
(turning points; the point from where the trend resumes; where the higher low is formed in
the bullish trend, red circle) could happen.
3 types of Market Structure application

The top image is the 4h timeframe and the bottom is the daily timeframe. If the price is forming some
kind of price action that is more of a pause in the market than a pullback/structure in the daily timeframe,
then it is likely to be swept because such pause is mostly just liquidity (wigs are liquidity, here there is
a collection of equal lows, you can see it better in the picture above).
Therefore, do not mark this structure (green circle) as the low of the sub structure (i.e. the higher low of
the swing structure in the bullish trend), but make sure that the price can go down and that is only liquidity.
So always switch to timeframes to see what the LTF structure looks like in the HTF and identify what it
could be (whether it's a pullback or just a pause in the market).
A cluster of equal highs/lows is somehow always swept (green lines), either the market reverses
direction and takes liquidity or it wiggs below the equal highs/lows and continues the trend.
This is not a BOS, just a liquidity grab if only the wig breaks the structure but the candle doesn't
close above the swing high.
Example:
When price is struggling to break the swing high in a bullish trend (wigged several times
above the high, green line) as here, it can be an indication that a deeper pullback is coming
after.
The institutions want to bring more sellers into the market (liquidity), many orders are
placed.
The black arrow shows the swing structure (lower high and higher high). The price reacts at a
demand zone of the swing structure and takes liquidity (black line) before the price goes up
and breaks the swing structure (green arrow).
The market is not perfect. Sometimes there is no minor structure, some have no clear sub
and minor structure and you only see BOS.
It's also important how the structure is broken and what happens next (whether it's swing,
sub, or minor structure). If the structure (red circles are lower high and lower low) is broken
with candle close, but the price immediately retraces, then it is not a significant BOS, but only
a liquidity grab (see also the accumulation of equal highs here).
Especially not if the structure was only slightly broken to mitigate something (black arrow).
Examples:
Sub Structure = black arrow

Minor structure = green arrow
Swing Low/High = red circles (the higher low is not visible in the chart, but it is there)
Daily = bearish (rechts)

4h = bullish (links) -> CHoCH + bullish Trend
The 4h CHoCH (green line) either indicates that the daily chart is pulling back or it can be an
indication of a trend change.
Everything that happens in the range between the two swing structure points (sub and minor
structure) is a battle between supply and demand.
Combine sub and minor structure with supply and demand zones.
Protected und Targeted Structure Theorie
If a high breaks a low, then the high is protected.

If a low breaks a high, then the low is protected.
If a high doesn't break a low, it's being targeted.

If a low doesn't break a high, it gets targeted.
The job of any high is to take out the low. If it fails, it becomes a target.
The same applies vice versa.
Is a type of expected order flow.
In a bullish trend, all highs are targeted and all lows are protected.
In a bearish trend, all lows are targeted and all highs are protected.
It is best to apply this concept of protected and targeted highs/lows to Swing Structure.
It can also be applied to Sub or Minor Structure, but it can be confusing, like in the picture.
You can use this eg by taking the targeted highs/lows as TP eg in a bullish trend I can target the
swing higher high.
Also related to Supply and Demand: The point of Supply and Demand Zones is that we
identify zones where institutions could place large orders. When these large orders have been
placed (green circle) it is likely that the price will not go below the higher low + therefore the low
is protected.
A high/low is therefore protected if institutions have placed large orders at this point.
In a bullish trend, the next higher high is targeted because there are many orders (liquidity) here.
Protected highs/lows are usually in a demand/supply zone and/or have liquidity beforehand
taken.
Task: mark protected and targeted highs/lows on the chart + always ask yourself whether it was successful in taking
out/breaking through the other.
Helps you to have a better understanding of market structure and order flow, is especially good in connection with
liquidity concepts.
Protected/Targeted Structure in Verbindung mit Supply and Demand
The Supply Zone has failed to take out the Demand Zone and is therefore becoming the Target.
The Demand Zone succeeded in breaking the Supply Zone and is therefore protected.
In a bullish trend, our expectation is that demand will be respected and supply will fail.
This continues until at some point supply is respected and demand fails. highs
break lows. There is a trend change from bullish to bearish.
In summary:
Bullish Trend: higher Highs und higher Lows, protected Lows und targeted Highs, respected demand und failed
supply.
Bearish Trend: lower Highs und lower Lows, protected Highs und targeted Lows, respected supply und failed
demand.
Protected and Targeted Structure application
If in a range between the swing points (bullish trend) sub structure has formed, then there is a
CHoCH and the price switches to minor structure, you know that the low is being targeted.
CHoCH and trend reversal happens when the first protected high/low is broken.
The green circle shows the protected higher low in a bullish trend that was successful in
taking out the last swing high (green line). When it breaks and a CHoCH is formed, a trend
reversal happened. Now, in the new bearish trend, all swing highs are protected and lows
are targeted.
Here you can see that all the lows (green circles) are protected and this also shows the buying
interest that the price will keep going up.
In the same way as the protected lows, the demand zones are respected and the supply
zones are broken, which also speaks for a continuation of the bullish trend.
Orders accumulate at protected highs/lows, institutions are very interested in these points.
That's exactly why it's protected, because big money came into the market on those points.
The reason the market ranges like this is to accumulate orders (liquidity) to move further up.
If the price touches an HTF supply zone but then fails to take out the swing higher low (in this bullish trend), it
means that the high that touched the supply zone is being targeted (black arrow). Then as soon as there is a bullish
CHoCH (black lines), can
I place a trade (black area).
Refinement Protected und Targeted Structure -> S.72
What is CHoCH?
CHoCH = Change of Character
We always mark CHoCH in the 15min + 1min chart.

That (green line) is not yet a CHoCH, because the low has not broken as higher high (blue line).
The last low still remains the lower low (black arrow).
BOS = Break of Swing Structure -> Body Breaks notwendig

CHoCH = first sign of trend change -> Wig Breaks
For the first CHoCH it is necessary that the candles are below the last candle, otherwise they
will not have formed a higher low.
If each candle is above the other in the black area (see Wigs), then this is not yet a CHoCH,
because no lower high has formed, there has not yet been a pullback.
Do not use CHoCH just like that, but only when it touches an HTF POI.
The first CHoCH is just to confirm the last higher low (black arrow) (higher low has
higher high broken -> then the higher low is confirmed). If this is then broken (second
CHoCH), then we have a change of character.
What is a supply-demand flip
If the price is in a bullish trend and touches the supply zone, reacts and eventually breaks
through it, then one can place a trade (black area) on the first reaction from the supply zone.
S/D Flip is the decisional in a trade. If the decisional does not take any liquidity, then it usually
becomes liquidity, an inducement and you should trade the extreme (green area).
ÿ Albie discusses that very often in his trade recaps, when I'm unsure about it, there
check.
It is also important that the Supply Zone is broken (failed).
If the price just breaks through the Supply Zone without showing any reaction, then it is not
Flip.
Example:
The Supply Zone has been breached. What does that mean? At the Supply Zone, Sellers entered the
market, but it wasn't enough to defeat Demand and Demand broke through the Supply Zone.
At the doji, at that specific demand level, there are still orders that need to be filled, which is why the
price comes right back at that demand level and then continues bullish.
Task: look at the trade recaps and team markups + analyze them in detail.
How to mark market structure breaks
You have to see which method works best for you. But once you have decided on a method, you have to
apply it consistently and not switch back and forth between the methods. The most important thing is to
be consistent.
The wigs can look different with the different brokers. Why is that? Each broker uses different data
feeds where they have different access to liquidity pools and fills. the
Spread with a broker will always vary and you can usually see this on the chart in the form of
wigs.
However, the candle bodies mostly stay the same, which is why method 1 could be interesting.
When using method 3, one can get different results with different brokers, because
the wigs are often different from broker to broker. Method 3 can also be confusing if you
don't understand what's going on on the bigger picture because there are so many structure
breaks.
If a CHoCH happens but the price immediately retraces, then there wasn't much momentum
and that CHoCH or BOS is irrelevant.
But if the price breaks through clearly and with a lot of momentum, then the CHoCH or BOS
is valid and I can follow the trend.
So one always has to ask if the price breaks Structure and HOW it breaks Structure. Both
are equally important.
When the price is making higher highs, then higher lows, then higher highs again and I'm
unsure what trend it's in, it's always a good idea to go up a timeframe to look at the HTF
picture. It's very easy to get lost in the smaller timeframes, you always have to keep an eye
on the larger timeframes.
Liquidity
General
It's like in the supermarket, for example I want to buy strawberries. If the strawberries are in action, a crowd will
immediately buy everything (this is how many sellers buy the currency when it drops sharply).
When I hit buy or sell, my order can be filled immediately because the market has provided liquidity to see my
order through. For every buy order in the market there must be a sell order at the other end = basis for fair exchange.
The reason the market goes up and down is that it goes from one pocket of liquidity to another pocket of liquidity.
All we see on the chart are orders graphed in candles. Each individual pip is a price where potential orders sit. The
reason the market goes up and down is to balance the orders and build liquidity to maintain that balance. Because in
fair exchange, the price will stay the same or remain relatively stable, but as soon as there is an imbalance between
supply and demand, the price will break out rapidly up or down to rebalance the price and keep it in a state of liquidity,
where orders can be converted into cash very easily without inversely affecting the price.
Price moves to find liquidity to balance/even out the market or price moves to find orders to balance/even out the
market. The market moves because of the imbalance of supply (sell) and demand (buy).
So the job of the market is to move the price in such a way that buy/sell orders can be placed at any point,
because at the other end someone is doing the opposite (when I buy, someone else is selling; when I am selling,
someone else is buying different).
At the red line there are many orders for various reasons, e.g. people
could sell on the swing high. Breakout traders have orders at the red line. When the
price breaks above the swing high, their buy orders are triggered.
Price will return to this pool of liquidity if there is an imbalance in the market anywhere
else.
That's why you also take swing highs/lows as TP, because that's where the liquidity is.
There are theories that claim that liquidity is created only to be taken later.
The price should therefore be manipulated in such a way that one is pushed into the SL at Swing Structure or the
other patterns where liquidity is formed.
That's not true. There is no entity set up to take my money and manipulate me. The price doesn't go
up to the retail traders that
put in a sell on the swing high and take their money.
It's all about supply and demand and the order flow that runs in the background.
There is an algorithm controlled by central banks. This has the job of giving you the opportunity to always
place a buy or sell at different price levels.
However, if this algorithm sees an imbalance, then it will move the price there. It moves to where there is a large
cluster of orders to rebalance the price.
On the swing structure, price goes down to fill an imbalance. Then what will he do next? Fill in
the imbalance formed at the swing high and therefore the price goes back up. The price always
goes to imbalances where there are many orders. The price will touch that, rebalance the price
and go back down.
He looks for the places where too many orders have been placed and where there is an
imbalance due to the many orders and goes to them, rebalances the price and goes to the
next place where too many orders have been placed/imbalance between supply and demand prevails.
That's what the market does. It does its job by creating a fair market place through supply
and demand and providing liquidity.
Our job is to identify the places where a lot of orders have been placed and to understand
where the price is likely to go if it is trending or pulling back.
Here, for example, many traders place a sell at the equal highs and
everyone knows that there is a large accumulation of orders here
(pool of liquidity, money) eg support and resistance traders, breakout traders
The price then goes there to rebalance the market to create liquidity in
the market. This means I can place a buy or a sell, close my order at
different price levels. So the market is moving so I can execute my
trade.
It's also about lot sizes and that's where things get complicated. I can sell 1 lot in one place
and someone else bought 100 lots. What is the price then? He goes to these places to
rebalance the orders and accumulate more sell orders to facilitate this transaction.
That's all the price does. He goes from one pocket of liquidity to another pocket of liquidity.
When there are not enough orders to push through a trade, the market creates the
opportunity, goes to the pockets of liquidity and re-balances the price. That's why the market
moves. The pursuit of balance (fair exchange) drives the market.
Here there are many trend line and breakout traders on the trend line. Large
pockets of money are formed as a result.
ÿ combine this knowledge with supply and demand or the imbalance of supply and
Demand and Market Structure.
"Run of Liquidity" means the price goes to the Pool of Liquidity, re-balances it and moves on.
Examples:
Demand/supply zones are zones where there are already many orders or where there is a high
probability that orders will be placed here.
The market closes every empty space (=liquidity void/void of orders; void = emptiness, nothing) in the market.
Price doesn't like empty space and almost always closes it.
Always combine the 3 types of Liquidity above with Liquidity Void
Here: Trendline Liquidity (green arrow) + large Liquidity void

This gives you a very good trade idea:
- Swing Highs Liquidity

-
Liquidity void
- HTF Supply Zone
--CHoCH to bearish
- Sweep of Liquidity -
A catalyst (trigger) why the price went from bullish to bearish (cannot be seen in the figure,
at the level of CHoCH there is an HTF range/supply zone).
Internal and external range liquidity theory
A pullback only occurs when the external range liquidity is taken.
Inducement = Liquidity is formed for the reason to be swept
What is this formed for?
For example, here the market wants to go back to an order block (green arrow) but needs
liquidity to do so. Therefore, he forms equal lows to bring sellers into the market. It then
sweeps those equal highs, goes to the order block or demand zone, and then continues the
upward direction.
At the trend line (green line) the price is building liquidity to give it "fuel" to continue moving
higher.
Also, the price here fills liquidity voids, it fills internal range liquidity (green triangle) to
then go back in the direction where the price actually wanted to go.
The reason liquidity voids form is that the market creates a void to subsequently take
out internal range liquidity. When it's taken out all the internal range liquidity, it can move
on to taking out the external range liquidity.
Price must always build internal range liquidity so it can get the fuel to move on
and take out external range liquidity. When it's taken enough internal range liquidity, it
can keep taking external range liquidity.
In a bullish trend, when price takes out higher highs, it takes out external range liquidity.
In a bearish trend, when price takes out lower lows, it takes out external range liquidity.
Internal and external range liquidity application
Important: I always have to ask myself where liquidity is at the moment and where the price
is likely to go.
Here, for example, there is external range liquidity that the price could take (green lines), there
is a lot of liquidity at the higher high, equal highs were also formed at the higher high (blue line).
In short: there is a lot of liquidity (including orders) at the higher high (blue line).
Observation: Equal highs/lows often form before a CHoCH. Both charts were in a bullish
trend and then switched to a bearish trend.
The price went formed Sub Structure, then Minor Structure and switched back to Sub
Structure (green arrow). The reason he switched back to minor structure is because the price
has built a lot of liquidity (black arrow) on the minor structure and wants to sweep it.
The penultimate figure was the 15min chart. If you go to the 4h chart (last figure), you can
also see that many wigs (=liquidity or more precisely inducement have been formed, green
line) and these are now being swept.
Every time internal range liquidity is taken out we get a reaction (see horizontal arrows).
Task: Mark internal and external range liquidity on the chart + connect it to the other
concepts during the analysis.
Inefficient/Efficient Pricing
When the high of the first candle touches the low of the third candle, it is efficient price
action. If not, then it is inefficient price action.
Efficient price action means that when the price went up, sellers and buyers had an
equal opportunity to place their orders (=fair value). Because for every buy order there must be
a sell order at the other end. For every sell order there must be a buy order at the other end.
In the second representation there is a bullish imbalance, the first and third candle do not
touch. This means that at the imbalance there was only pure buying power that formed the movement.
The price will therefore likely need to come back to this inefficient area to fill in the liquidity
that was skipped/left behind.
Note: I've only ever marked the supply and demand zones + traded the reaction.
Back testing + see if this works the same way with imbalances.
I think the price reacts especially in the monthly chart with imbalances -> is not sure, I
have to check. Can also be due to the currency pair (this is EURJPY)
Imbalance/Inefficiency does not need to be filled directly; can also take a long time to fill.
Liquidity application on the chart

One should not trust B Book Brokers who offer online courses at the same time and give you
a 200% bonus.
B Book Brokers = if I put a buy, they put a sell. They basically do the opposite of what I do. My
order is actually not executed in the market at all.
The institutions manipulate the market and create price patterns to trap retail traders and
force them into the SL.
Retail support and resistance traders would have placed a trade here and been stopped
out.
The price took the liquidity of the equal lows to use as fuel to push the price further up.
If the retail traders have placed a buy and their SL has been hijacked, they must fill their order
further down. Every sell order has a buy order at the other end. But who bought? the
institutions.
You can think of Liquidity like a road trip. When someone drives a long distance, they need to
stop somewhere to take a break and eat. It's the same with liquidity: the market is trending
bullish, retracements (pausing), accumulates internal range liquidity to use as fuel to move
further up and takes out external liquidity.
It is unusual to drive 500km without refueling or taking a break.
The price even got below the second support line (white arrow) because the liquidity at the
first support zone was not enough because there were also retail traders who placed orders
at the second support zone. Therefore, the price broke both support zones and took the liquidity.
When I see moves in the market that are so obvious that even a new retail trader can see
them, I can imagine those points being targeted. The institutions are doing exactly the
opposite of what most people expect. The Forex market is heavily manipulated.
One of the reasons the market goes down so fast is to manipulate people. Because the one
who missed selling at the top (white arrow) gets afraid of missing the move and tries
compulsively to be able to start the movement somewhere. One possibility would be the break
and retest (blue arrow). A little later, all who have placed a sell are pushed from the market into
the SL as he impulsively makes the last move up.
Smart retail traders would have closed the trade below (green arrow), but most are still greedy and would have
targeted lower levels assuming a trend change.
When the price consolidates and there is less and less price action like here (market is slowing down) then
the market will impulsively take liquidity from both sides. That was the case with the EU at the beginning of
February, for example.
That would be a high probability order block trade setup.
Reasons:
- Break of Structure
- Rapid Move after BOS
- Order block formed imbalance
- The price generates liquidity and then sweeps it as it touches and sets the order block
then continued the bullish trend to the upside.
The price impulsively moves up after our entry because there is no more liquidity.
Everything happens because of liquidity. When there is no liquidity, the market manipulates
the price to create liquidity.
Task: mark equal highs/lows on the chart, always wondering where retail traders would put
entries and SL, so wondering where liquidity is (because the reason the market moves is
liquidity).
Mitigation and Cause
Mitigation = the action to reduce the severity or pain of something.
In terms of institutions, that means trying to reduce the severity or pain of a loss or
drawdown.
What exactly does that mean?
When the price surged up from the order block, institutions not only place buy orders, but
also place sell orders, which served as additional liquidity for the move. They also have to
place sell orders, otherwise their orders cannot be executed (they trade with very large lot
sizes and for every buy there must also be a sell). Therefore, they place sell orders to serve as
liquidity for their buy orders.
If they then place their orders at the order block and the price impulsively rises, they are in
profit with their buys, but in loss with their sells.
Institutions are able to stay in the drawdown for a long time and also have losses that retail
traders can't even begin to imagine. Institutions also trade without SL because they trade with
such large volume that in most cases their SLs would not want to be respected.
If the price impulsively moves up after the order block, you are in drawdown with your sell
orders. But these are unrealized losses. So you don't have to count that as a loss in
their statements etc.
The price sharply rises after the order block and goes to the supply zones. When the
supply zones have been exhausted, the price comes back to the demand zone at the order block.
When they touch the order block they do two things: 1. they place more buy orders and 2.
You close the open sell orders that were in drawdown in the meantime. So you close the
sell orders at break even or with a small profit (if they are a little below the
price point where they placed the orders) or loss (if they close a little higher). But these
small losses do not affect them because they have made big profits.
Most of the time, when the price touches the order block, we see a large displacement of
volume and price.
We see a series of mitigations here.
With each mitigation, sell orders are placed on BE (or with small profit/loss) and more buy
orders are placed.
The mitigation process can continue like this for a while. What that means exactly is that
institutions are moving their money and putting more buy orders. So this means that these
mitigation lows are protected and the price is not likely to go below them because these are
exactly where the institutions' buy orders were placed.
Through this concept we get our entries, TP and SL.
If the price then touches an HTF Supply POI (blue horizontal line above), then things are
reversed: the protected lows are taken as target or liquidity.
What does that mean?
When price action is forming on the chart, many retail traders look for support and
resistance. However, you only see these support and resistance zones when they have already formed
became. The institutions have moved their money and are done and no longer see this
demand chain as a POI. They are more interested in the HTF Supply POI. Their actual goal
was to use the Demand Chain to push the price up to the HTF Supply POI.
But once we hit the HTF Supply POI, the bias switched from longs to shorts. You place sells
and a new order flow forms. Once this is done, you know that many traders see the demand
chain as a trend line or a support and resistance zone. So there are many orders (=liquidity) in
the demand chain.
Price makes a CHoCH, can re-test the support zone (green line), breaks it and all support
and resistance traders are stopped out. Then the price comes back (this stops out any breakout
traders who set a sell stop on the break from the support zone) and mitigated an order block
(blue area) before expanding further down again.
So if we see a series of mitigation (supply or demand chain) then later things can be turned
around and the chain can be used as a target of the institutions because there is an
accumulation of liquidity on the chain. The price is attracted there by the formed liquidity.
In addition, this mitigation process respects demand zones. A demand chain is formed.
There is a demand for higher prices. When the price touches these Demand Zones, it fills all
the demand and there is no longer any demand in these zones (this is also a characteristic of
the mitigation process). Then, when the price falls and bias switches, there is no more demand
to stand in its way. He is free to break the chain with a lot of momentum because there is no
longer any demand.
What looks like a strong structure is actually very weak. All of the demand on the chain has
been taken and there is none left.
Therefore, inefficiency/imbalances are usually formed when the price touches the HTF
Supply POI and expands downwards because there is no demand that can slow it down.
This imbalance will likely be filled later.
Examples:
The first is the 15min chart, then the 1min chart and 1h chart. In the 1h chart you can clearly
see how the imbalance came about. This demand chain and mitigation process is the real
reason why the imbalance is formed. All of the demand is met, leaving nothing to stop the
price from rapidly breaking out to the downside.
The buy to sell wigs (black arrow) form because there is only one small demand zone left
here because the buyers thought that the chain will continue.
It is not recommended to trade the mitigation on the demand chain (above in the figure)
because they are very risky, but you can still have good trades.
With such a corrective price action for entry, it makes sense to take a risk entry.
Here you can see it even better. There were only a few Demand Zones where the price slowed
down a bit (blue lines). Buy to sell wigs of the last figure are circled in blue.
Liquidity models and interpretation
The market often creates artificial liquidity to later use as a target.
The market always goes from one pocket of liquidity to the next pocket of liquidity.
The equal highs have a lot of buy side liquidity sitting above the highs.
At the equal lows, there is a lot of sell side liquidity below the lows.
Liquidity is taken out of double tops traders, support and resistance

traders, breakout traders and break and retest traders.
Just because we see these liquidity models doesn't mean price will target them directly.
They are just potential areas of interest where the price could come back to take liquidity at
some point in the future.
We always have to ask ourselves why the liquidity models were formed, for example
double tops. How will Price Action behave in relation to this in the future?
With range liquidity, the market can form a small range, then break out of it and form a
larger range and expand down (right panel).
With liquidity you never know if the market is targeting eg the buy side liquidity and then
continuing in a bearish direction or the price is taking the buy side liquidity and going up.
At the end of the day, liquidity is fuel and the market will use it as it sees fit.
Price always moves from one supply and demand zone to the next supply and demand zone,
using liquidity as fuel to move from one zone to the next.
Examples:
The price is in a range, breaks out and forms a larger range (black areas).
There is a lot of liquidity above and below the two ranges.

The price always moves from range to range.
Why?
In the case of ranges, the price is traded at fair value. Many orders are placed. The price doesn't really noticeably
move up and down because a lot of buys and sells are being made. Institutions are positioning themselves, breaking
out of the range and entering the market with a lot of volume.
You always have to ask yourself where the ranges are formed and whether it makes sense to trade the range.
Two ranges have formed at the same level, the price is going up, mitigating a doji and impulsively going down again.
Task: Mark Structure Liquidity at different timeframes, look at old trades' targets: did they agree with this liquidity
concept? Was it a win or a loss? Can help me understand why eg I was stopped out and then the price went my way.
Refined Supply and Demand
This concept is used to identify which supply/demand zone is more likely to

hold.
3 criteria contribute to a higher probability of a supply/demand zone:
- Breaks of Structure
- Sweeps of Liquidity
- Mitigation (Supply/Demand Chains)
Zone Refinements using:
1) Breaks of Structure
swing, sub or minor structure; with a Swing Structure BOS, the supply/demand zone should
theoretically hold with a higher probability than with a Minor Structure BOS.
We can have something like that too. Structure was broken 3 times (2 times minor structure
and 1 time minor and swing structure). We have 3 demand zones where we could place a trade.
In theory, the first Demand Zone from the top is the strongest zone because it takes more
force to break Swing Structure than just Minor Structure.
But most of the time the price comes back to the extreme (green area) to take the demand zones
as liquidity and fill the liquidity void.
The origin of the movement that broke the swing structure is also extreme.
Price often reacts at supply and demand zones. It can also look like we get a reaction until finally
the price goes to the extreme and expands upwards. Through these reactions, he forms liquidity.
Examples:
In the 4h chart, the black area is more of a pause in the market than a pullback -> see if such
pauses give an entry opportunity more often.
Sometimes the price forms Demand Zones at Sub Structure, which are then not touched/
mitigated -> later become internal liquidity (green area example).
It's always better to look for Supply and Demand Zones that are at Swing Structure than at
Minor Structure. However, we can also use sub and minor structure if the trade idea makes
sense in general. The only question we have to ask ourselves is whether sub and minor
demand zones were created to be used as liquidity or whether the movement is being made
with them.
Here we have a break of structure, a break of swing structure and a break of 15min structure
in the supply zone -> many confirmations that this is a valid supply zone.
We would also have the Extreme Supply Zone. The question arises as to which supply
zone to choose. If you look at what broke the Extreme (green area) for Structure and what
broke the Supply Zone marked red, you notice that the BOS that caused the red Supply Zone
are much more and stronger.
These are all unmitigated demand zones that were used as internal range liquidity.
The Supply Zone is the last Supply Zone that Swing Structure broke.
The price formed in front of the Supply Zone Inducement (=Buy Side Liquidity, which was only
formed to serve as liquidity).
In a bearish trend, he does not see a 2 pip upward movement in the 1min chart (green area) as
a structure. The move must be at least 5 pips for it to count as a structure.
For him, it's more of a pause in the market than a pullback. He sees it as liquidity, which will
be taken later. Buy side liquidity was created, which will be taken out as internal range liquidity
in the future.
The first supply zone breaks very little structure (only minor structure), but
confirmations for this trade would be that buy side liquidity has formed as an inducement
and sell side liquidity. Also, we are in a bearish trend and have closed a liquidity void.
If I don't know which Supply Zone to go with, then I haven't learned enough/put enough work
into it -> watch the Supply and Demand Zone Videos + Refinements again.
He took that supply zone because it's a doji and that's a range in the smaller time frame.
If price does not break a structure, it is likely that it will not be a valid supply or demand
zone.
If there are several supply and demand zones, I have to ask myself what is formed as
liquidity and where real momentum comes into the market (green arrow).
Here you can see how the price formed Trendline Liquidity at the other Demand Zones. There
is a reaction at a demand zone that only creates sell side liquidity. We have a liquidity void
that needs to be filled. So a lot of inducement was formed until the price touched the Demand
Zone (black arrow) and expanded upwards (you don't see that on the chart that the price
touched the Demand Zone, but it touched it and is impulsive to gone above).
If I have several Demand Zones, then I have to compare them. Bring in liquidity
concepts + understand why a demand zone failed and that its purpose was actually to
build internal range liquidity.
You have to use your head + think why something is happening at a Demand Zone + compare
them.
2) Sweeps of Liquidity
Equal highs/lows, which are then swept, form a high probability supply/demand zone.
We can also have a swing high/low, a sweep from the swing low, and then an impulsive move up/down.
The price takes liquidity before making the move. That means he induces more people, he
encourages them to place a trade.
Examples:
Here we see in the green area that the order block/demand zone swept the liquidity and the price
surged up. Minor Structure was broken, but not really with much power.
So this is probably not a significant demand zone.
Here you can see that the order block/demand zone is sweeping liquidity and has made a few
structure breaks with a lot of momentum (see large bullish candle with a lot of imbalance) -> good demand zone
Here you can see how price has taken out all of the internal range liquidity. After taking all the
internal range liquidity, he had enough fuel to take the swing high (external range liquidity)
(black line).
These are all valid sweeps of liquidity:
- Equal Highs swept

- Swing High swept
- Trendline whipped
ÿ These 2 models are what we should be looking for to increase the likelihood of our
Supply and Demand Zones.
3) Mitigation (Supply/Demand Chains)
Was ist Mitigation (Supply/Demand Chain)?
If price mitigated multiple consecutive Supply/Demand Zones. This is how a supply/demand chain is
formed.
Examples:
Breaks Structure, sweeps Liquidity, mitigates previous Supply Zone.

Here also: Breaks of Structure, Liquidity sweep (Inducement), Mitigation (all shown in green).
This is not a high probability setup. Structure was broken, no inducement, no

mitigation -> that's why the trade didn't work out.
You have to ask yourself what the two lower highs represent that have not mitigated ->
internal range liquidity.
We have a POI (black arrow) above these lower highs that meets all our criteria: breaks
of structure, liquidity sweep, mitigation (supply chain).
These lower highs and all the lower structure were only created to serve as an inducement
for the POI (black arrow). After the POI is touched, the market goes down (not visible in the
picture).
There was a Break of Structure, Sweep of Liquidity + Mitigation, but the zone didn't hold
(green area). Why? Because it was used as internal range liquidity + we still have below
very good Demand Zones open -> always wonder if there are better Demand/Supply
Zones above/below.
Equal lows formed here (black line), which were then swept -> always look at something like
this to see whether there is still a demand zone underneath or Equilibrium Traden + make the
SL 1-2 pips larger.
If you don't understand market structure, you don't understand trends. If you don't
understand trends, you don't understand market direction.
If you don't understand supply and demand, you don't understand the concept of fair
exchange, which creates imbalances in the market because large orders are placed.
If you don't understand liquidity, you don't understand where pockets of liquidity are in
the market. If we don't understand that, we don't understand where the market is likely to go
before making a strong move.
If I'm always just stopped out -> watch the Liquidity videos again, because I'm being targeted
as Liquidity.
If you don't understand all of these concepts, you can't create high probability setups.
Protected und Targeted Structure Refinements Theorie
The protected low must 1. break structure and 2. sweep liquidity before going up (the first
example on the left above).
The liquidity being swept can be in the form of structural liquidity or equal lows liquidity.
This protected low can mitigate a bit from the left or sweep a lot more liquidity. The price took
all the internal range liquidity and continued moving higher.
The same only in reverse.
The price was in a bearish trend. Then liquidity formed, which was then swept and the structure
broke. The trend switched from bearish to bullish.
That would be a very valid trade setup (green area).
The low at our entry is protected, the price has no real reason to go lower.
The same only in reverse.
For all examples, the price should not go below our entry candle because the high/low is
protected.
Using protected highs/lows (green arrow):
- We can use them as POI.

-
Until we touch a protected supply zone (which is also an HTF supply/demand zone) we can
assume that the protected high/low is not broken.
-
Als Target.
But that will change the more price action is formed in the market or the order flow changes.
One also has to consider the timeframes: a 4h protected low is stronger than a 15min protected
low -> understand fractal nature.
Protected and Targeted Structure Refinements application
Protected Structure must break other Structure Points to be considered protected. A BOS from sub
structure (green line) does not form a protected high (green arrow).
Price wiged below the protected low but the candle does not close below the low -> does not count as
broken, must close below to be considered broken.
The price has broken Structure, swept Liquidity and mitigated from the Demand Zone (see
one in the picture not). Therefore it becomes the protected low (black arrow). You can make an entry in the
set green area.
Price sweeps liquidity here and breaks structure (green lines). But as long as it doesn't break the protected low,
we are still in a bullish trend.
ÿ That the price wiged the equal highs but not closed above them and with relatively strong ones
Momentum falling shouldn't tempt me to enter sells. Until the protected low is broken or the price touches
an HTF POI + CHoCH, I will not place sells and will continue to place buys.
Always look for a CHoCH in the direction of the trend (from sub to minor structure that goes in the direction of
the trend).
I always have to ask myself why a price makes something. If it's been bearish and then suddenly has strong
resistance (a strong reaction) at a demand zone, think about what that might mean. More buyers are coming into the
market, the market is having difficulties
Break through Demand Zone. A reversal may occur.
We have a CHoCH here. But was the high successful in breaking the low?
No, it reacts at the Demand Zone, so no trend change yet. Formed much more liquidity (eqal
highs) for the move thereafter.
We have many protected lows (black line) here that become a pool of liquidity after the trend
shifts from beairsh to bullish.
The entries in the blue area are good because they meet all the criteria: break of structure,
liquidity sweep, mitigation.
When price breaks through such Demand Zones straight away without reacting, that is an early
sign that Demand has failed and Supply is taking control.
With protected highs/lows one can "anticipate" whether another high/low will be breached (if
it is a targeted low).
You can use protected highs/lows as target.
We've seen these lower highs as liquidity before (structural swing liquidity). The fact that they
are also protected gives us even more confirmation.
After a protected high/low has been broken, there is always a deeper pullback (see black
line).
These protected lower highs are more likely to be targeted before the trend switches because
there is a lot of liquidity above them.
Expectational Orderflow
Mainly based on the structure.
Trades that go per trend, i.e. with the expectational order flow, are always the best.
When the price is in a bullish trend, the expectation is that after a higher high, a lower
High and then a higher high follows.
When the price is in a bearish trend, the expectation is that after a lower low, there will be a
lower high and then a lower low.
The smaller the timeframe, the more often there will be EOF failures. That means if I'm in a
bullish trend and it forms a higher low, it can make a lower low and then a higher high again
-> so always keep an eye on the higher timeframe.
Reversals vs. Trading continuations
Catching reversals is hard because there are only 1-2 reversals. You have to be very accurate to catch them.
Conversely, there are multiple continuation trades within a leg, especially when trading with the trend. You have
a lot more trading opportunities with continuations.
If I always feel like I'm on the wrong side of the market, I have to ask myself where am I in terms of EOF, where are
the supply and demand zones, etc? Am I trying to trade internal range liquidity instead of reversal?
We have the expectation that in a bullish trend the demand zone will be respected and the supply zone will be
broken. It is always possible that he breaks the demand zone with a wig (for liquidity purposes, for example if equal
lows have formed below the demand zone), but he should not break the structure (with a candle body).
When the price respects a supply zone, the expectation is still that the higher high (black arrow) will be broken
as long as the higher low (green arrow) has not yet been broken.
The expectation is that in a bullish trend, the higher highs will be broken and the higher lows will not be broken.
When the price has broken a higher high, 3 things can happen:
-
He doesn't pull back.
-
He pulls back and reacts at a flip zone.
-
It pulls back and reacts at the extreme (demand zone at the last higher high).
Coming back to the idea of trading reversals, we have few trading options. These are the
extremes of the movements.
If the trend is bullish and the EOF is bullish, it is high probability if I place buys and thus go with the trend
and EOF. They are also cleaner, turn a profit quicker and the price doesn't tend to range.
If we trade against the trend, eg we have a supply zone where the price shows a reaction, I usually only get
a pullback, there is usually no change in trend.
A CHoCH (black lines) is nothing more than an EOF Failure. The expectation in a bearish trend was that the
price would make a lower high after a lower low. Instead, it formed a higher high after the lower low. This
CHoCH was usually caused by something: namely an HTF demand zone.
Never trade supply/demand zones just like that, but their reaction -> I never know if the supply and
demand zone will be breached directly or if they will react.
Complex Pullback
= When the price is in a range
What to do?
ÿ Look at the EOF
This is a range. It is not easy to trade them.

He takes partials on pro trend trades on the lows and lets the trade go. When placing a
trade against the trend, you must close full TP on the highs.
Ranges are often found in HTF Demand/Supply Zones (weekly or monthly). The price does
not yet know what it will do. A range forms to form liquidity.
If the price makes a strong move down, the market simply cannot go back up because there
is not enough liquidity. What they do instead is form a range to bring buyers and sellers into
the market and collect liquidity.
Until the price closes below the lower low in a bearish trend, the lower high is not
confirmed. The unconfirmed lower high can be used as liquidity. After taking the liquidity,
the price breaks the lower low.
If the price closes below the lower low, then the lower high is confirmed.
The higher low is thus not confirmed until the lower low is broken.
Examples:
Here (black arrow) is a body closure, which would confirm a bullish trend, but there is no real
commitment to the body closure (i.e. it closed above the lower high, but only very slightly and came
right back, more likely to qualify as a liquidity grab).
The price reacts at an HTF supply zone, taking liquidity, breaking the demand zone and continuing the
bearish trend.
EOF is 80% accurate. You always get 4-5 trades where the EOF proves to be correct (eg in a bullish
trend a higher high follows a higher low) and then the failure occurs.
Normally, when there is a failure, there is a reversal, but that didn't happen in the last figure,
for example (it was just a liquidity grab).
Here we have one of Phantom's highest probability setups: the price touched the Demand
Zone (=first touch, black circle), reacted and broke it. We trade from the extreme, from the
origin of the move that broke through the HTF Demand Zone (black arrow). The higher low
(blue arrow) has not swept liquidity, so it then becomes liquidity. The price takes the liquidity,
touches our entry and continues the downward trend.
Also, part of the reason it's harder to trade against the trend is that you don't know when the
pullback will come and how big it will be. Here, for example, after the BOS (orange line) it
doesn't come at all/very briefly, some don't even count that as a structure.
When we are in a range, we should always trade from the 'edges' (from the highs and lows)
because this is where price reacts nicely until the next significant one
Supply/Demand Zone (i.e. at the Extremes) and not in the middle at the Equilibrium. In the
middle, the price doesn't really know which direction it wants to go and a lot of people are losing trades there.
If we often see a reaction from a demand/supply zone, then there is a high probability that the
price just wants to build liquidity before making the move.
When trading from the structure you always have to have a broader approach ie you can't count
all those pullbacks as a structure (although they are in the LTF structure, black arrow) because it
creates confusion. It is better to take a larger structure because it is clearer + easier to understand
as drawn.
You have to test what works best for you. But once you've decided on something, you have
to be consistent about it!
If the structure in the HTF is too unclear for me, then simply go to the lower timeframe because I
then have more information. At the same time I have to be aware if I'm in small timeframes (e.g.
5min, 1min) will have a lot more EOF Failures -> don't stare at the 1min trying to figure out the
EOF but take EOF from the higher timeframe. Use a minimum of 15min time frame for EOF,
preferably even higher (4h, daily, weekly).
The higher low is not confirmed until the higher high is broken.
This is a complex pullback.
When trading on the LTF, one should always keep the HTF EOF in mind.
When in such a range, he only trades buys at the bottom of the range on the Extremes
because the HTF EOF is also bullish.
It is very difficult to trade reversals (supply zones in a bullish trend).
As long as the price doesn't CHoCH, the trend is still bearish and I'll take shorts.
He always trades the London Open and London Kill Zone -> the phantom strategy is probably
best here.
Here you can see a trendline that has been broken and retested. Many break-and-re-test
traders and breakout traders would have placed a sell here, expecting the price to turn lower
after the re-test. However, the price does exactly the opposite: it rises.
Price sweeps the equal highs (white arrow) and then does a CHoCH.
You can place an entry here, this is the last buy before the big sell-off.
You can use the structural highs/lows as TPs. After this structural liquidity, the price
pulls back every time it takes it out.
However, the price does not always pullback (bottom two lines).
Risk-Management
General
His win rate was 25% and still had an account growth of +22% for the month. He has
many losses, but very big wins. He is very strict about his risk management and has not placed any trades that
exceed it to recoup losses. You never know if it will be a win or a loss.
He's had 5 losses in a row more often, but that doesn't matter because his wins have always made up for it
and he's exited in profit. He was up 40% and losing a lot of trades and then was at 34% -> not a big deal, is a very
good month nonetheless!
You have to treat your demo account like the real account. If you build good habits in from the start, that's very good.
Consistency is the most important thing: both in trading and in risk management.
If you don't have risk management, you're going to shut down one account after another.
You have to take risk management very seriously, otherwise no investor would invest in you.
Everyone wants to make money, but make money consistently.
Change: do not risk approx. 1%, but calculate exactly!

We need to regulate our risk management in such a way that we create a buffer for losing
streaks. They will happen sometimes and when that happens we should have risk management
in place to protect our capital.
You shouldn't risk 1% right at the beginning, even he doesn't do that because he sometimes
has big losing streaks. If you risked 2% per trade, you would lose your FTMO account after 5
losing trades.
If you risk 1%, then you have a total loss risk of 3%. This is already very high, this should be
as close to 0 as possible.
If you risk 0.5%, you can be max 7.5% in the drawdown, which is not bad, you can still catch
up. So you're far from slamming your account.
I can't avoid making losses, I can't help it. I have to accept her.
If we cannot take a loss, it can also affect our next trade: I can be scared or seek revenge
(revenge trading). Both should be avoided.
A skill you must have in trading is that when you lose multiple trades you still have the
confidence to execute new trades. This ability does not come overnight and must be acquired
step by step. The next win is almost there, I just have to be consistent in my approach.
Trade recaps are the best way to learn. Backtesting is good too, but you see the price action
and you can tend to cheat.
The trading style on the right is aggressive, and he doesn't recommend it unless you're a pro yourself.
Even he doesn't trade like that.
Why you should use fixed percentages instead of fixed lot size for the risk
In the beginning we have a 100k account. We risk 0.5% per trade = $500. But we don't risk $500 with every
trade, but $497 from the 2nd trade (negative compound effect). If we were to risk $500 on the 2 trade, that
would be more than 0.5% and we always want to risk a fixed percentage.
Here you can see how the negative compound effect reduces your risk. On the first trade
you risk $500 per trade and on the 21st trade $452.
The figure above shows the effects of constantly changing the risk per trade. The more you
lose, the less risk you take in the next trades (from 0.5% at the beginning to 0.1% and then to
1%). The figure below shows what the same trades would have looked like with a different risk
management: Instead of -7% you would be in the red, 6% in the plus and that only because of
the risk management (with 1:1 the same trades!).
So you shouldn't change the risk per trade, but decide on a risk (0.25, 0.5 or 1%) and implement
it consistently (! Don't change it).
ÿ I should take risk management very seriously because it makes so much difference
deal with + integrate into trading.
Risk Management Profiles (Systems)
https://www.suricate-trading.com/equity-curve-simulator/
Here you can create the equity curve of the last figures. FTMO also has such a function.
The downside of taking 0.25% risk per trade is that you tend to take lower probability
trades because "you can afford it" or it looks low money/risk.
That's why he recommends risking 0.5% per trade because then you only take the high
probability trades.
It's not bad to be conservative though, especially if you're trading very large capital (eg 7
figure account) you don't want to risk that much and are quite happy with smaller growth if you
make 5% every month over 10 months the 50% account growth of a 7 figure account, which is
very good.
You can use that, for example if you have reached your monthly trading goal (10%), made a
total of 14%, then you can do that with the 4% surplus to flip the buffer.
Trade Frequency vs. Exposure to Risk

Why do you make more losses and more trades as a beginner? Because you can't yet identify
the high probability and low probability setups. Therefore, one should not take too many trades in
the beginning. That doesn't mean you should be afraid to take trades, though. You should just set
up rules and stick to them + practice strategy.
Myforexfunds has released a statistic and it turns out that traders who only took 2-3 trades a
day were the most successful.
Why Extreme Systems can be counterproductive
On the right you can see a retail strategy.
Don't be fooled by big RRs on Instagram because you don't know how many losses someone has
taken and the risk they're taking on the trades. We don't know if they are positive or negative at the
end of the month.
Most of Phantom trade according to neither of the two systems, if so, then rather the left. You have
to find a balance in the middle.
Psychology of Risk Management
The more money I lose, the more money I need to break even eg from a 100k account I
lose 50%, then I have 50k left. But I need 100% account growth (double!) to break even.
Regulations are there to protect us. A highly regulated market is the stock market. Cryptos are
very insecure and volatile, you have to be careful with that.
When you're new to trading or have never been profitable, you can think about losses wrong.
As long as you stuck to your plan, it's no big deal. There is no avoiding valid losses and they
are not a bad thing at all. It doesn't really matter at all, because the probabilities will always
prove themselves after a while.
That's why you always look at the series of trades (all trades in total) and not at the
individual trades (!!!). You never know if a central bank or someone else is rigging my trade.
Losses lead to the greatest growth in skill and mindset.
Big losing streaks hurt, but you have to process it, accept it and ultimately celebrate it because
you learned a lot from it.
One should always celebrate all losses that are valid (where I stuck to my plan but didn't work
out). If I was pushed into the SL by a few pipettes or missed the trade by a few pipettes, I
shouldn't care because my strategy is right. Happens.
He was once stopped out on a trade by a few pipettes that price then makes 50R. It can happen.
Next time just make the SL bigger and you're done. You just have to be consistent
be.
Being in trades shouldn't make you anxious either.
One should look at trading like this: I risk 0.5% and pay the market $500 just to see what
happens next. If you placed a trade, you've already paid for it and now you're waiting to see
what happens.
Don't celebrate wins too much.

Create an emotional diary + write down your emotions.
Is
is
Better to design your own trading plan because that means you have tested it sufficiently.
If I take someone else's trading plan, I may not be profitable.
If what I'm doing is profitable, then I can't change anything!

Entries and management
Entry Types: Risk vs. Confirmation Entry
There are 2 types of entry into an order block, both of which have their advantages and disadvantages:
Good, for example, if you don't have time and are on the go, but still want to place a trade.
Eg you have a 4h HTF POI, which you refine with the 15min LTF and you set a limit order for the
15min POI.
Is good if the price comes up very corrective to the POI.

Is very good if you have several POI to choose from and do not know which is the right one, where the price then
shows a reaction. Just wait for the price to touch the POI + trade its reaction.
This is what the entry model looks like.

For example, a confirmation entry would be better here, because catching a falling knife is not a
good idea.
The price is in a bullish trend, taking buys is high probability. Nevertheless, one should note the
momentum with which the price is approaching entry.
This is what a confirmation entry would look like.

Another reason why the sell was a high probability setup is that the price is very corrective
came to the entry. He came to the first yellow order block with a lot of momentum, which is why
the price also broke through the supply zone and it became invalid.
Here is the confirmation entry. You have 2 entry options.
Taking the 1st entry, the price may make a fake CHoCH, its real goal was to dig for
liquidity and then it continues the bullish direction to the upside.
If you wait for the 2nd entry, the trend change from bullish to bearish will only be confirmed.
But this can also happen with the 2nd entry, especially if the 1st entry and 2nd entry (black
line) form almost two equal highs, which are swept as liquidity.
Most of the time we have a scheme like this. The order block that takes out the equal lows
(black arrow) has previously equal highs (liquidity swept).
Here again Risk Entry (left) vs. Confirmation Entry (right).

First we look for our entry model on the HTF. Then we go down into the LTF and observe the exact
same model -> use the fractal feature of the market.
If I have too many losses, then I can trade the 2nd confirmation entry.
Trade Management: Exit Plan
It is important to have a good entry plan. It is also important to have a good exit plan.
1st possibility
What's important is that you don't just take what she says, but backtest it + see what works
best for you.
- When the trade 4R is in profit, she closes 25% of the position + sets the SL to BE.
Why is she doing that? Because it often takes trades against the trend (EOF) and the price can
reverse and go against it at any time.
-
It closes the trade at 10R or if there is a significant supply/demand level then sets the
TP at the supply/demand zone.
If she ran the trade full volume, that would be a 5% account growth if she makes 10R at
0.5% risk. If she manages it as described above, that would be 4.25% account growth.
2nd possibility
- Set the trade to BE after the first 15min BOS + let it run full volume (no
remove partials).
The image above shows how you would get stopped out if you set the SL to BE after the BOS
and let the trade run full volume. You would have dropped out on BE and not made a profit.
3rd possibility
- There is also the possibility to draw the SL after each BOS (dotted black
lines).
This is the method by which one protects one's capital the most.
The methods cannot be separated from one another, they can also be combined.
No method is better than the other. I just have to see what works best for me.
I can also eg use one method for pro trend and another method for counter trend -> test
The greedier we are, the less money we will make. Therefore it is better to set eg 10R trades
per day as a fixed goal than to overdo it and target daily levels (which is also possible, but is
much easier to make smaller profits, save profits + less headaches).
Mini Lessons
Anticipating Pullbacks using EOF + Supply und Demand
We are just touching HTF (weekly) Supply Zones and will likely get a pullback where
we will look to place a trade and be on the HTF per trend move.
Per trend moves are better because trades against the trade are choopy, liquidity sweeps
constantly, is fuzzy, etc.
Every movement has a catalyst (trigger). The price pulls back when it touches different
points of money.
The first thing we always have to do is see what our EOF is.
The price touches an HTF Supply Zone in the weekly timeframe, breaks Structure and
has been bearish ever since. Then, when the price touched an HTF Demand Zone and
Structure broke, the EOF turned bullish.
Just as the price has reversed at the HTF weekly Supply/Demand Zones, it is pulling back (red
zones) at the 4h Supply Zones.
Every time the price changes momentum and forms a supply zone, there is a large injection of
money and therefore, when the price touches these supply zones, it shows a stronger reaction
(pullback).
The best trades we can take per trend are at these supply levels. It does require patience to
trade these levels. But you have to understand that when the price touches the supply levels,
liquidity builds to continue moving higher.
There is always a consolidation and then a continuation with upward expansion.
The price will likely go to the extreme because it has swept equal highs.
Any supply zone is a good area to close TPs or make entries. One should have the mindset
that the price will pullback at these supply zones, but not immediately think that it will break
the swing structure and change trend.
When the price has touched a significant demand zone, the price shows a reaction. Then
the price comes down and breaks through the Demand Zone without any resistance. Why?
Because with the 1st reaction, all the demand has already been taken away, which means that
there is no longer any demand (“the demand zone is dried up”) and the price can break through the zone without a
In a bearish trend, the EOF's expectation is that the lower highs are protected and should
not be breached and the lower lows are targeted. Here the price to the upside breaks the lower
high (which according to the theory it shouldn't exceed = EOF Failure) and continues the trend
down. Why did the price do that? He used the lower high as the liquidity needed to make the move
down (needed fuel) and sustain the bearish trend for a longer period of time.
Just because price failed to break the high (black arrow) here in the bullish trend (and is
therefore theoretically targeted) doesn't mean that the weak low (green arrow) failed to do so is
targeted to break the high and trend reversal occurs.
It takes a lot of liquidity, a lot of orders for a trend change. It is building pullback/range liquidity
in this complex to continue the trend. It shouldn't break the demand zone in the range, which is
why it's a long place to go.
Supply/Demand Break Theory & HTF Intentions (Flip)
One must have a personalized trading plan and not just copy someone else's.
The price formed a higher high, higher low, higher high, etc. Then the price ranged and a lot of liquidity.
After that it broke out again to the upside, but it wouldn't count that as a higher high (black arrow)
because there is still a lot of liquidity that the market has built up below.
The price is likely to pull back, sweep the liquidity and continue the upward direction.
However, one should not try to anticipate the movements of the market because the market does what
it wants. We only react to what he does.
He doesn't look at breaks of structure, but breaks of supply/demand. Advantage: is much further
below.
There's always something in wigs ("it's always shit in wigs"). He sees the Demand Zone in the wig.
He marks the wig as a demand zone and places a trade. The price pulled back and broke
minor structure (dotted line) to get to our entry.
He marks the minor supply, marks the first touch with a circle and waits for the price to break
the minor supply zone. He doesn't expect a trend change because this is only a minor supply
zone.
This is not a main supply zone where one would expect a pullback or trend reversal, such as
would be the case with the top supply zone. That's just a minor supply that was broken.
We ask ourselves why supply failed -> the wigs are our next demand zone and we place a trade
there. Here the price again broke the minor structure (dotted line) to get our entry.
Same here as above.
Then the price touched the Extreme Supply and made a CHoCH.
Price swept liquidity (we always trade away from liquidity sweeps), minor structure, then broke
swing structure.
When supply is in control (respected) we clear all limits on demand zones as these are most
likely to be breached.
He places a trade here on the decisional flip because the price action at the extreme is
very corrective and has been mitigated. That's why he opted for the decisional flip and not the
extreme.
Once you've placed the trade, keep in mind where the unmitigated demand levels are.
All we traded were supply/demand decision flips, the extremes remain unmitigated (black
zones drawn).
Here you can see that the Extreme Demand Zones are also marked.
Once the trade is triggered, the only thing left to watch is how the price reacts at the Demand
Zones.
You could have put a second entry here, but he doesn't like only trading mitigations, he
always needs a supply/demand break as well.
The low (black arrow) failed to take out the swing high, so this weak low becomes the
target. The demand chains become liquidity. We are also in a bearish trend, so the low
needs to be broken anyway.
One can also place the TP below the equal lows because the HTF intention is that the price
will sweep the liquidity below the lows.
Here he uses continuation decisional demand/supply flip trades again. He does not see
mitigation as continuation but as inducement because there is no demand supply flip (diagonal line).
But if you are still in the trade where there was only mitigation and no demand/supply flip (black
arrow) and then see that equal lows have formed (the high failed to break the low), then straight
out of the trade get out because the high (black arrow) is being targeted.
If the price touches the next Demand Zone and shows a reaction, then clear all Sell Limits of
the last Supply Zone. Whenever the price touches a demand zone, I should have no limit on a
supply zone and vice versa (always clear).
As already said, we can take the weak low or the HTF equal lows as TP. A third option
would be to look for an HTF Demand Zone where we could set the TP because we are in a
bullish trend and it needs to make a lower high before it continues the trend.
Here we have 2 supply zones. The third supply zone (black arrow) reacts at the 2nd supply
zone, makes a bearish CHoCH and we mark the supply.
The price touched the Supply Zone (black arrow), reacted (price went down) and then broke
the Supply Zone. What caused the supply failure? -> the wig (blue arrow). This wig has
breached all 3 supply zones.
The price is moving down very impulsively, which is no wonder because the demand chain
liquidity has been swept (all internal range liquidity has been taken, the price has enough fuel).
When the price touched the Demand Zone, the price changes trend and becomes bullish.
ÿ A total of 76% in one day!
Knowing where to place 5R trades and where to hold trades because they are heading towards
the HTF EOF makes a big difference. If you are familiar with the HTF intention, you can also run
trades with a high RR at full volume without any problems.
This will most likely be our new higher low in the bullish trend (black arrow; not yet confirmed,
needs to break the high first) because it has swept liquidity (equal lows) and mitigated
somewhat (demand blue).
Complex Structure und Liquidity POIs

One might think that the price is making higher highs and higher lows, has broken
structure several times and is turning bullish. But you have to look at the swing points
because then you realize that these were just sub structure breaks/a complex pullback before
the price reversed and continued the bearish direction.
One can think here that the price is going bullish because it has broken Structure twice (arrow).
But that's not right. Yes, the price broke Structure, but that was only Minor Structure. It pulled
back (see Swing Points) and then continued the bearish trend down.
The price touched a supply zone in premium pricing and fell.

It does the same here: pulled back to premium pricing, mitigated a supply zone and fell.
This is not a CHoCH (black arrow, trend change) because it is only a minor structure break and not
significant. Until the swing low is broken, we trade continuation trades (trading with the trend).
We are not supposed to mark 1min supply/demand zones, but at least 15min zones.
Exception: When it comes to a refinement of a 15min zone.
He calls Sub and Minor Structure internal Structure to keep things simple.
The price always reacts at premium pricing between the swing points in a bearish trend and
then makes the move down.
If I don't have an overview -> mark swing points:
We always buy from strong lows and sell from strong highs.
The extreme was touched, inducement swept and the price made a sub structure break.
Each time, liquidity was swept and somewhat mitigated. Price did the same here (blue
arrow), took Liquidity -> blue zones are Liquidity POIs; Liquidity POIs almost always have
a reaction.
The price broke 15min Structure but we are still in a heavily bearish trend -> is probably just a
pullback triggered by the 4h Supply Demand Flip POI.
He must first break that swing point (arrow) before he would take long-term longs. Man
but can take good intraday longs.
The extreme (black arrow) broke the structure -> is a strong high + perfect inducement before the
Liquidity POI.
For him, this is not an inducement in front of the POI. Of course the liquidity is under every low, but not
Inducement.
We need a strong level for inducement, which breaks something. Then the price only comes
to our POI. For him, inducement is structural liquidity because something broke.
When the price makes equal lows, that's for sure liquidity. But it is not an inducement in front of the POI.
For him, inducement is the bottom one that is close to the POI, which is then swept, the price
touches the POI and continues the upward direction.
This would equal Lows Inducement which is then swept and the price then continues the upward
direction.
If you have two POIs like here, then you should trade the reaction at the lower POI (trade the
reaction when decisional) and set a risk entry at the upper POI (Extreme). Why is he risking an
entry at Extreme? When price breaks the extreme, it becomes the swing high
break and there is a trend change from bearish to bullish (so the trade idea would be
completely invalid if it broke the extreme.
When the prize touched the decisional POI, it went into the 15s timeframe. He broke Structure,
he marked the Reaction Point from the Demand Zone that was breached and did a Demand Supply
Flip.
Target would be the weak low. After the 15min CHoCH, the 15min timeframe has turned bearish
and is in line with the bearish HTF.
We had a 4h internal break of structure here.
If we break Structure, what can we expect? A pull back.

We mark the POIs in the 15min chart. The top POI sweeps Liquidity. The second POI is a
Demand Supply Flip POI. Third, we have the POI that takes Liquidity. Then it goes from the
15min timeframe to the 5min timeframe to make the POI smaller/more precise.
If sells are going to happen it will be from one of these 3 zones (is in premium pricing).
Why does he always take Liquidity POIs? Because you always get a reaction from Liquidity POIs.
We have Reaction Points, Reaction and a Flip Zone of Liquidity POIs.

If you want to take buys from these supply zones, you notice that the price doesn't come down
to the demand zones. This means for him that these Liquidity Flip POIs will be used later when
the price is bearish again. This does not mean that the price will react and shoot up at these
zones, but will show a reaction at these zones later.
Here you can see the reactions to the Liquidity Flip POI.
Price wigged the high, but the candle did not close above the high. He mitigated the extreme deeper. The price
then did a 15min CHoCH -> from here I don't want to place any more buys because the low (arrow) was unsuccessful
in breaking the high, it becomes the weak low and the target.
The price broke the low. If it breaks the low, two things can happen: 1. It breaks the low and continues the
bearish trend. 2. He wiged the low, sweeping the liquidity and doing a complex pullback to the upside, breaking
the high.
But what is clear is that the low (circle) will be broken (whether it's a candle close underneath or just wiged)
because of the overall bearish trend.
The price then broke out to the downside.

We look at the next POIs. The price has taken liquidity from the two here (blue arrows), but the POI
has been mitigated. The only POI that remains is the one drawn. He took liquidity but wasn't
mitigated. Also, the (black arrow) is perfect inducement because it breaks structure up.
Here we also have a POI that takes liquidity but hasn't been mitigated.
If we get reactions, it's likely to be from one of these two zones.

We are currently in discund pricing. We can expect a big move here ie swing high will be
broken and price will continue the bullish trend.
The lower one is also in a daily zone, so he would prefer it, but don't ignore the upper POI either.
There is nothing between the POIs that resists the price falling, so the price breaks through
completely without any problems.
The POI below is a refinement within a daily, 4h and 15min demand zone to a POI that takes
liquidity. The overall daily demand zone takes liquidity. The mitigation that was mitigated has
taken liquidity.
Even if you look at the reactions, you will notice that they always come from POIs that are
liquidity sweeping + unmitigated (arrow).
Here in the trade, I didn't know yet whether the price will be bullish or bearish after touching
the HTF POI. When he broke that low (arrow) I can sit back and relax and let the trade go
because he made a bearish CHoCH down and the price has a high probability of hitting the TP.
Before the low (arrow) was broken, no one knew what the price would do. That's why it's
important to set the trade to break even + take out partials.
POI Refinements
The price sometimes disregards the refined POIs, sometimes it misses them, so it doesn't
always work. However, he likes to rely on it when making entries in the seconds chart.
He is always looking for a buy before a sell engulting the buy or a sell before a buy engulting
the buy on the 15min timeframe.
When he has that, he goes into the 1min timeframe and marks the time where the candle is
formed (in the 15min timeframe 0:45 (it says on the candle) to 1:00) and marks the range (high
to low of the range).
Then he looks for the last engulfed candle, which then breaks the structure. The only thing
engulfed and broken structure is the doji + the wig, otherwise you don't see any other buying
price action before the engulfing bearish candle, which is why it goes down one timeframe.
It's in the 30s time frame. Here we have a buy to sell which is then engulfed.
He marks the POI and will trade it very aggressively.
The price comes back right at the POI.
He marks the candle at 08:30 in the 15min timeframe and marks himself in the 1min timeframe
08:30-08:45.
Is something being engulfed here? No -> you can switch timeframes.

If you go from the 1min into the 2min time frame you have this bullish candle that is being
engulfed. We mark this bullish candle and go to the smaller time frame (30 seconds).
He marks the last bullish candle that wasn't mitigated and was the last bullish candle after the
structure was broken (don't quite understand what he's saying, ask Petro if he understands
05:30)
The price touches the 2min engulfed candle and then falls down.
Here you can see it better.
But you can't see that in the 1min timeframe because nothing is engulfed here.
Next example, 15min timeframe.

1min Timeframe.
30 sec time frame. Do we see an engulfed candle? no
15s time frame. He doesn't take the candle (arrow) because the buy pivot has already been mitigated.
Were stopped out; That's why you don't put limits there.
We look at what was hit in the 15s timeframe -> the last extreme engulfed candle was touched
before the price fell down.
But you don't have to go in the seconds timeframe. You can also use the 2min engulfed
candle.
15min Timeframe.
1min Timeframe.
15sek Timeframe.
If the price touches either of the two POIs, it will set a confirmation entry.
He would go into the 5s timeframe for the entry. He would wait here for a re-test (green arrow) or
he would already be in the trade at this V-shape recovery (black arrow) because the price should
not go above the V-shape.
This method doesn't always work, but it does quite often.
Trading the 4h
EU usually does 3-4 mitigations and then falls.

Here we had 3 mitigations and then the price dropped. As long as he touches the range and
breaks the structure, it's fine.
The first high (green arrow) didn't touch the bottom of the range, so it became the inducement.
Here you can also see how the bottom of the range was touched and the price then fell down.
M15 Paired with the H4
Follow the trend.
You can also trade against the trend, but have to be aware that these are only pullbacks (it's not
going to the moon, be smart, close trade at sensible points + take trades per trend) -> if I don't
do, then I will have to take a lot of losses.
NFP News -> the price often reverses with the news (trend change).
The price respected the Demand Zone, reacted and then broke through it.
Why has the Demand Zone held up? To build liquidity.
We trade the extreme of the reaction from the Demand Zone.
In the 15min chart: if the high has not been mitigated then we should keep it plotted because
the price may come back there again.
I can re-enter the supply chain in 15 minutes with each mitigation -> following the mitigations/following the money.
The penultimate trade did not break any structure (no BOS, black line), which is why it could be used as
an inducement(!). Didn't happen here, but happens often.
This is the 4h time frame. Once the price breaks a 4h Demand Zone, I can take shorts to the next Demand Zone.
When the price touches the next Demand Zone, power
the price likely to pullback.
This is a liquidity trap. If price is sweeping liquidity and going in and out very quickly, then I
should trade away from that (shorting in that case) and not to that liquidity trap (ie not going
long + targeting the high).
Same goes for the mitigations on our trade entries, where price sweeps liquidity and goes in
and out quickly (V-shape) = liquidity traps, always trade away from them.
When I hedge I'm supposed to get both sides to break even as soon as possible + then
just see which side wins.
The price always goes back to the last range before then making the move down.
If the price is that rangy, then chances are there's a news event about to happen.
As soon as this 4h Demand Zone failed (black arrow), I can hold the trades with confident
until the low (blue arrow) because the daily + weekly is bearish + the low is a weak low because
it failed to take out the high.
If a demand zone is respected in a bearish trend, I have to ask myself why. To build liquidity
or to switch trends?
Mapping Complex Market Structure
Here we see a sketch of a bearish trend, two impulse movements and a correction.
In theory, the length of the two impulse movements should be about the same.
It's just a retracement on the EU daily timeframe if the price pulls back at least 100 pips (in
theory, don't get too attached to it).
If the price has pulled back, then when the price starts the impulse move, it
wants the structure to break with real intent (with strength/momentum).
If you look at the first impulse movement compared to the second, you can see that the first
is much larger than the second (3x the size). The price first wiggled below the swing low and
then broke it (with a candle close below the low), but really struggled to break the low.
He would like to see something (left). But if he sees that the price is struggling to break
the low (middle + right) + moves very correctively, then 2 things usually happen: either the
price makes a CHoCH or it sweeps the liquidity from the "lower low" and sets it direction
downwards.
If you don't take into account the way the price structure breaks, but simply mark each
candle body break as a new swing point, you would have placed a buy here + would then
be a loss.
One should think about when the price breaks Structure, how and why it broke it the way it did,
and not just blindly see every candle close below a swing low as a new swing low.
We are seeing a pattern here that institutions are forming to get buyers into the market
because they expect the price to break out to the upside.
Here we see how the price struggled a lot to break the low. Also, after breaking the last
low very easily and closing the candle below the low, the price came right back up with a lot
of strength/momentum. This shows that the bearish trend is not able to continue.
He sees the highs (pink dots) more as internal range liquidity than structure. Also note how
the pink highs were formed (almost equal highs).
Doji = a range in the smaller time frame. Range = the price is traded at fair value = many
Orders = Interest
Price sweeps the pink highs liquidity and makes the next impulse move. Then it retracements
and breaks Structure again (Candle Close below Swing Low). However, we notice that the price
struggled on the 1st attempt to break the low (the doji, black arrow). It only succeeds on the
2nd attempt.
Then the price breaks the swing high and one might think the price will turn bullish (CHoCH
plotted).
If we look at the last impulse move, we see how big it is. Then comes a retracement (about
100 pips) and then another "impulse move" of 140 pips.
We look at how the structure was broken: struggled, wiged with a doji, then some bearish
momentum came in, but the price came right back up with lots of bullish momentum.
Therefore the high (arrow) is likely liquidity and not a swing lower high.
A supply chain is formed. Supply is in control, demand is failing.

Here we see the price making an 80 pips retracement and 120 pips impulse move (arrows).
Let's look at how the price broke the swing low: it broke the swing low and then it ranged
(consolidated).
As stated above, we want to see price break the swing low with strength/momentum.
If he doesn't, chances are the institutions are up to something else: the high (red circle) is
likely to be used as liquidity.
As the price breaks the high (red circle), we see a CHoCH, a trend reversal sign that
the price will go bullish.
While we have a bullish CHoCH, we should still look at it from the perspective of a bearish
market structure: Since the pink high is not a valid lower high, our swing high is still up
(arrow). The price could go up, pullback and then continue the bearish trend.
Price also has reasons to go down to take out internal range liquidity + fill liquidity void.
If you go up a timeframe, you can see that this structure is a single impulse movement.
One has to be careful when the price starts to become very slow + corrective on the impulse
move.
Price builds this liquidity to use as fuel to continue the move further down.
Also, we are not meant to take the highs/lows we mark as set in stone, they may change as
future price action forms (story changes all the time).
Asking Why – The Price Action Review Process
We take this as our CHoCH because the bearish impulse move left no structure (a bullish
pullback) to use as a structural break.
Price can also break the supply zone with a wig and still be "respected" and go the other way.
We have two entry zones: extreme and decisional.
Decisional: mitigated nichts, takes no Liquidity, breaks very little Minor Structure -> keine gute Zone.
But why does the zone hold then? To build liquidity.
Bearish Imbalance = the price went down so fast that it couldn't get through any buy
orders, only sells. The price comes back to the imbalances to re-balance them.
= Window of Imbalance
When we have bearish imbalance and bullish imbalance, the common area that is not
efficient is the window of imbalance. This zone is like a separate supply or demand zone.
When the price touches this zone and shows a reaction, there is no longer any need for it to
go to our extreme because it has already rebalanced most of the orders.
ÿ Do not trade
ÿ Only when we see the reaction does it mean to us that the price is no longer going to the extreme
comes.
This is a supply demand zone flip.

There is a high probability that the supply zone will not hold because the bullish trend came from a
daily POI and the price will not change because of a 15min POI trend -> take continuations.
You always have to ask yourself why the prize did it, why it reacted the way it did, etc. -> always ask
yourself why something is happening. This gives you a better understanding of the order flow.
The more I see repetitive price action, the more confident I become when I trade
execute.
Range Phase Overview
Trade continuations until we see a CHoCH, smaller targets because the price can pullback (no
moon vibes) but at the same time don't trade or "anticipate" a pullback
try but only continuations.
Take smaller targets because they go against the trend.

It can be difficult to get into re-entries because the movement can be very impulsive.
You can use this to find out what phase of the market you are in and where the highest probability
trades are.
Examples:
Trade in continuation Phase, Targeting daily Low in bearish Trend
After the 4h BOS we have the break phase (white arrow).
The price reacts in a demand zone after the break phase -> here the pullback phase begins.
This is the pullback phase, minor structure order flow
He sets the TP at the last range's equilibrium. Price almost touches equilibrium and then reverses.
Trading major news events safely
Don't trade the news events directly, but their reaction after they're over.
Volatility = viel Liquidity = Opportunity
There is no need to be afraid to trade news events because news events only mean that more
volatility is available in the market.
We're marking areas where the price could come at the news event.
Then we want to trade the reaction. There is sometimes only one entry at the 5sek timeframe.
The high (arrow) is weak because it failed to take out the low. The low (arrow) hasn't taken
out the high either, but it hasn't completed its move yet either and the order flow direction
is bullish.
The price touched our 1min timeframe POI.
We go into the 5s timeframe and look for an entry.
Why didn't he trade the level (first touch of POI, black arrow)? Because he wanted to see a
liquidity sweep first + then trade that new level. In addition, the price does not make a CHoCH,
but forms equals. The first movement into the POI is usually swept. The reaction is nice
though (V-shape).
Why didn't he trade the other level (blue arrow)? Has swept liquidity, but our entry model was
not fulfilled, has no CHoCH, etc.
He lost 6 trades and won 2 last week, that's one of them. It's nothing bad.
He still made +30R.
Processes
Thought Process
If we are in a bearish trend and supply is in control, we need to ask why demand is reacting.
To build liquidity, pullback, etc.
When Demand is in control for a short period of time, as here, it always waits until Demand has failed
so that it can place a trade.
This is typical counter-trend price action (lows are swept, highs are swept, one respects supply,
one respects demand).
From this supply zone, the price has shown a nice reaction (big bearish candle), the supply
zone is the doji. A doji is a range in the lower timeframe and by using smaller timeframes you
can find a good entry for that sell.
I always have to be aware of which swing points I'm between. In a range I can take logical
profits like this. Very few trades go in ranges to the moon.
You have to be consistent in picking POIs, with entry of trades, trade management, TPs -> this
is how you become consistent.
The first sign that the price wants to go down is the CHoCH (black lines). The second sign
is that this low (black arrow) failed to take out the high, so the low is being targeted. After that,
the price broke further Structure.
If you want to place buys here, you have to manage the trade very aggressively and get the
trade to break even quickly.
He waits for the Demand Zones to fail (I think he means the first touch failed) for the price
to sweep liquidity and then make the move up.
Any of these structural lows is probably a session low, it's all internal range liquidity.
Blau = asia Low, rot = London Low, grün = New York Low
If I have set a sell here somewhere (arrow), then I have to be able to endure all these lows,
because that goes according to the concept of internal range liquidity -> the lows have to be
broken.
The price goes up, sweeps the high and then breaks the low (arrow).
The price has broken the supply zone. Here you can see how price failed to create bullish
structure at entry (formed lower lows and lower highs; there is no CHoCH), so the trade will
fail with high probability -> this is the risk associated with counter-trend moves is.
There is a lot of liquidity (line) here, the price has swept it, so it doesn't expect a big reaction
from that high (arrow) because it has already swept all the liquidity.
(I don't quite understand, because usually mitigation, liquidity sweep and BOS are the
prerequisite for a strong POI)
Anything that breaks through the high or low (blue line) is external range liquidity. Once
price takes external range liquidity, it seeks internal range liquidity (fuel).
After the price takes external range liquidity, it makes the best counter-trend moves.
Here he sees how the price may form a supply chain. He waits until Demand failed so he can
place a trade from the supply chain.
He does not draw the demand zones of the past legs.

As soon as the price falls down (black arrow), it no longer looks at the demand zones of the
last leg (blue arrow), but at those of the new leg. If you use the Demand Zones of the "old
leg", you can choose the wrong Demand Zones + wrong entries.
I think: Only take demand/supply zones of the "old leg" if there is no demand/supply zone of
the new leg.
Overall Trading Process
If you spend all your time trying to refine and perfect your edge, you can run the risk of
overcomplicating everything.
The price touched a daily demand zone, we can expect a pullback to the next daily supply
zone.
We have a strong high here (arrow) that broke the swing low and was used as mitigation for
the next move that broke swing structure.
The strong high mitigated an HTF POI, swept liquidity and showed a strong reaction.
Strong highs/lows have to break swing structure (Key). If they don't break a swing structure,
that's a weak high/low.
The price has taken out 4h swing structure and should now be pulling back. We wait for a
bullish CHoCH to take longs.
A wig break is enough for Albie for CHoCH. For BOS he needs a body break.
If he wants to place a trade, then he needs a reaction and that the price then breaks the
reaction (black line). The price does not have to break the supply zone.
The price can also break the supply zone, is also a valid entry. It is important that the high of
the reaction (1st contact with supply zone) is broken.
Here you can see very well how the reaction was taken out -> place a trade directly on the
candle that took out the high of the reaction (arrow). He has the close of the candle as an entry
taken.
If the price doesn't take the reaction out, the trade is not valid.
You can trade the extreme or trade decisionally. With the decisional, the price can react or it
can be used as an inducement for the extreme (you can never know 100%).
These are 15min POIs. For the entry we go into the 1min timeframe.
We wait for the price to come to our POIs. The price touches the POI (the decisional) and
directly shows a strong reaction. Only banks can make such a clean and strong reaction, so we
perceive the activity of the banks and want to be part of their movement.
Now he is just waiting for the price to react at the supply zone and break through it and the
high. If the price just breaks through the Supply Zone without showing any reaction, it doesn't
place a trade because there has been no interaction between buyers and sellers at the Supply
Zone and there is a high probability that the price will go down.
Criteria for the trade:
- HTF Mitigation (15min here)

- Liquidation
- Aggressive reaction at the POI -
15min CHoCH from before (see below)
- Supply Reaction + break
- High break
We are trading a pullback, so we should not target the swing but a strong supply zone that can continue the trend.
We place a trade.
But have to keep in mind that we still have one level open down below (the extreme) which
hasn't been mitigated yet.
Liquidity was also formed, which was used as an inducement for the extreme.
This is a weak high (arrow) because it failed to create a lower low. The movement comes
from a 15min supply level. We set the TP at the high and take out 80% of the profit and let
20% run. If the price gets back to the extreme we've made money and if not then we'll make
money from the remaining 20% that's still going.
If the same trade were traded from the extreme, one could run the trade all the way to the
discount zone with no problems. But since we have a level below our entry, we manage the
trade differently.
One must have no detachment/attachment to one's trades. Once you get attached to the
trades, it will be a nightmare to trade. Each of us loses. I have to renounce trades, the idea of
winning or losing, etc. All I know is that if I execute that edge over and over again without
emotion, I will be profitable.
The trade has 6R and it saves 4R after the price hits TP and lets 20% run. Don't set the trade to
break even. If the price keeps going up, he still makes a little money. If the trade wants to go to
extremes then it has secured 4% -> don't worry that you could have made more money on the
trade. If you practice this approach every day and do 4R, you've made 80R(!) in the month,
which would put you among the best traders.
The price came down to the Extreme + SL hit. Never mind, we secured 4R and place our
next trade on the Extreme.
He doesn't take that level for the CHoCH (arrow) because that's the supply reaction before
the price has taken out the low. He sees no battle between supply and demand here, the
price broke all down with no resistance.
He doesn't enter the extreme that took the supply levels down (black arrow) but rather the
wigs of the 1st touch of the supply zone (green arrow) because at the extreme there was no
battle between supply and demand. The fight between supply and demand was at the green
arrow, at the wigs.
Here you can load up to positions and set multiple entries/set another entry if you missed
the first entry.
You can't be in a hurry to go 6, 7 figure, you have to be able to learn an edge and execute it
perfectly. This ensures that you can be profitable in trading in the long term.
End of the Day Process
Why does it make sense to do a daily recap? That you train your mind, internalizes
the concept, you can identify things to work on, it shows you how many trading
opportunities are available, it helps with the psyche when you see how many trading
opportunities there are + man no FOMO (fear of missing out) because there are enough
trades, repetition helps too.
Tradingview Backtesting Using Multiple Timeframes
Backtesting is good for figuring out and perfecting your own strategy.
First you mark weekly, daily and 4h highs + lows.
Every time the price breaks 15min swing structure, it pushes its SL (red lines).

SMC Ebook

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

SMC Ebook

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

SMC Ebook

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Machine Translated by Google

Supply and Demand

High volume -> many orders, institutional footsteps

• When the price breaks out of the range rapidly

• When the price slowly breaks out of the range •

How to mark ranges

If too many candles, then timeframe go up.

ÿ Always switch timeframes to see if I'm currently in a range

In such a demand zone, always take the smaller range.

Continuation and Reversal Model Theory

Small candles are a range in lower timeframes.

How Price Returns to Entry Zones

Supply & Demand Zone Map

One can then look out for Demand Entry Zones.

Rounded und Corrective Return

Here you can see that.

How I know which direction the price will go:

- Demand/Supply zones are respected

Fractal Supply and Demand Zones Refinements

Refinements Using Inside Bars & Wicks

This is a continuation model.

Large wig = very good supply/demand zone

At the order block we get our entry and SL.

When trading from order blocks, always include the wig.

Große Candles = Search of Liquidity

Supply Failing + Demand Respected = Up-Trend

Supply Respected + Demand Failing = Down-Trend

Reversal supply/demand zones hold up much better than continuation zones.

Multi-Timeframe Market Structure Theorie

Multi-Timeframe Market Structure Anwendung

That's not the higher low, it's liquidity.

4h + 15min timeframe for recognizing/identifying market structure 1min

Trend changes understand theory

„The trend is your friend until it ends.“

Break of Structure = trend continues

ÿ Backtest + collect data and see what suits me best.

Difference between BOS and CHoCH

Understanding trend changes Application

Upper black line = Break of Sub Structure

We see Demand failed and Supply respected.

The price can now react at these two demand zones.

3 Types of Market Structure Theory

Sub Change of Character (in a bullish trend):

Black arrows = Sub Structure

This concept allows me to better understand order flow.

3 types of Market Structure application

Sub Structure = black arrow

Daily = bearish (rechts)

Protected und Targeted Structure Theorie

If a high breaks a low, then the high is protected.

If a high doesn't break a low, it's being targeted.

Is a type of expected order flow.

Protected/Targeted Structure in Verbindung mit Supply and Demand

Protected and Targeted Structure application

Refinement Protected und Targeted Structure -> S.72

CHoCH = Change of Character

We always mark CHoCH in the 15min + 1min chart.

BOS = Break of Swing Structure -> Body Breaks notwendig