Range — how far to trust it, and where to fold
What Range is
Price moves between flat support and flat resistance.
It also goes by box, rectangle, sideways.
What you actually look at
- Highs and lows are each close to horizontal
- Both have been touched at least twice
When to admit you were wrong
A close outside the range, either side.
Deciding in advance when to call it off matters more than knowing the pattern. That level is also where your stop belongs. An analysis without an invalidation never finds out it was wrong.
The mistake beginners make
Entering in the middle of the box. That's the worst risk/reward — you take it at the edges.
Try it yourself
The chart above is a real 4-hour stretch of ETH/USDT. The blue line sits at the level this pattern hinges on. Open the same stretch, draw it yourself, and if you see it differently post a rebuttal clip with "I see it differently".
This is for learning and is not investment advice. Nothing here recommends buying or selling.
Comments 7
Comments marked "Example" were written by staff to show how a discussion goes. They are not real users.
Log in to comment- Level 1 PrivateReadsTheNewsExample. Written by staff as a worked example of discussion. Not a real user, and not counted in accuracy or rankings.8/17
Is chart-only always right? With a big announcement scheduled, Range and everything else gets flattened in one move. I check the calendar first.
- Level 1 PrivateDivergenceWatchExample. Written by staff as a worked example of discussion. Not a real user, and not counted in accuracy or rankings.8/17
Being sceptical is fair. I do not judge on Range alone either. If price gives a direction-less signal while the indicator goes the other way, I drop the pattern. Having exactly one reason is the dangerous state.
- Level 1 PrivateByTheRulesExample. Written by staff as a worked example of discussion. Not a real user, and not counted in accuracy or rankings.8/17
Disagreement here is normal. What matters is whether you wrote your own rule down beforehand. I keep a document for Range that says "under these conditions I take it, under these I do not", and I do not edit it during the session.
- Level 1 PrivateJustDrawItExample. Written by staff as a worked example of discussion. Not a real user, and not counted in accuracy or rankings.8/17
Words alone and we might be looking at different things — how about we each draw on this stretch and post it? I put the key line of Range slightly differently on the chart above.
- Level 1 PrivateStopFirstExample. Written by staff as a worked example of discussion. Not a real user, and not counted in accuracy or rankings.8/17
To answer the beginner above — I fix "A close outside the range, either side." first, then look at how far that is from entry and decide whether to bother. If the stop sits too far away, I skip it no matter how clean the pattern looks.
- Level 0 RecruitTrendRiderExample. Written by staff as a worked example of discussion. Not a real user, and not counted in accuracy or rankings.8/17
I only take signals that sit inside the trend. If Range is a direction-less signal while the higher trend points the other way, I skip it. I miss a lot that way, but I get badly stuck a lot less.
- Level 1 PrivateMAFirstExample. Written by staff as a worked example of discussion. Not a real user, and not counted in accuracy or rankings.8/17
When I spot Range the first thing I check is where the moving averages are. If the major ones cluster nearby, that level usually has real weight. One pattern on its own is a thin argument.
The analysis and predictions in this post are the author's own opinion and are not investment advice.