Support and Resistance for Forex

The principle of support and resistance is one of the most significant tools you can apply as a trader. These are price levels where supply and demand focus, in the reverse direction of the predominant pattern of that moment.

Say there is a falling trend put a different way, a period when there is additional seller volume than buyer volume till the price gets to a point where a lot of buyer volume is concentrated, grouped as it were. Out of the blue, buyer volume exceeds seller volume seemingly many traders feel the price has now attained a point where it's cheap enough to enter and the falling trend is halted. See the next chart for an illustration; the vertical lines depict the buyers volume at a given price point.

The principle of support and resistance is one of the most crucial instruments you can use as a trader. These are price levels where supply and demand concentrate, in the reverse direction of the predominant trend of that moment. Say there is a dropping trend put another way, a time when there is additional seller volume than buyer volume until the price gets to a point where a lot of buyer volume is concentrated, grouped as it were. Out of the blue, buyer volume exceeds seller volume seemingly many traders feel the price has now attained a spot where it's cheap enough to enter and the falling trend is halted. See the next chart for an illustration; the vertical lines represent the buyers volume at a given price point.

There are support and resistance levels for each and every time period – 5 minute charts (1 candle for every 5 minutes), 15 minute charts, 30 minutes, 1 hour, daily, etc but the more time the time frame, the more established the matching support and resistance levels. This is reasonable, since it is more important when a currency pair has busted a particular level only once in the last 5 years, rather then only once in the last 5 minutes.

A support / resistance level has normally outlasted at least one strike otherwise it wouldn't be called support/resistance. (there are also untried, psychologically important levels, but without having been tried, they can't really be termed support/resistance yet, though chances are that a price movement would exhaust steam upon attaining them). Because the support/resistance point has previously fended off an assault once, there is a good possibility it will triumph at this again. All traders have the exact same charts in front of them and the combined memory of the trading community is powerful.

When a particular resistance level is observed as very difficult to break, the chance grows that traders close down their positions and take gain when the price draws near this level. Part of the strength of support/resistance points is as a result caused by self fulfilling prophecy. The more often a support / resistance level withstands an attack, the stronger that level becomes. Knowing these levels which can easily be spotted on candlestick charts can bring you important strategic advantages as a forex trader.

Triggers Of Support And Resistance Levels

There are various possible explanations why groups of buyers/sellers volumes develop at certain points. Often they are merely psychologically substantial levels. One famous instance arises from the Dow Jones stock market and the resistance at 1,000 points. Between 1966 and 1982, that 1,000 points resistance turned out to be unshakable for traders.

It was affected a couple of times, but no long lasting break was produced. After such a break was at last made in 1982, the 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 levels were pierced fairly easily. Another instance is the gold price, that didn't exceed $400 from the mid 1980s till the first part of the 1990s.

How To Apply Support And Resistance

Support and resistance can be a useful tool for identifying entries and exits for your positions. Equipped with nothing but a candlestick chart, you could identify support and resistance points and decide the best strategy to make the most of them, without using even one technical signal.

One of the side effects of technical indicators becoming commonly and freely accessible, is that some of the more newbie traders barely really look at candlestick charts themselves any longer, other than to see what this or that technical indication looks like on the chart. But the truth is that you don't need to have a technical indicator to identify a good trend, nor do you need TI's to see where the price could not sustain a trend.

As a trader, you can gain from support and resistance levels by addressing them as hints about upcoming price trends. A good occasion to open a position for instance, is when the price bounces back from a support/resistance level. After this type of bounce, chances are that the price won't break through any time very soon.

Place your stop a bit above/below the point the price achieved, and your profit goal a little earlier than the support/resistance on the other side. The subsequent chart may help demonstrate this point.

As noted before, there are support and resistance levels for all periods, but the greater the time frame, the more crucial support and resistance turn out to be

Inside the span of one trading period, Intra-day support/resistance levels can be discovered. These could be price points that decide the trading range for that day, since day traders choose to sell or buy past that level.

Support and resistance levels within trading sessions can be tens or maybe more than 100 pips apart, as is usually the case with the GBP/USD throughout the European session. Conversely, the range can occasionally be only a few pips, which is regularly seen in the EUR/GBP through the Asian trading session.

Some Suggestions For Using Support And Resistance

Some of these tips have been pointed out before, but it can't harm to walk through them once more.

1. The faster the price shifted before reaching the support/resistance roadblock, the more substantial that particular roadblock. This is reasonable, since an abrupt standstill is more informing than a price that's moving down, down…slower….slower……still slower….stop.
2. The more often a support/resistance has survived an assault, the tougher it becomes. This is the most essential hint you'll get about the significance of a particular resistance/support. When a support has held out three times previously, you and millions of other traders are aware that there is a substantial chance it will take place again. This creates great trading opportunities.
3. The larger the period of time of the chart where the resistance/support could be seen, the more critical that resistance/support likely is. As mentioned previously, there are also support and resistance levels on a 5 minute chart.These are less important than those on larger timeframes though except if the same levels are likewise noticeable on charts with larger timeframes obviously. That doesn't suggest they can't be useful (or very lucrative). When you're an intra-day trader and keep positions open for a utmost of two hours, with profit targets of around 30 pips, support and resistance levels on a 5 minute chart can be incredibly helpful to you.
4. The more time that has passed by in between the first and the last time a support/resistance level has been assaulted, the less important that level becomes. Time is relatively relative here, since the importance lessens much faster on a 5 minute chart than on a weekly one. The concept here is that the more time has passed since traders actually traded close to those support/resistance levels, the less vital those levels turn out to be.Don't make distinguishing support and resistance levels too intricate. If you are incapable to spot them without all sorts of aides and resources on the primary chart for your set-up, chances are that they won't have much of an affect anyhow.

 

Before you start testing (and mastering) this strategy, please read this important article on Money Management.