Chart Patterns - How to read them like a ProChart patterns are visual formations on price charts that help traders anticipate potential market movements.
These patterns fall into three main categories: bullish , bearish , and indecisive .
---
1. Bullish Chart Patterns
Bullish patterns often signal that price is likely to move upward.
1.1 Bull Flag
* What it looks like: A sharp upward move followed by a small downward-sloping rectangle (the flag).
* Meaning: After a strong rally, the price consolidates briefly before continuing higher.
* Key insight: A breakout above the flag typically signals a continuation of the trend.
1.2 Pennant (Bullish)
* What it looks like: A strong upward move followed by a small symmetrical triangle.
* Meaning: Similar to the bull flag, but the consolidation takes a triangular form.
* Key insight: Once price breaks above the pennant, the uptrend often resumes.
1.3 Cup & Handle
* What it looks like: A “U”-shaped curve (the cup) followed by a small downward drift (the handle).
* Meaning: This pattern suggests a period of accumulation before price breaks higher.
* Key insight: A breakout above the handle signals the beginning of a new bullish leg.
1.4 Inverse Head & Shoulders
* What it looks like: Three low points, with the middle low being the deepest.
* Meaning: This reversal pattern appears after a downtrend and signals a potential change to an uptrend.
* Key insight: A breakout above the “neckline” confirms the reversal.
---
2. Indecisive Chart Patterns
These patterns show market hesitation, where neither bulls nor bears are clearly in control.
2.1 Consolidation Channel
* What it looks like: Price moves within a horizontal channel.
* Meaning: Market is moving sideways with no strong trend.
* Key insight: A breakout in either direction often leads to a significant move.
2.2 Symmetrical Triangle
* What it looks like: Two converging trend lines forming a triangle.
* Meaning: This is a neutral pattern that can break out in either direction.
* Key insight: Traders wait for a breakout before taking a position.
---
3. Bearish Chart Patterns
Bearish patterns signal a high probability of downward price movement.
3.1 Bear Flag
* What it looks like: A sharp decline followed by a small upward-sloping rectangle.
* Meaning: After a strong drop, price consolidates before continuing lower.
* Key insight: A breakout below the flag suggests a continuation of the downtrend.
3.2 Pennant (Bearish)
* What it looks like: A sharp downward move followed by a small symmetrical triangle.
* Meaning: Similar to the bear flag, but the consolidation takes a triangular form.
* Key insight: A breakout downward typically resumes the bearish trend.
3.3 Inverse Cup & Handle
* What it looks like: An upside-down cup with a small upward drift forming the handle.
* Meaning: Indicates weakness after an uptrend, often followed by a drop.
* Key insight: A break below the handle usually signals a strong bearish move.
3.4 Head & Shoulders
* What it looks like: Three peaks, with the middle one being the highest.
* Meaning: A classic reversal pattern that indicates a potential shift from an uptrend to a downtrend.
* Key insight: A break below the “neckline” confirms the bearish reversal.
---
How to Use These Patterns
* Combine pattern recognition with support/resistance, volume, and indicators for stronger confirmation.
* Always wait for breakouts and avoid acting too early.
* Manage risk with stop-loss orders.
Community ideas
Smoothie in One Hand, Chart in the Other: Your Vacation ManualSome traders bring a beach read. Others bring their TradingView charts.
It’s the heat of the summer and we figured, why not take it easy with a breeze of lightweight lines to pair with your mezcal espresso martini? Let’s talk about how to relax while still watching the markets.
🏄♂️ Market Never Sleeps… But You Should
Vacations are supposed to be about unplugging, but for traders, that’s just code for “I’ll switch to the app instead.”
And we don’t blame you. With all that’s going on — US-EU tariff deal, stocks at record highs, and Ethereum BITSTAMP:ETHUSD outperforming Bitcoin BITSTAMP:BTCUSD in a monster July run — it’s only natural for market participants to be hooked at this time.
But watch for those signs of getting overly attached. Studies show performance suffers when you're overcooked — like your last scalp trade on Powell Day. So yes, that mojito matters. Just don’t place a leveraged position on a pool float.
📅 Timing the Market… and Your Booking
Let’s talk timing. The pros know not to schedule getaways during Nonfarm Payrolls week or FOMC decision day. (Unless your idea of relaxing is explaining yield curves to your kids on a ferry across lake Como.)
Instead, try planning your time off during historically low-volatility periods. Summer often sees volume dry up like your skin without sunscreen. Think August’s fairly dry weeks — when even the algorithms seem to be on holiday. As always, consult with the Economic Calendar to know when these are.
Bonus tip: if you’re flying and you wanna stay wired in, go for premarket or after-hours shifts. Nothing says “seasoned trader” like placing an order while the flight attendant gathers everyone’s attention for the safety demo.
🧴 SPF 50 and the S&P 500: Know Your Risk Exposure
In these scorchers outside, you wouldn’t step out without sunscreen, right? But would you let your positions roast unsupervised?
Use stop losses like you use sunblock: generously and repeatedly. Even better — scale back. Summer’s thin liquidity (and other summer trading traps ) can turn minor market moves into full-on tidal waves. No one wants to explain to their friends why they lost 40% of their portfolio during a snorkeling trip.
Adequate position sizing is your beach umbrella. It doesn’t stop the storm, but it’ll stop the burn.
🧭 Wi-Fi, but Make It Secure
Public Wi-Fi is great for scrolling memes, not executing trades. One accidental login from a beachside café in Mykonos and boom — your brokerage account may become a group project.
Trading from your vacation spot shouldn’t be a flex (no matter how much you want to look cool to the bunch of people around you). Focus on your game, trade in silence, and bask in sunlight and success.
☀️ Pack Light, Trade Lighter
The golden rule? If you’re not at your desk, don’t trade like you are.
Scale back positions, minimize leverage, and don’t try to outperform the market while someone’s kid is throwing a beach ball at your head. This is a maintenance phase, not a moonshot month.
Think: protect capital, avoid drawdowns, maybe sneak in a swing trade between sunscreen applications.
📲 Must-Have Apps for Sand-and-Screen Trading
You’re not bringing a full setup, but your phone can still do the heavy lifting. Load it with TradingView (obviously), your broker, ideally paired with TradingView, and a solid news feed . Bonus points for noise-canceling headphones that can drown out both market panic and crying toddlers.
Set up push notifications smartly — only the alerts you actually need. You don’t want your wrist buzzing every time Nvidia NASDAQ:NVDA moves 0.1%.
Question for the road : What’s your best summer trade… and was it worth checking your phone at dinner to place it?
Deep Dive Into Relative Strength Index (RSI)The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a momentum oscillator developed by J. Welles Wilder Jr. that measures the speed and magnitude of price changes.
Introduction
In the world of trading, timing is everything — and few indicators have stood the test of time like the Relative Strength Index (RSI). Introduced by J. Welles Wilder in 1978, the RSI is a momentum oscillator that helps traders evaluate the strength and speed of price movements. Whether you're trading stocks, forex, or crypto, understanding how RSI is calculated and how to interpret its signals can give you a critical edge.
In this article, we’ll break down exactly how the RSI works, explore its formula, and dive into practical ways you can incorporate it into your trading strategies. From spotting potential reversals to identifying overbought and oversold conditions, the RSI remains a cornerstone of technical analysis — but only if you know how to use it properly.
Let’s explore the mechanics and the mindset behind this powerful indicator.
What Is RSI and How Is It Calculated?
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a momentum oscillator that measures the speed and change of price movements over a defined period. It outputs a value between 0 and 100, which helps traders determine whether an asset is overbought or oversold.
The default RSI setting uses a 14-period lookback window and is calculated with the following steps:
🔷Calculate the average gain and loss over the last 14 periods:
Average Gain = Sum of all gains over the past 14 periods / 14
Average Loss = Sum of all losses over the past 14 periods / 14
🔷Compute the Relative Strength (RS):
RS = Average Gain / Average Loss
🔷Apply the RSI formula:
RSI=100−(100/(1+RS))
The result is a single number between 0 and 100 that indicates the asset's momentum.
How to Use RSI in Trading Strategies
⚡️Overbought and Oversold Conditions Strategy
RSI > 70 typically signals that an asset may be overbought and due for a pullback.
RSI < 30 suggests the asset might be oversold, potentially primed for a bounce.
However, these levels aren’t absolute sell or buy signals. In strong trends, RSI can stay overbought or oversold for extended periods.
📈Long Trading Strategy Example:
1. Identify the major trend, to find the long trades it shall be uptrend. On the screen below you can see 1D time frame for BITMART:BTCUSDT.P .
2. Move to lower time frame (in our case 4h) and find the moment when RSI falls below 30. This is our oversold condition and we are going to look for long trade.
3. Find the local support zone and open long trade.
4. Take profit when price reaches resistance level next to the previous swing high
5. Don’t forget to put initial stop loss when enter position. The best stop loss which will give you 3:1 risk to reward ratio.
📉Short Trading Strategy Example
1. Identify the major trend, to find the short trades it shall be downtrend. On the screen below you can see 1D time frame for BITMART:ETHUSDT.P .
2. Move to lower time frame (in our case 4h) and find the moment when RSI grows above 70. This is our overbought condition and we are going to look for short trade.
3. Find the local resistance zone and open short trade.
4. Take profit when price reaches support level next to the previous swing low
5. Don’t forget to put initial stop loss when enter position. The best stop loss which will give you 3:1 risk to reward ratio.
⚡️RSI Breakout Strategy
RSI is breaking through 60 indicating bullish momentum shift if the long-term trend is bullish can be the potential long signal
RSI is breaking down 40 indicating bearish momentum shift if the long-term trend is bearish can be the potential short signal
This strategy works great only on the trending market, don’t use it on the range bounded market to avoid whiplashes.
📈Long trading strategy example:
1. Make sure that long-term trend is bullish. Use 200 period EMA as its approximation. If price remains above it we can look for potential long trade setup.
2. If RSI crossed above the level 60 open long trade.
3. Put the initial stop-loss under the signal candle’s low.
4. Take profit when price reached 3:1 risk-to-reward ratio.
📉Short trading strategy example
1. Make sure that long-term trend is bearish. Use 200 period EMA as it’s approximation. If price remains below it we can look for potential short trade setup.
2. If RSI crossed below the level 40 open short trade.
3. Put the initial stop-loss above the signal candle’s high.
4. Take profit when price reached 3:1 risk-to-reward ratio. In our case we received very fast and profitable trade
⚡️RSI Divergence Strategy
RSI can be used also as a trend reversal indicator if we are looking for divergences. This is very reliable sign of current trend weakness and great opportunity open trade against the trend. Usually it’s not recommended, but in case if divergence can be applicable.
Bullish divergence is the situation when price created the lower low, while RSI made the lower low. Usually, it indicates that current downtrend is weakening and we can look for long trades
Bearish divergence is the situation when price created the higher high, while RSI made the lower high. Usually, it indicates that current uptrend is weakening and we can look for short trades
😎Important hint: it’s rarely covered in textbooks about technical analysis, but in our opinion it’s better to used divergences when RSI was able to cross level 50 between two lows/highs.
📈Long trading strategy example
1. Find at the chart situation, when the price made the lower low
2. At the same time RSI shall set the higher low
3. RSI shall break level 50 between these lows indicating shift to the bullish momentum
4. If price failed to set the clean breakdown open long trade on the candle which set the lower low. Put stop loss under it’s low
5. Take profit at 3:1 RR. When you master this concept, you will be able to have much more RR trades, even 10:1. This is possible because when trend finish you have the highest potential upside
📉Short trading strategy example
1. Find at the chart situation, when the price made the higher high
2. At the same time RSI shall set the lower high
3. RSI shall break level 50 between these highs indicating shift to the bearish momentum
4. If price failed to set the clean breakout open short trade on the candle which set the higher high. Put stop loss above it’s high
5. Take profit at 3:1 RR. When you master this concept, you will be able to have much more RR trades, even 10:1. This is possible because when trend finish you have the highest potential upside
Conclusion
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) remains one of the most powerful and flexible tools in a trader’s technical arsenal — but its real value lies in how you use it.
We’ve explored three key RSI strategies:
✅ Overbought/Oversold setups offer simple entry signals in ranging markets, where price tends to revert to the mean.
✅ Breakout strategies unlock RSI’s momentum-tracking potential, helping you ride strong directional moves with confidence.
✅ Divergence detection reveals hidden shifts in market sentiment, giving you an early warning of possible reversals or trend continuations.
Each approach has its strengths — and its risks — but together, they offer a complete framework for using RSI across different market conditions
🔑 Key Takeaways:
RSI is not just a “buy low, sell high” tool — it’s a multi-dimensional indicator that adapts to trends, momentum, and market structure.
The best RSI signals come from confluence: combining RSI with price action, support/resistance, volume, or trend filters like moving averages.
Patience and discipline are essential — RSI signals are only effective when paired with proper risk management and confirmation.
By mastering RSI beyond the basics, you'll be better equipped to make timely, confident, and informed trading decisions — whether you're entering a pullback, chasing a breakout, or spotting the early signs of reversal.
Trading Divergences With Wedges in ForexTrading Divergences With Wedges in Forex
Divergence trading in forex is a powerful technique for analysing market movements, as is observing rising and falling wedges. This article explores the synergy between divergence trading and wedges in forex, offering insights into how traders can leverage these signals. From the basics to advanced strategies, learn how you could utilise this approach effectively, potentially enhancing your trading skills in the dynamic forex market.
Understanding Divergences
In forex trading, the concept of divergence plays a pivotal role in identifying potential market shifts. A divergence in forex, meaning a situation where price action and a technical indicator like the Relative Strength Index (RSI) or Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) move in opposite directions, often signals a weakening trend. This discrepancy is a valuable tool in divergence chart trading, as it may indicate a possible reversal or continuation of the current trend.
There are two primary types of divergence in forex—regular and hidden. Regular divergence occurs when the price makes higher highs or lower lows while the indicator does the opposite, often signalling a reversal. Hidden divergence, on the other hand, happens when the price makes lower highs or higher lows while the indicator shows higher highs or lower lows, typically suggesting a continuation of the current trend.
Trading Rising and Falling Wedges
Rising and falling wedges are significant patterns in forex trading, often signalling potential trend reversals. A rising wedge, formed by converging upward trendlines, often indicates a bearish reversal if it appears in an uptrend. Conversely, a falling wedge, characterised by converging downward trendlines, typically reflects a bullish reversal if it occurs in a downtrend.
Traders often look for a breakout from these patterns as a signal to enter trades. For rising wedges, a downward breakout can be seen as a sell signal, while an upward breakout from a falling wedge is often interpreted as a buy signal. When combined with divergences, this chart pattern can add confirmation and precede strong movements.
Best Practices for Trading Divergences
Trading divergence patterns in forex requires a keen eye for detail and a disciplined, holistic approach. Here are key practices for effective trading:
- Comprehensive Analysis: Before trading on divergence and wedges, be sure to analyse overall market conditions.
- Selecting the Right Indicator: Choose a forex divergence indicator that suits your trading style. Common choices include RSI, MACD, and Stochastic.
- Confirmation Is Key: It’s best to watch for additional confirmation from price action or other technical tools before entering a trade.
- Risk Management: Traders always set stop-loss orders to manage risk effectively. Divergence trading isn't foolproof; protecting your capital is crucial.
- Patience in Entry and Exit: Be patient as the divergence develops and confirm with your chosen indicators before entering or exiting a trade.
Strategy 1: RSI and Wedge Divergence
Traders focus on regular divergence patterns when the RSI is above 70 (overbought) or below 30 (oversold), combined with a rising or falling wedge pattern. The strategy hinges on identifying highs or lows within these RSI extremes. It's not crucial if the RSI remains consistently overbought or oversold, or if it fluctuates in and out of these zones.
Entry
- Traders may observe a regular divergence where both the price highs/lows and RSI readings are above 70 or below 30.
- After the formation of a lower high (in an overbought zone) or a higher low (in an oversold zone) in the RSI, traders typically watch as the RSI crosses back below 70 or above 30. This is accompanied by a breakout from a rising or falling wedge, acting as a potential signal to enter.
Stop Loss
- Stop losses might be set just beyond the high or low of the wedge.
Take Profit
- Profit targets may be established at suitable support/resistance levels.
- Another potential approach is to exit when the RSI crosses back into the opposite overbought/oversold territory.
Strategy 2: MACD and Wedge Divergence
Regarded as one of the best divergence trading strategies, MACD divergence focuses on the discrepancy between price action and the MACD histogram. The strategy is particularly potent when combined with a rising or falling wedge pattern in price.
Entry
- Traders typically observe for the MACD histogram to diverge from the price. This divergence manifests as the price reaching new highs or lows while the MACD histogram fails to do the same.
- The strategy involves waiting for the MACD signal line to cross over the MACD line in the direction of the anticipated reversal. This crossover should coincide with a breakout from the rising or falling wedge.
- After these conditions are met, traders may consider entering a trade in anticipation of a trend reversal.
Stop Loss
- Stop losses may be set beyond the high or low of the wedge, which may help traders manage risk by identifying a clear exit point if the anticipated reversal does not materialise.
Take Profit
- Profit targets might be established at nearby support or resistance levels, allowing traders to capitalise on the expected move while managing potential downside.
Strategy 3: Stochastic and Wedge Divergence
Stochastic divergence is a key technique for divergence day trading in forex, especially useful for identifying potential trend reversals. This strategy typically employs the Stochastic Oscillator with settings of 14, 3, 3.
Entry
- Traders may look for divergence scenarios where the Stochastic readings are above 80 or below 20, mirroring the RSI approach.
- This divergence is observed in conjunction with price action, forming a rising or falling wedge.
- Entry may be considered following a breakout from the wedge, which signals a potential shift in market direction.
Stop Loss
- Setting stop losses just beyond the high or low of the wedge might be an effective approach.
Take Profit
- Profit targets may be set at key support/resistance levels.
The Bottom Line
Divergence trading, coupled with the analysis of rising and falling wedges, offers a comprehensive approach to navigating the forex market. By integrating the discussed strategies with sound risk management and market analysis, traders may potentially enhance their ability to make informed decisions in the dynamic world of forex.
This article represents the opinion of the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand only. It is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation with respect to products and services provided by the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand, nor is it to be considered financial advice.
Flat, Quiet… and Full of Clues .Most traders only see the middle.
The acceleration. The “trend”. The movement.
But that’s just one-third of the story.
If you really want to understand the market’s rhythm,
you need to study how moves begin, evolve, and die.
Let’s break down the 3 key phases every market goes through —
again, and again, and again.
📌 1. Accumulation Phase
This is the part no one talks about.
Why? Because it’s boring. Choppy. Range-bound. Confusing.
Most traders get shaken out here.
But smart money? They’re quietly buying.
You’ll often see:
Flat price action with no clear trend
Fake breakdowns (to trigger stop-losses)
Volume starting to shift
Long wicks — both directions
This phase is a test of patience, not prediction.
And if you learn to read it well, you’ll start catching moves before they go parabolic.
🚀 2. Markup / Acceleration Phase
Here’s where everyone wakes up.
Momentum kicks in.
News gets bullish.
Breakouts start working.
Pullbacks are shallow.
And suddenly, everyone’s calling it a bull market.
But don’t be fooled.
This is not where smart money enters — this is where they ride the wave they already created.
Learn to:
Ride trends, not chase them
Add on pullbacks
Avoid FOMO entries
This is the fastest and most emotional part of the cycle — which means it rewards discipline, not excitement.
🧯 3. Distribution Phase
The party’s still on… but the hosts are quietly leaving.
Price starts to stall.
Breakouts stop working.
Volume gets heavy at the top.
And the same excitement that brought everyone in?
It’s now being used to sell into.
Distribution is sneaky.
It’s not an obvious top.
It’s a process — just like accumulation.
You’ll often see:
Lower highs forming quietly
False breakouts to trap buyers
Increasing volatility
Bullish news… with no follow-through
If you’re not paying attention, you’ll keep buying strength —
right before the rug gets pulled.
So what’s the lesson here?
Markets don’t just “go up or down.”
They prepare, move, then exhaust.
And if you learn to spot these transitions —
you’ll stop reacting late
and start positioning early.
That’s the real edge.
currently we are on the accumulation phase so in this idea I tried to show you the real story behind it and as well talk about the two others to beware of them also in the right moment I will talk about them , but for now let's focous on the current phase because we want to be part of the smart money and enjoy the next phase which is 🚀Markup / Acceleration Phase .
—
🧠 Save this post.
🔁 Revisit it when you’re confused.
📊 Because the chart isn’t random — it’s just cycling
And also remember our golden rule :
🐺 Discipline is rarely enjoyable , but almost always profitable. 🐺
🐺 KIU_COIN 🐺
Understanding ROI in Crypto: More Than Just a NumberHello, Traders! 👏
Return on Investment (ROI) is often the first metric new investors focus on when evaluating an asset, a strategy, or even their trading performance. It’s easy to see why. It's simple, intuitive, and widely used across both traditional finance and the cryptocurrency sector. One formula, and suddenly you have a "score" for your investment. Green is good. Red is bad. Right?
Well…Not quite.
In the crypto market, where price swings can be extreme, timelines are compressed, and risk profiles differ significantly from those in traditional markets, a simplistic ROI figure can be dangerously misleading.
A 50% ROI on a meme coin might look great, until you realize the token is illiquid, unbacked, and you're the last one holding the bag. Conversely, a 10% ROI on a blue-chip crypto asset with strong fundamentals might be significantly more meaningful in risk-adjusted terms.
In this article, we'll delve beyond the basic formula and break down what ROI really tells you, how to use it correctly, and where it falls short. Let's go!
What Is ROI and How Do You Calculate It?
The Basic Formula for Return on Investment Is: ROI = (Current Value – Initial Investment) / Initial Investment.
Let’s say you bought ETH at $2,000 and sold it at $2,600: ROI = (2,600 – 2,000) / 2,000 = 0.3 → 30%. Seems straightforward. You made 30% profit. However, crypto is rarely straightforward.
What if you held it for 2 years? Or 2 days? What if gas fees, staking rewards, or exchange commissions altered your real costs or returns? Did you include opportunity cost and the profits missed by not holding another asset? ROI as a raw percentage is just the beginning. It’s a snapshot. However, in trading, we need motion pictures, full narratives that unfold over time and within context.
Why Time Matters (And ROI Ignores It)
One of the most dangerous omissions in ROI is time.
Imagine two trades: Trade A returns 20% in 6 months. Trade B returns 20% in 6 days.
Same ROI, very different implications. Time is capital. In crypto, it’s compressed capital — markets move fast, and holding a position longer often increases exposure to systemic or market risks.
That’s why serious traders consider Annualized ROI or utilize metrics like CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) when comparing multi-asset strategies or evaluating long-term performance.
Example: Buying a Token, Earning a Yield
Let’s say you bought $1,000 worth of a DeFi token, then staked it and earned $100 in rewards over 60 days. The token value remained the same, and you unstaked and claimed your rewards.
ROI = (1,100 – 1,000) / 1,000 = 10%
Annualized ROI ≈ (1 + 0.10)^(365/60) - 1 ≈ 77%
Now that 10% looks very different when annualized. But is it sustainable? That brings us to the next point…
ROI Without Risk Analysis Is Useless
ROI is often treated like a performance badge. But without risk-adjusted context, it tells you nothing about how safe or smart the investment was. Would you rather: Gain 15% ROI on a stablecoin vault with low volatility, or Gain 30% ROI on a microcap meme token that could drop 90% tomorrow?
Traders use metrics such as the Sharpe Ratio (which measures returns versus volatility), Maximum Drawdown (the Peak-to-Trough Loss During a Trade), and Sortino Ratio (which measures returns versus downside risk). These offer a more complete picture of whether the return was worth the risk. ⚠️ High ROI isn’t impressive if your capital was at risk of total wipeout.
The Cost Side of the Equation
Beginners often ignore costs in their ROI math. But crypto isn’t free: Gas fees on Ethereum, trading commissions, slippage on low-liquidity assets, impermanent loss in LP tokens, maybe even tax obligations. Let’s say you made a 20% ROI on a trade, but you paid 3% in fees, 5% in taxes, and lost 2% in slippage. Your actual return is likely to be closer to 10% or less. Always subtract total costs from your gains before celebrating that ROI screenshot on X.
Final Thoughts: ROI Is a Tool, Not a Compass
ROI is beneficial, but not omniscient. It’s a speedometer, not a GPS. You can use it to reflect on past trades, model future ones, and communicate performance to others, but don’t treat it like gospel.
The real ROI of any strategy must also factor in time, risk, capital efficiency, emotional stability, and your long-term goals. Without those, you’re not investing. You’re gambling with better math. What do you think? 🤓
EV Stocks Are Back on Track: Who’s Got the Juice in 2025?This year is big for the EV sector so we figured let’s do a piece on it and bring you up to speed on who’s making moves and getting traction — both in the charts and on the road.
What we’ve got here is a lean, mean lineup of real contenders. Let’s go for a ride.
🚗 Tesla: Still King of the Road (for Now)
Tesla NASDAQ:TSLA isn’t just an EV company. It’s a tech firm, an AI shop, a robotaxi rollout machine, and an Elon-flavored media event every quarter. Even so, when it comes to margins, global volume, and name recognition, Tesla is still the benchmark everyone else is chasing.
In 2025, Tesla’s bounceback is fueled not just by EV hype but by its push into autonomous driving and different plays into the AI space.
The stock is down about 13% year-to-date. But investors love a narrative turnaround. Apparently, the earnings update didn't help the situation as shares slipped roughly 5%. Well, there's always another quarter — make sure to keep an eye on the Earnings Calendar .
🐉 BYD: The Dragon in the Fast Lane
BYD 1211 is calmly racking up sales, expanding across continents, and stealing global market share without breaking a sweat. The Chinese behemoth is outselling Tesla globally and doing it with less drama and more charge… literally .
Vertical integration is BYD’s secret weapon — they make their own batteries, chips, and even semiconductors. The West might not be in love with BYD’s designs, but fleet operators and emerging-market governments are. And that’s where the real growth is.
⛰️ Rivian: Built for Trails, Not Earnings (Yet)
Rivian NASDAQ:RIVN still feels like the Patagonia of EV makers — rugged, outdoorsy, aspirational. Its R1T pickup truck has cult status, but the company had to tone down its ambitions and revised its guidance for 2025 deliveries to between 40,000 and 46,000. Early 2025 projections floated around 50,000 .
The good news? Rivian is improving on cost control, production pace, and market fit. The bad news? It’s still burning cash faster than it builds trucks. But for investors betting on a post-rate-cut growth stock rally, Rivian may be the comeback kid to watch. It just needs a few solid quarters.
🛋️ Lucid: Luxury Dreams, Reality Checks
Lucid NASDAQ:LCID , the one that’ll either go under or make it big. The luxury carmaker, worth about $8 billion, came into the EV game promising to out-Tesla Tesla — with longer range, more appeal, and a price tag to match.
But here’s the rub: rich people aren’t lining up for boutique sedans, especially when Mercedes and BMW now offer their own electric gliders with badge power and a dealer network.
Lucid’s challenge in 2025 is existential. The cars are sleek, the tech is strong, but the cash runway is shrinking and demand isn’t scaling like the pitch deck promised.
Unless it nails a strategic partnership (Saudi backing only goes so far), Lucid could end up as a cautionary tale — a beautifully engineered one, but a cautionary tale nonetheless. Thankfully, Uber NYSE:UBER showed up to the rescue ?
💪 NIO : Battling to Stay in the Race
Remember when NIO NYSE:NIO was dubbed the “Tesla of China”? Fast forward, and it’s still swinging — but now the narrative is more about survival than supremacy. NIO's battery-swap stations remain a unique selling point, but delivery volumes and profitability are still trailing.
The company’s leaning into smart-tech partnerships and next-gen vehicle platforms. The stock, meanwhile, needs more than just optimism to get moving again — it’s virtually flat on the year.
✈️ XPeng: Flying Cars, Literally
XPeng’s NYSE:XPEV claim to fame used to be its semi-autonomous driving suite. Now? It's working on literal flying vehicles with its Land Aircraft Carrier. Innovation isn’t the problem — it's execution and scale.
XPeng is beloved by futurists and punished by spreadsheets. It’s still getting government love, but without a clear margin path, the stock might stay grounded.
🏁 Li Auto: The Surprise Front-Runner
Li Auto NASDAQ:LI doesn’t get the headlines, but it’s quietly killing it with its range-extended EVs — hybrids that let you plug in or gas up. A smart move in a country still building out its charging infrastructure.
Li is delivering big numbers, posting improving margins, and seems laser-focused on practicality over hype. Of all the Chinese EV stocks, this one might be the most mature.
🧠 Nvidia: The Brains of the Operation
Okay, not an EV stock per se, but Nvidia NASDAQ:NVDA deserves a spot on any EV watchlist. Its AI chips are running the show inside Tesla’s Full Self-Driving computers, powering sensor fusion in dozens of autonomous pilot programs, and quietly taking over the brains of modern mobility.
As self-driving becomes less sci-fi and more of a supply-chain item, Nvidia's value-add grows with every mile driven by data-hungry EVs.
🔋 ChargePoint & EVgo: Picks and Shovels
If you can’t sell the cars, sell the cables.
EV charging companies were once seen as the “safe bet” on electrification. Now they’re just seen as massively underperforming.
ChargePoint BOATS:CHPT : Still the leader in US charging stations but struggling with profitability and adoption pacing. Stock’s down bad from its peak in 2021 (like, 98% bad).
EVgo NASDAQ:EVGO : Focused on fast-charging and partnerships (hello, GM), but scale and margin pressures remain.
Both stocks are beaten down hard. But with billions in infrastructure funding still flowing, who knows, maybe there’s potential for a second act.
👉 Off to you : are you plugged into any of these EV plays? Share your EV investment picks in the comments!
Survival First, Success LaterThere was once a stone that lay deep in the heart of a flowing river.
Every day, the water rushed past it, sometimes gently, sometimes with force. The stone wanted to stay strong, unmoved. It believed that by holding its ground, it could outlast the river.
For years, the stone resisted. It didn’t want to change. It believed that strength meant standing still, no matter how hard the current pulled.
But slowly, almost without noticing, the stone began to wear down. The river wasn’t trying to destroy it. The water wasn’t cruel. It was simply doing what rivers do - moving, shifting, carving its own path.
One day, the stone realised it wasn’t the same shape anymore. It was smoother now, smaller in places. It hadn’t won by resisting. It had survived by adapting. It had learned to let the river shape it without breaking it apart.
The stone couldn’t control the river. All it could do was endure without letting itself be shattered.
Trading is NOT so different.
The market moves like a river. It doesn’t care if you want it to go left or right. It doesn’t reward those who stand rigid against its flow. It rewards those who learn when to hold their ground, when to let go, and how to survive the constant pull of forces bigger than themselves.
This is NOT a story about rivers and stones. It’s a story about YOU.
About learning to endure without breaking. About understanding that survival comes not from fighting the current, but from learning how to live within it.
Much like the stone, every trader begins with the same illusion, that strength means control, that certainty can be conquered with enough knowledge or willpower.
But time in the markets teaches you otherwise. It shows you, again and again, that survival isn’t about resisting the flow. It’s about learning to move with it, to protect yourself from the inevitable storms without being broken by them.
And so, this is where the real story of trading begins.
Trading often appears simple from a distance. You buy, you sell, you make a profit, and then you repeat the process.
But anyone who has spent enough time in the markets will tell you the truth. This isn’t a game of certainty. This is a game of survival.
The market humbles you early. It doesn’t care how much you know, how brilliant you think you are, or how much confidence you bring. The market doesn’t reward ego; it breaks it down piece by piece.
Almost everyone starts with the same mindset. You want to win. You want to make money. You believe you can figure it out if you study hard enough, work smart enough, hustle more than the next person.
But eventually, reality steps in. You begin to understand this game isn’t about knowing where the price will go next. It’s about knowing where you will stop, where you will cut a loss, where you will step aside and wait.
The traders who survive are not the ones who chase perfection or seek to predict every move. They are the ones who learn how to lose properly - small losses, controlled losses. Losses that don’t bleed into something bigger, mentally or financially.
Most people can’t do that. They fight the market. They fight themselves. They refuse to accept small losses, believing they can somehow force a different outcome.
Those small losses eventually snowball. Blowups rarely come from one bad trade. They come from ignoring the small signs over and over again. The market isn’t cruel. It’s just indifferent. It’s your responsibility to protect yourself.
Good trading isn’t loud. It isn’t exciting. It isn’t full of adrenaline and big calls.
Good trading is quiet, repetitive, and frankly, a little boring. It’s built on discipline, not drama. Your job is to manage risk, protect your capital, and let time do its work.
There is no holy grail. There is only process. A process you can repeat with a clear head, day after day, year after year, without losing yourself in the noise.
Wins will come. Losses will come. Neither defines who you are. What defines you is how you respond.
⦿ Can you stay calm after a red day?
⦿ Can you follow your plan even after a mistake?
⦿ Can you sit on your hands when there’s nothing to do and trust the work you’ve already done?
Patience, in the end, is the real edge. Most won’t have it.
They’ll bounce between strategies, searching for certainty where none exists. They’ll burn out chasing shortcuts. They’ll forget that progress comes through small, steady steps taken over years, not through chasing big wins.
Trading is a mirror. It reflects your fear, your greed, your impatience. It shows you who you really are. Ignore what it reveals and you’ll keep paying for the same lesson until you finally learn it.
In the end, this game isn’t about the market. It’s about YOU.
⦿ Learn to protect yourself.
⦿ Learn to sit with boredom.
⦿ Learn to lose well.
⦿ Learn to wait without losing faith.
If you can do that, the market has a way of rewarding you in time.
The Market Rewards the PatientLast week was probably one of the slowest weeks I’ve ever had. I found two setups, but neither one truly materialized. They just didn’t meet all the conditions in my plan. It was tough. I won’t pretend it wasn’t tempting to drop my rules and chase other strategies just so I could be in the market.
But deep down, I knew exactly what I wanted. I want to be consistent . I want to trade like a professional . So I held back. All week, I watched and waited. No trades taken. It was boring, honestly . But that boredom protected my capital.
Instead of forcing trades, I spent the entire weekend backtesting , drilling into my strategy even more. I wanted to be sure that when my moment came, I’d recognize it without hesitation.
Then this week started. I didn’t know if it would be any different, but I trusted my process and stayed ready. Eventually, one clean setup appeared. I shared it here on TradingView. I managed my risk properly , took half my usual size at just 0.5%, and let the trade run. It almost hit my stop, but I didn’t touch it. It was simple: either TP or SL .
And this time, it hit TP. A clean 1:4.
This was a powerful lesson. Following my plan didn’t just lead to a winning trade. It protected my capital all of last week when the market wasn’t offering quality setups. That patience and discipline paid off.
That’s how you build consistency. That’s how you survive long enough to catch the trades that truly matter.
Why Risk Management Is Your Only Real Superpower in TradingMany traders obsess over entries, indicators, or finding the “perfect” strategy…
But the real longevity in this game comes from how you manage risk — not how often you’re right. Obviously it all starts with using stop loss. I hope you already know it. We all learned lessons in trying to enter the top / bottom and it was really not the top/ bottom yet.
✅ Always use Stop Loss.
Interestingly more then 50% failed prop challenges are because traders dont use a stop loss.
Now your stop loss should always be adjusted to the market structure. Not always same lot size
Obviously some short-term scalping can be done with the fixed SL and TP distance. But most of strategies needs to adjust SL to the current structure. And here come the problem. Many traders use still same lot size even when the stop loss distance is different and thats the problem.
Let me just show you on 2 examples of series of trades.
We count with 5 identical trade setups
Let's assume we had 5 trades 1 winner and 4 losses.
📌 1) Using always same position size on 10K account
- Outcome of trades is various
- 1 win with fixed lot was small. Instead of fixed lot we could use higher lot size as the SL distance was small. This trade didnt covered other losses.
- Losses of other trades are various
- psychological affect - uncertainty increasing fear of loss
- total result after is -273 pips
- minus 2.7% and - $273
📌 2) Calculated risk 1.5% for each trade
- we risk 1.5% for each trade by adjusting lot size
- You always know how much you loose if you loose.
- You can maximize profits on high RR trades.
- Every trade will have same % value in your series of trades. This makes your statistics working
- first trade has made huge profit - other 4 losses were 1.5% each
- first trade covered losses and even made gains
- we again ended in minus 273 pips
BUT +$337 IN MONEY / AND + 3.37% PROFIT
📌 Final Conclusion
Although we modeled 5 completely same trading setups in first example we ended up loosing in pips and money. While in the second example with the completely identical setups we ended in profit and more stability of on our account but also with psychological preservation.
And this is power of risk management and it has much bigger impact especially to our trading psychology which is 80% of success.
🧠 Psychological Importance of Risk Management:
🧪 Reduces emotional pressure
When your capital is protected, you stop making desperate, fear-based decisions.
🧪 Builds confidence in your strategy
Knowing you’re safe even if a trade fails allows you to focus on execution, not outcome.
🧪 Eliminates fear of losing
Small, controlled losses become part of the process — not something to avoid or fear.
🧪Improves consistency and discipline
Following rules forces you to act like a professional, not a gambler.
🧪 Prevents burnout and mental fatigue
Managing risk = managing stress. Overexposure to loss drains your mental capital, not just your account.
📌 Final tip
There is no strategy on the world which is only winning. Losses are normal. Same like restaurant owner has a cost with rent and salaries for employees. We as a trader has cost of the doing the business in losses. You cant avoid them.
One loss out of 4 trades is nothing. But what if you get in to a loosing streak like me in the may? How did I survive?
Many people would start doubting the strategy , doing the changes, switching to trading different markets etc.. But NO, if you know your statistical data and stick with the your risk management it will keeps you going. You know that even 75% win rate doesnt guarantee that you cant get in to a loosing streak.
75% winning ratio means that out of 100 trades you will win 75. But still there is 25 looters. And you never know what would be distribution of wins and losses. So you keep going and its only possible if you calculate risk per trade and know how much is your max loss per trade not by using same lot size for random stop loss distance.
“Adapt what is useful. Reject whats useless and add whats is specifically yours.”
David Perk aka Dave FX Hunter
How "Whales" Manipulate Markets: A Trader's Guide to SucceedEvery chart tells a story of institutional footprints. For most, it's chaotic noise. But when you understand the market's true engine — the constant need of "Smart Money" to capture vast amounts of liquidity to fill their orders — that noise turns into a clear map.
This guide will teach you to read that map. We will break down the main types of manipulation and show you how to use them to identify high-probability zones for potential entries.
So, why exactly is liquidity the fuel for these "Smart Money" players, which for simplicity, we'll call "Whales"? It's because a Whale holds the largest volume of funds in a specific asset and, unlike retail traders like us, it cannot open its huge position at any given moment simply because there aren't enough buy or sell offers on the market.
To fill its orders, the Whale constantly carries out manipulations to capture additional liquidity. This isn't about deception or anything negative—it's how the market constantly forms its movements, how whales achieve their goals by moving from one liquidity pool to another, much like whales in the ocean hunt for plankton to get vital energy for long journeys from one feeding ground to another.
Why will these principles of price movement through manipulation, which worked decades ago, continue to work forever? Because human nature doesn't change over time. The crowd is always driven by greed and fear, making it easy to manipulate. Therefore, manipulation is often the motive for the birth of a future move and is a key element in market mechanics. If you understand these mechanics, you will be able to see the footprints of whales on any chart and not only minimize your chances of becoming their food but also join their next move to get your share of the profit in the boundless ocean of market opportunities.
Let's take a closer look at how whales carry out their manipulations and classify their types.
The Whale is constantly in hedged positions. To fill its large-sum orders without impacting the price, it uses the principles of Sell to Buy (STB) and Buy to Sell (BTS) .
The STB manipulation is used to accumulate long positions. To do this, the Whale opens an opposing short position, activating stop orders and liquidations of buyers, purchasing their positions at a favorable price. It also encourages other retail participants, especially breakout traders, to open short positions. Continuing to accumulate long positions, the Whale sharply moves the price up, liquidating short participants and absorbing their positions. After the price has moved up, the Whale is left with an open losing position from its short manipulation. To close it at breakeven or a small loss, the Whale needs to return the price back to the zone of its manipulation. This return is called mitigation .
In the opposite case, when the Whale needs to drive an asset's price down, it uses the BTS manipulation . To fill its short positions, the Whale opens a long position, activating stop-losses and forced liquidations of sellers, and encouraging retail breakout traders to also open long positions. Continuing to accumulate short positions, the Whale aggressively moves the price down, absorbing and liquidating the positions of impatient longs. After the downward impulse is complete, the Whale is left with an open losing long position. Just as in the first case, to close it at zero or a small loss, the Whale needs to return the price to the manipulation zone, after which another markdown of the asset occurs, and the cycle can be repeated as many times as necessary.
Thus, through manipulation, the Whale achieves two goals at once:
It gets the most favorable price.
It eliminates most of its competitors by liquidating their positions with an opposing move.
Most of the time, the price movement between manipulations is unpredictable. Entering during this movement, for example, in the middle or end of an impulse or within a range, increases the chances that you will become a victim of the next manipulation and liquidity for the Whale. However, if you wait for the price to arrive at the manipulation zone, also known as a Point of Interest (POI) , and ensure that the Whale acknowledges this area (i.e., it has stopped there and is beginning a reversal), the probability of choosing the correct direction for a trade will be on your side.
To help you recognize manipulation zones, let's look at their different types.
🔹 Order Block (OB) - A down candle (sometimes 2, rarely 3 candles) before an impulsive move up (in the case of a bullish OB), or an up candle (sometimes 2, rarely 3 candles) before an impulsive move down (in the case of a bearish OB). In most cases, this short, sharp move should sweep some form of significant liquidity. An additional confirmation of an Order Block is the immediate imbalance or Fair Value Gap (FVG) that follows it, because the Whale's intensive position accumulation and the associated impulse move don't allow enough time for all market participants' orders to be filled.
🔹 Demand/Supply Zones are similar in principle to Order Blocks but differ in that they have a more prolonged action, which can consist of many up or down candles, making these zones often significantly wider than OBs.
Demand Zone - The last downward move before an intensive rally.
Supply Zone - The last upward move before an intensive drop.
Often, an Order Block can be found inside a Demand/Supply zone.
🔹 Range - Also a manipulation zone and essentially an Order Block, but unlike an OB, this manipulation can last for a very long time when the Whale lacks sufficient liquidity from a quick manipulation and accumulates its large position by collecting internal and external liquidity through the range. Ranges, just like Order Blocks and Demand/Supply zones, are points of interest for the Whale to close its losing hedged positions and continue moving towards its goals.
Conditions for Applying and Validity of Manipulation Zones
An important condition for applying manipulation zones is that they can only be used once . That is, if the price has come to a zone and reacted to it, upon a second arrival, that zone is no longer valid. For convenience in marking used zones, I shorten them to the point of the first touch so as not to consider them anymore, but to understand which way the order flow is directed—a very important concept that, unlike structure, shows the true direction of the Whale's movement. Order flow is manifested by the price reacting to manipulation zones from below in an uptrend and from above in a downtrend.
It is also very important to understand that it makes sense to identify and use manipulation zones as one of a trade's entry conditions only from below for an uptrend and from above for a downtrend . Any counter-trend zones formed in the path of a trend are highly likely to be broken and serve as liquidity.
In ranges, manipulations formed after deviations can be used for entries from both sides.
Only manipulations that were formed at the beginning of an impulsive price move can be considered valid for entry. That is, they must be the manipulations that directly triggered the start of the move; in Smart Money terminology, they are often called the "origin" . Any manipulation in the middle or end of a move will most likely serve as liquidity on the way back to mitigate the origin zone.
How long does a manipulation zone remain relevant? It remains relevant until a new structural element (a higher high or a lower low) is formed , especially if the price has already come close to the manipulation zone, for example, into the FVG before the zone. This most likely means the Whale has already finished its business there and closed one of its losing hedged positions at a small loss. When the trend changes, such a zone will act as liquidity, not a POI. So, a manipulation zone will not always be mitigated; often, a reversal occurs from the FVG before it. However, entering from an FVG is much less reliable than from an Order Block, Demand/Supply zone, or Range. I personally skip such entries and wait for a new manipulation zone to form and be mitigated; they happen on the market constantly.
A good bonus that further strengthens the probability of a setup working out during the mitigation of manipulation zones is a liquidity sweep upon reaching them.
Consider the context and supplementary conditions. Although manipulation zones are the strongest areas for price reversals, they should always be used in conjunction with other supplementary conditions and tools, for example, with Fibonacci retracement levels or liquidity sweeps. "Context" implies any other conditions that can either confirm or contradict the likely direction of price movement. For example: in which phase of correction is the price? For a long, safe entries can only be considered from the discount zone (below the 50% Fib level); for shorts, only from the premium zone (above the 50% Fib level). Is there significant, un-swept liquidity nearby, such as previous daily, weekly, or monthly highs/lows, or an untouched Asian session high/low? What upcoming news could affect the asset and hit the stop before the setup plays out? At what time of day did the price mitigate the manipulation? Taking context into account is a crucial and integral part of analysis in the search for entry points.
Due to the fractal nature of market charts, manipulations can be seen on any timeframe. On weekly and daily timeframes, manipulation zones can be used for swing trading or investment purchases. 4-hour and 1-hour timeframes will show potential entries from manipulations for intraday trading or holding positions for several days. 5-minute and 1-minute timeframes will show manipulations in the form of order flow for final entry confirmation.
Whatever type of analysis you use for your trading, understanding the nature of market manipulations and practicing their recognition will allow you to be one step ahead of most market participants and open your trades with an understanding of which way institutional capital is most likely to move next.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you found this guide helpful, support it with a Boost! 🚀
Have a question or a "lightbulb moment" from this article? Share it in the comments! I read every single one. 💬
► Follow me on TradingView for more educational content like this and to not miss my next detailed trade idea .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Full Breakdown of My Trading Strategy Dow Futures DaytradingI will be detailing my strategy to both help others and to help myself fine tune my strategy.
My strategy is one of market maker cycles. The end goal: to trade off of the Daily chart by drilling down to the 15 minutes for entries. Everything revolves around the Daily chart. The only indicator I use is ATR, other than that, pure price action. I use opening prices a lot in my trading.
Starting with the MONTHLY chart:
Every month has the following-
An opening price
A first trading day
A last trading day
These are things that ALL traders see and can't misinterpret.
I will use June as the basis for my examples.
I try to figure out what kind of monthly candle is likely to form. Bullish, Bearish or Doji. I use ATR to try to figure out the likely size also. For Dow Futures, a typical Monthly candle is around 3000 ticks +/-
Going to the Daily chart, I mark the beginning of the month and the end of the month.
The meat of the strategy, and the one quite frankly is the most difficult and the most discretionary, is reading price action on the Daily chart to determine what the next daily candle is likely to do and where it opens at. No strategy is 100% accurate and I do take losses from being wrong. With proper risk management ( I will detail my personal risk management later ) you can still make tons of money being 50% right.
Not everyday is meant to be traded and quite frankly, most days are pure trash. Over 55% of all Daily candles are small, resting Doji days. You are looking for the expansion daily candles.
Starting with the first trading of June:
1. May 29th, Large Doji day and and formed a mother bar
2. May 30th, another doji day and still inside the previous bar
3. June 2nd, opened up in middle of inside bar, Bias for day is Long. Buy near the bottom of the inside bar and a break of Yesterday's Low.
This is an actual trade I took. Once I saw the Doji candle on the 15 minute break below yesterday's low I entered in Long. I will go over stops and targets later. For now, I am explaining how I find my bias and locations.
The next day: start the process over again. Look at the Daily and the context of the bars. Look for swing points, Daily highs and lows. Key Daily bars as signals. I usually like to do this 5 minutes after Asia opens just to see where price opens at. I then mark the daily open with a cyan blue line. If I am Long bias then I want to buy under the open at key levels. I use SP as swing point, a daily high or low that has not been broken yet.
Tuesday, I would have a Long bias again. Because we opened still inside of the mother bar and I see highs not broken, I want to trade in that direction. What is a key level on this Tuesday? I see the monthly open right underneath. The big question I would ask myself on this Tuesday is where in that move can I get in on a pullback for the Long trade?
The market gives you an entry here.
I did not take that trade, I WILL show you the trade I did take on this day. After NY opened, I saw the spike into the monthly open and a doji right ON the open. I slammed Long. Especially, the three swing points to be used as the direction.
Now on to trade management. Stops, Targets. I have the same bracket for every trade, so the only variable is my entry. Once I enter, I set my ATM strategy.
I use the 15 minute ATR to determine my stop loss. This part is also up to the individual trader and is discretionary. I will show you MY strategy.
Take a zoomed-out view of the 15-minute chart with the 14 period ATR, mark the clusters of the peak ATR readings from NY sessions. In this case it is between 70-90. I tend to go towards the upper limit, this case 90. I then use 1.25-1.5 times of this reading based on my account and position sizing. In June AND in July, I am using 120 tick stops.
My targets are all strictly 2.5 risk to reward of what my stop is plus or minus a few ticks for commissions. Since I am using 120 tick stops, my targets are therefore, 300-310 ticks. Going back to my Tuesday trade, the trade management would be a set 2.5R all or nothing. Enter the trade and walk away. Go read a book or play PS5. Go to gym. It will either hit stop, target or close out at 4pm NY close.
2 Winning trades wipes away 5 losers. I have losers all the time with a 50% win rate. I can expect 8 losing trades in a row at any given time. Something I have experienced multiple times.
Now on to my money management strategy. The holy grail of this entire system. Quite frankly, how you enter and your strategy at the end of the day doesn't amount to much. How you manage your money is where professionalism is achieved.
Take your starting account balance, divide it in fours. I will use a 10,000 account as simple math.
10,000
2500 Level 1 14.5R
2500 Level 2 11.5R
2500 Level 3 9.5R
2500 Level 4 8.5R
I risk 1.75% per trade and each level will stay fixed until the next level is reached. In this example, Level 1 will be using $175 risk per trade and a 2.5 risk to reward, $440 reward. You will keep risking $175 per trade until you hit your $2500 profit goal to advance to Level 2. In this case this will take you 14.5R
Now you are on Level 2, you find your new account balance is now $12,500. Find 1.75% of this = $220. Keep using $220 risk until you hit another $2500 in profits. This will take you 11.5R.
Keep repeating these steps until you have hit all 4 profit levels and your account has doubled. Your new account balance is now $20,000. You will start this process over again. To double your account you will need a total of 44-45R. At a conservative approach of 5-7% monthly gain, you can expect to double your account in 8 months +/- depending on how good you can get.
The number one major key to ALL OF THIS IS
One trade per Daily candle. You lose on that day, move on and come again tomorrow
All profit targets need to be hit or close out at 4pm depending on price
Not All Pin Bars Are Created EqualA Two-Step Filter to Find the Ones That Actually Matter
We’ve all seen them. Long wicks, tight bodies, price rejecting a level. The classic pin bar. Textbook stuff, right?
But here’s the problem. Pin bars show up all over the chart. Some lead to clean reversals. Most do absolutely nothing. The trick isn’t spotting them. It’s knowing which ones to trust.
This is where a simple two-step filter can help. By asking two key questions, you immediately improve the quality of your trades and cut down on the false positives.
Step One: Where Did It Happen?
Before you look at shape or size, ask yourself one thing.
Did this pin bar form at a meaningful level?
Context is everything. A pin bar that forms into thin air, mid-range or in the middle of chop might look good, but it’s rarely reliable. What you’re looking for is reaction from structure. That could mean:
• A clean horizontal support or resistance level
• A prior swing high or low
• A daily VWAP or anchored VWAP from a key event
• The edge of a range or value area
• A trendline tested multiple times
In short, the level gives the pin bar a reason to exist. It becomes a reaction, not a random candle.
Mark the level before the candle forms. This stops you from retrofitting significance where there isn’t any.
Example:
Here we can see how the volume weighted average price (VWAP) can add meaningful context to a pin-bar setup. In this case, USD/CAD retraced against the prevailing downtrend and tested the VWAP anchored to the recent swing highs. At that point, price formed a clear pin-bar reversal, signalling rejection and potential continuation with the broader trend.
USD/CAD Daily Candle Chart
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results
Step Two: What’s Happening Under the Hood?
Once you’ve got a pin bar at a meaningful level, it’s time to look deeper. One of the best ways to do that is by dropping down to a lower timeframe, like the 5-minute chart, and replaying the session that created the candle.
Why?
Because daily candles can hide a lot. A clean pin bar might look like a strong rejection, but on the intraday chart, it might just be a low-volume fakeout or one impulsive move during quiet hours. On the other hand, a pin bar backed by real market structure is far more likely to hold.
Here’s what to look for on the lower timeframe:
• Was there a liquidity grab or stop run into the level?
• Did price pause, base or reverse with intent?
• Were there multiple attempts to push beyond the level that failed?
• Did volume spike during the rejection?
When a pin bar reflects a genuine intraday battle, not just a random wick, it often tells you more about the intentions of real participants.
Example:
In this example, GBP/USD forms a bearish pin-bar at a key area of swing resistance on the daily chart. Dropping down to the 5-minute timeframe helps reveal what actually happened inside that candle.
On this lower timeframe we can see that price initially pushed above resistance but failed to hold, triggering a steady wave of intraday selling pressure. This move was followed by a mild pullback during the latter half of the US session and into the New York close, reinforcing the idea of rejection and offering insight into the mechanics behind the pin-bar.
GBP/USD Daily Candle Chart
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results
GBP/USD 5min Candle Chart: How the Daily Pin-bar Formed
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results
Bonus Filter: What’s the Trend Context?
You could also add a third layer if you want to refine even further. Is the pin bar counter-trend, or is it a pullback within trend?
Counter-trend pin bars at key levels can work, but they’re lower probability and often take more time to play out. Pin bars that form as part of a pullback to structure in the direction of the prevailing trend tend to move more cleanly.
This is where using something like a 20 EMA or anchored VWAP can help frame the setup.
Putting It All Together
Next time you see a pin bar, pause. Don’t rush in. Ask yourself:
• Did this happen at a level that matters?
• Does the intraday story back up the candle?
If the answer is yes to both, now you’ve got something worth trading. Not just another wick in the wind.
Pin bars can be strong signals, but only when they reflect real intent. This two-step filter helps you cut through the clutter and focus on the ones that do.
Disclaimer: This is for information and learning purposes only. The information provided does not constitute investment advice nor take into account the individual financial circumstances or objectives of any investor. Any information that may be provided relating to past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results or performance. Social media channels are not relevant for UK residents.
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 85.24% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Breakout vs Fakeout: How to Spot the DifferenceHello, Traders! 🖖🏻
There’s probably no phrase that triggers more mixed emotions in crypto trading than: “Looks like we’re breaking out!”. Because let’s be honest…For every clean breakout that follows through with momentum…
…there’s a fakeout waiting to trap overconfident entries.
So, how do you tell the difference? Let’s break it down!
🧱 What Is a Breakout?
A breakout occurs when the price moves decisively beyond a key level, such as support, resistance, a trendline, or a range boundary, and holds.
What makes it a REAL breakout?
Volume Expansion: More participants step in as the price moves through the level.
Strong Candle Closes: Especially on higher timeframes like 4H or 1D.
Follow-Through: The market doesn’t just poke above the level. It builds on it.
No Immediate Rejection: You don’t see a sharp wick straight back below.
Example from BTC (2021):
Look back at January to February 2021. BTC had been stuck under the $42K–$43K resistance for weeks. Every push got sold off, until it didn’t.
When the breakout finally came, it was clean. The massive daily candle closed right through the level. Volume exploded. And there wasn’t even a polite little retest, price just launched straight toward $58K, leaving anyone waiting for a pullback completely behind.
Pure trend breakout energy. Everything lined up: the context, the volume, the structure — textbook 🤌🏻
🪤 What Is a Fakeout?
A fakeout, on the other hand, looks like a breakout… until it isn’t. The price briefly moves beyond a key level, but then snaps back inside the range, often trapping late buyers (or sellers) and triggering stop-losses.
Common Signs of a FAKEOUT:
Low or Declining Volume (at the breakout moment).
Quick Rejection with a Long Wick (especially on intraday charts).
Failure to Hold Above the Level on Retest.
Divergence Between Timeframes: For example, a 15M breakout that looks strong while the 4H still shows consolidation.
Classic BTC example:
This one was sneaky! After BTC hit its all-time high around $65K, the market started looking shaky. Price tried to recover by pushing back into the $58K–$60K zone, a pretty critical level at the time. It looked like a breakout attempt… but something was off. No real volume. No strong candle closes. And then, BOOM, hard rejection. The price popped just enough above resistance to lure in breakout traders (and probably clear out some stop-losses)… then completely reversed. And not just a minor pullback, this fakeout basically triggered the entire leg down toward $30K. Classic liquidity grab. The kind of move that looks like strength for a second… until it absolutely isn’t.
🕵️♂️ Key Differences: Breakout vs Fakeout (Checklist)
🧠 What Causes Fakeouts in Crypto?
Honestly, fakeouts aren’t some kind of accident. They’re almost baked into how crypto markets work.
Part of it comes down to simple liquidity hunting. The market knows exactly where traders tend to place their stop losses, right above resistance or just below support. Price often spikes into those zones, triggers stops, fills larger orders for bigger players… and then reverses completely.
Another reason? A lack of real conviction. Sometimes, it’s mostly retail traders chasing a move. Price pokes above a key level, but there just isn’t enough momentum to sustain it. Without bigger buyers or sellers stepping in, the move collapses right back.
And let’s be honest. When everyone on Crypto Twitter is watching the exact same level, fakeouts become almost inevitable. The more obvious the setup, the more likely it gets front-run, faded, or manipulated.
Plus, a huge mistake? People ignore the higher timeframe context. A breakout on the 15-minute chart might feel exciting… but if the 1D or 4H is still clearly in a downtrend, that breakout is fighting against the bigger picture. No surprise it fails. Fakeouts happen because the market’s job is to make most people wrong, at least for a moment.
🧭 Final Thought
Breakouts and fakeouts are part of the same game: they involve both liquidity and psychology. The market rewards patience, context, and waiting for confirmation. Sometimes, missing the first candle can save you from being a liability to someone else. So, next time an asset “breaks out,” take a second look. Is it really moving with force? Or is it just another trap waiting to be sprung?
What’s the last fakeout that caught you off guard? Drop your story in the comments. Let’s compare lessons learned!
Understanding Elliott Wave Theory with BTC/USDIntroduction to Elliott Wave Theory:
Elliott Wave Theory is a popular method of technical analysis that seeks to predict the future price movement of financial markets. Developed by Ralph Nelson Elliott in the 1930s, the theory is based on the idea that market movements follow a repetitive pattern, driven by investor psychology.
At the core of Elliott’s theory is the idea that markets move in a 5-wave pattern in the direction of the trend, followed by a 3-wave corrective pattern. These waves can be seen on all timeframes and help traders identify potential entry and exit points in the market.
Key Concepts of Elliott Wave Theory:
1. Impulse Waves (The Trend)
2. These are the waves that move in the direction of the overall trend. They are labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and represent the price movement in the main direction of the market.
* Wave 1: The initial move up (or down in a bearish market). I like to mark up the first wave how I do my Fibs, from the point where price showed a major impulse.
* Wave 2: A correction of Wave 1 (it doesn’t go lower than the starting point of Wave 1).
* Wave 3: The longest and most powerful wave in the trend.
* Wave 4: A smaller correction in the direction of the trend.
* Wave 5: The final push in the direction of the trend, which can be shorter and weaker than Wave 3.
3. Corrective Waves (The Pullbacks)
4. After the five-wave impulse, the market enters a corrective phase, moving against the trend. This corrective phase is generally a 3-wave pattern, labeled A, B, C:
* Wave A: The initial correction, typically smaller than Wave 3.
* Wave B: A temporary move against the correction (it often confuses traders who think the trend has resumed).
* Wave C: The final move against the trend, usually the strongest and most aggressive.
How to Implement Elliott Wave on BTC/USD:
Let’s break down how you can apply the Elliott Wave Theory to BTC/USD using a simple example.
1. Identify the Trend
2. Start by identifying the current market trend for BTC/USD. Are we in an uptrend or downtrend? This will determine whether you’re looking for a 5-wave impulse up (bullish) or down (bearish).
3. Locate the Waves
4. Look for the five-wave structure in the trend direction. Once you identify a potential impulse move, label the waves accordingly:
* Wave 1: A new uptrend starts.
* Wave 2: A small pullback (usually less than the size of Wave 1).
* Wave 3: A significant surge in price, often the most volatile.
* Wave 4: A smaller pullback or consolidation.
* Wave 5: The final push higher, which might show signs of exhaustion.
5. Corrective Phase
6. After completing the 5-wave impulse, expect a corrective 3-wave pattern (A, B, C). These corrections typically last longer than expected and can often confuse traders.
* Wave A: Price starts to reverse.
* Wave B: A retracement that may confuse traders into thinking the trend is resuming.
* Wave C: A strong pullback that brings the price even lower.
7. Use Fibonacci Levels as confluence
8. One of the most powerful tools in Elliott Wave analysis is Fibonacci retracement levels. You can use these to predict potential levels where Wave 2 and Wave 4 could end, or where Wave C might complete the correction. Common retracement levels are 38.2%-50% for Wave 4, and 50-61.8% For Waves 2 and B but keep in mind, these wave can retrace up to 100% before the wave analysis becomes invalid. But ideally these points are where you look to make an entry.
Wave 2 Example:
This one hit the golden spot (0.5-0.618) perfectly and continued to push upward.
Wave B and C Example:
This example hit closer to the 0.786 level which is also a key level for retracement.
Wave 4 Example:
This one hit the golden spot (0.382-0.5) for Wave 4 perfectly before continue the bullish momentum.
I try to use the RED levels below (1.1 and 1.2) as my invalidation (Stop Loss) levels and the GREEN levels (-0.27 and -0.618) as my Take Profit levels. Depending on your goals you can also use Fib Levels 0.236 and 0 as partial Take Profit levels.
9. Confirm with Indicators
10. To validate your Elliott Wave counts, use other indicators like the RSI (Relative Strength Index), MACD, or Moving Averages. For example, a Wave 3 might occur when the RSI is above 50, indicating strength in the trend.
In this example you can see the RSI cross the 50 threshold and the 3rd Wave form.
Continuation after the Wave is complete:
Tips for Trading with Elliott Wave Theory:
* Stay Flexible: Elliott Wave Theory is not set in stone. If the market doesn’t follow the expected pattern, adjust your wave counts accordingly.
* Don’t Rely on One Timeframe: A 5-wave structure on one timeframe may be part of a larger wave pattern on a higher timeframe. Always analyze multiple timeframes.
* Wave Personality: Waves don’t always look the same as stated earlier. Wave 2 can retrace up to 100% of Wave 1 and Wave 4 should generally not overlap Wave 1 or this may invalidate the Wave structure.
* Risk Management: Always use proper risk management techniques. No theory is perfect, so make sure you have a stop-loss in place to manage your risk.
Conclusion: Using Elliott Wave Theory on BTC/USD:
The Elliott Wave Theory can be a powerful tool for analyzing and forecasting price movements. By identifying the 5-wave impulse and 3-wave corrective patterns, you can gain insights into potential market direction. Just remember to use it alongside other tools and indicators for confirmation, and don’t forget to manage your risk.
As you apply it to BTC/USD or any other asset, remember that the market doesn’t always follow the "ideal" patterns, and flexibility is key. Practice on different timeframes, refine your skills, and use the theory as a part of your overall trading strategy.
Final Thoughts:
If you're just starting, don't get discouraged if you miss a wave or two. Trading is a journey, and with patience and practice, you'll begin to spot these patterns more naturally. Whether you’re analyzing Bitcoin's price action or any other asset, Elliott Wave Theory can give you a deeper understanding of market psychology.
Good Luck and Happy Trading!
Using the New 2025 TradingView Screener to find Golden CrossesIn this video, I show you how to use the new TradingView 2025 screener to quickly find stocks forming a golden cross and how to add the 50 and 200 simple moving averages to your charts for clear visual confirmation. A golden cross happens when the 50 moving average crosses up through the 200 moving average. Many traders (both fundamental and technical) watch for this pattern as a sign that a stock (or even whole market) may be shifting from a downtrend to a new uptrend.
Using the TradingView Screener we can quickly find Golden crosses to help filter for potential momentum setups without having to scan hundreds of charts manually. They are not magic signals, but when combined with your own analysis, they can help you spot bigger picture trends that are gaining strength. I walk through step-by-step how to set up your screener to catch these crossovers and add them to your watchlist.
If you want to keep your trading process simple while still catching moves early, this is a practical tool worth adding to your workflow. I also show a few quick tips on how to clean up your filters to reduce the number of stocks you have to go through.
Hope you find this useful. Please like and follow if you do :)
Quantum Computing - Why BTC isn't the biggest worryYou’ve probably heard that quantum computing could break Bitcoin’s encryption—and that’s true. But here’s the thing: Bitcoin might not even be the biggest target.
The real risks? Financial systems, national security, healthcare, and even the internet itself. These areas rely on the same encryption methods that quantum computers could crack, and the fallout could be far worse than a Bitcoin hack.
Let’s break it down.
1️⃣ Financial Systems: A Global Crisis Waiting to Happen
Imagine if hackers could:
Drain bank accounts at will.
Manipulate stock markets.
Fake trillion-dollar transactions.
This isn’t just about stolen crypto—it’s about economic chaos. Banks, stock exchanges, and payment systems all depend on encryption. If quantum computers break it, we’re looking at a meltdown way bigger than Bitcoin’s $3 trillion market.
2️⃣ National Security & Internet Privacy: A Hacker’s Dream
Governments and militaries use encryption to:
Protect classified intelligence.
Secure communications between leaders.
Guard critical infrastructure (power grids, water supplies).
If quantum computers crack these codes, entire nations could be exposed to cyberwarfare. Your private data? At risk too—email, messaging, even your online banking could be decrypted years later.
3️⃣ Healthcare, Supply Chains & IoT: The Hidden Vulnerabilities
Medical records could be leaked, exposing sensitive health data.
Smart devices (like home security systems) could be hacked.
Supply chains might collapse if logistics networks are breached.
These systems weren’t built with quantum threats in mind—and upgrading them won’t be easy.
🔴 The Bigger Picture: A "Civilizational Upgrade"
Switching to quantum-resistant encryption is like rebuilding the internet’s foundation. It’s necessary, but messy. Some experts compare it to the Y2K bug—but way harder.
🔷 So, Is Bitcoin Safe?
Not entirely—about 25% of all Bitcoin could be stolen if quantum computers advance fast enough. But compared to the risks facing banks, governments, and hospitals? Bitcoin might be the least of our worries.
🔷 What’s Next?
Governments & companies are already working on fixes (like NIST’s post-quantum cryptography standards).
The transition will take years—and hackers might exploit weak spots along the way.
Staying informed is key. If you’re in tech, finance, or security, this affects you.
ℹ️ Want to Dive Deeper?
Deloitte’s take on quantum computing & Bitcoin
Forbes on quantum risks beyond crypto
🤷♂️ Bottom line?
Quantum computing is coming—and while Bitcoin has risks, the real danger lies in the systems we all depend on every day.
❔What do you think? Will we be ready in time? Let me know in the comments! 🚀
Why Traders Freeze: The Psychology Behind Not Cutting LossesFirst up: let’s address the elephant in the room. Loss aversion — that great human flaw. From the moment your ancient ancestor decided to poke a saber-toothed tiger to see what happens, the brain has been hard-coded to avoid pain at all costs.
Loss aversion is literally in your DNA — studies show people feel the sting of a loss twice as intensely as the pleasure of an equivalent gain.
When you see that trade slip into the red, your rational brain may say, “Cut it, the setup is invalid, live to trade another day.” But your emotional brain — the one still grunting in a cave — is screaming, “It might come back! Hold! HOOOLD!” So you sit, frozen.
🌱 Hope: The Most Expensive Four-Letter Word
Hope is the silent killer of trading accounts. You think you’re being patient as you decide to give the trade “room to breathe.”
But what you’re really doing is outsourcing your exit strategy to technical tools, news headlines, and anything that’s not your own choice, hoping something will rescue your losing position.
This is how tiny losses can turn into portfolio ruin. Just ask anyone who’s held a small-cap memecoin down 90% because the “team has potential.”
🧊 Analysis Paralysis: When the Chart Becomes a Maze
Another reason traders freeze? Overanalysis. One bad candle and suddenly you’re toggling between the 1-minute, 5-minute, and daily chart like you’re hacking into the Pentagon. And your trendlines? You’re probably drawing them wrong .
More data rarely leads to more decisive action. It just feeds your brain conflicting signals until you’re convinced you see a bounce that isn’t there. Meanwhile, the loss grows. And grows. And then you’re back to hope. Rinse, repeat.
😬 The Ego Monster: Admitting You’re Wrong
Here’s the harsh truth: cutting a loss means admitting you were wrong. For traders, whose entire identity can hinge on being “smart money,” that feels like public humiliation. The ego monster wants you to be right more than it wants you to be profitable.
So instead of taking the small L, you’ll cling to the trade because closing it out would force you to look in the mirror and say, “I was wrong and I need to do better.”
🏴☠️ From Risk Management to Revenge Trading
Once you’ve frozen long enough, you reach the next stage of the bad-losing cycle: revenge trading . Now you’re not just trying to recover your loss; you’re out to punish the market for “taking” your money.
Spoiler alert: the market doesn’t know you exist, and it certainly doesn’t care. Maybe this is the gambler’s mindset disguised as a “strategy?”
📉 Blame the Tools? Not So Fast
Some traders love to blame outside factors like the Economic calendar or their indicators when they freeze. “My RSI didn’t signal this! The MACD betrayed me!” Indicators are just tools — they don’t make decisions for you. You do.
Hiding behind tools means you refuse to take accountability. It’s a convenient excuse that can keep you stuck in the same losing habits. Better to master the one tool that matters: your discipline .
✂️ The Beauty of the Hard Stop
All hail the hard stop — the trader’s seatbelt. It’s not attractive, it’s mechanical, but it’s often the only thing standing between you and a potentially blown-up account.
The reason some traders can survive the market for decades isn’t because they’re never wrong — it’s because they’ve learned to make their stops non-negotiable.
A stop-loss is you telling your brain, “Hey, I’m not smarter than the market, so I’ll automate the decision before I get emotional.” It takes the agony out of cutting a loss because you’ve already decided on the outcome before your lizard brain can intervene.
⚖️ Small Losses Are the Cost of Doing Business
Want to feel better about cutting that loss? Think of it as your tuition fee. Every trader pays a certain cost to the market — it’s the cost of playing the game. No one gets every trade right. The pros just get better at losing small.
Those big-shot money spinners you look up to? They didn’t build their empire by never losing. They’re pros at getting out when they’re wrong. The difference between a pro and a blow-up isn’t the winning trade — it’s the ruthless discipline on the losing ones.
🧘♂️ Finding Comfort in Discomfort
There’s no magic trick to make loss-cutting feel good. It always stings. But you can train your brain to see a small loss as a win for your long-term survival. Write it down. Journal the trade . Log the emotion. Over time you’ll realize that the trades you exit early rarely haunt you.
🏁 Face the Fear, Keep the Account
And finally, freezing in front of a loss doesn’t protect you — it likely means you’ll pay more than you should. Next time your gut says, “Maybe it’ll come back…” ask yourself: “Do I want to be right, or do I want to trade another day?”
Your job is to trade well and stay in the game for as long as possible.
Your turn, traders : what’s your biggest “should’ve cut it sooner” horror story? Drop it below — we promise not to say we told you so.
Pine Screener - Powerful tool for building programmable screenerHello Everyone,
In this video, we have discussed on how to use pine screener utility of tradingview. We are making use of the indicator Divergence Screener for this demonstration and screen stocks undergoing bullish divergence.
In a nutshell, here are the steps:
🎯 Use Stock Screener to build watchlist of less than 1000 symbols
🎯 Add the indicator you want to use in the pine screener to your favorites.
🎯 Pine screener can be accessed from the tradingview screener menu or you can simply click on the link tradingview.sweetlogin.com
🎯 Add the watchlist and indicator to the pine screener and adjust the timeframe and indicator settings
🎯 Select the criteria to be scanned and press scan
How to mark your charts Lightning fast!One of the things I didn't like was marking my charts. I would take so much time marking my charts and adding the prices on the side. My mentor showed me the fastest way. Just use the FIB tool and use "0" and "1". Now you can focus on other important things. I want to thank my mentor for showing me this. Good luck to everyone
Top fundamentals that will shape the S&P 500 this summer 2025The summer of 2025 is characterized by a combination of macroeconomic and microeconomic factors that will shape the trajectory of the US equity market. While the S&P 500 is trading close to its all-time highs and at a valuation comparable to that at the end of 2021, the strength of the upward momentum will depend on the conjunction of several key variables. Understanding these fundamentals is crucial to grasping the potential and risks awaiting investors over the coming months.
1) The trade war and economic diplomacy, the main source of uncertainty
The trade issue remains the most unpredictable at the start of the summer. The July 9 deadline for the conclusion or failure of tariff negotiations is crystallizing tensions between the United States and its main partners. The prospect of a new wave of tariffs could have a direct impact on production costs, inflation and business confidence. Trade diplomacy is thus the variable most likely to provoke volatility jolts and challenge positive earnings growth expectations. If trade agreements are signed, then this will help to sustain the S&P 500's uptrend.
2) US fiscal policy: the “One Big, Beautiful Bill”
The Trump administration's major tax bill is another hotspot. This piece of legislation calls for an extension of the tax cuts initiated in 2017 and a dramatic increase in the public debt ceiling, to the tune of $5,000 billion. While these measures potentially support consumption and private investment, their medium-term impact on public finances is uncertain. The real issue for the equity market is to assess whether these decisions will lead to a surge in long-term US bond yields. A slippage in US Treasury yields would increase corporate financing costs and undermine currently high valuation multiples. Conversely, if yields remain contained, the equity market's upward momentum could continue.
3) Inflation and the Fed's monetary policy: a delicate balance
The trajectory of inflation, in particular that of the PCE index, will be a major determinant. US inflation is currently slightly below the Fed's target. Several components, notably the services sector, which accounts for almost two-thirds of the PCE basket, are proving relatively stable. Inflationary risks are more likely to come from commodities, particularly if trade tensions reignite. Oil, which accounts for around 11% of the PCE basket, is currently showing no major warning signs, benefiting from a geopolitical calm. Real estate and healthcare are also showing reassuring indicators. Against this backdrop, the Federal Reserve is adopting a cautious stance: while several major Western central banks are moving towards a neutral rate, the Fed is stalling and conditioning its monetary pivot on visibility regarding tariffs and corporate behavior.
The timing of rate cuts is one of the biggest sticking points. According to recent signals, the first rate cut could take place as early as September. However, influential members of the FOMC, appointed by the Trump administration, are arguing for earlier easing. The political pressure is strong: Trump is calling for immediate cuts, but Chairman Powell remains in control of the agenda, taking care to preserve a consensus within the committee.
4) The job market and the likelihood of a recession
The US employment situation is an advanced barometer of the economic cycle. Weekly jobless claims and the aggregate unemployment rate are closely monitored. Historically, a significant rise in unemployment signals that the economic slowdown is already underway. For the time being, the labor market is proving resilient, but the slightest deterioration could alter investors' central scenario and reinforce recessionary expectations. This risk is one of the potential dampeners to the prevailing optimism, unless it were to accelerate the timetable for resuming the cut in the federal funds rate.
5) Second-quarter results and earnings outlook
The second-quarter earnings season is of particular importance. US companies must demonstrate their ability to deliver earnings growth in line with forecasts, even as valuation multiples remain stretched. Maintaining high price levels on the S&P 500 assumes robust earnings growth and confident guidance from management. Failing this, the risk of a correction would be high, especially as the market has already incorporated many positive factors. The weakness of the US dollar and the price of oil, as well as the current momentum in AI, could hold out some pleasant surprises for second-quarter results.
6) Geopolitics and oil, potential sources of volatility
Finally, global geopolitics is a second-order variable, but one that could suddenly become a priority. A rapid deterioration in the international situation, particularly in the Middle East or the China Sea, could affect trade flows and oil prices, fuelling renewed inflation and financial volatility.
Conclusion :
The summer of 2025 promises to be a period of strategic transition for the US equity market. Between trade diplomacy, fiscal policy, inflation, the trajectory of interest rates and earnings momentum, investors will have to deal with an accumulation of uncertain factors. If these uncertainties gradually dissipate, the uptrend could continue. Conversely, the combination of a geopolitical shock, a rebound in inflation and a political stalemate over the federal budget would have the potential to weaken the current rally.
DISCLAIMER:
This content is intended for individuals who are familiar with financial markets and instruments and is for information purposes only. The presented idea (including market commentary, market data and observations) is not a work product of any research department of Swissquote or its affiliates. This material is intended to highlight market action and does not constitute investment, legal or tax advice. If you are a retail investor or lack experience in trading complex financial products, it is advisable to seek professional advice from licensed advisor before making any financial decisions.
This content is not intended to manipulate the market or encourage any specific financial behavior.
Swissquote makes no representation or warranty as to the quality, completeness, accuracy, comprehensiveness or non-infringement of such content. The views expressed are those of the consultant and are provided for educational purposes only. Any information provided relating to a product or market should not be construed as recommending an investment strategy or transaction. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
Swissquote and its employees and representatives shall in no event be held liable for any damages or losses arising directly or indirectly from decisions made on the basis of this content.
The use of any third-party brands or trademarks is for information only and does not imply endorsement by Swissquote, or that the trademark owner has authorised Swissquote to promote its products or services.
Swissquote is the marketing brand for the activities of Swissquote Bank Ltd (Switzerland) regulated by FINMA, Swissquote Capital Markets Limited regulated by CySEC (Cyprus), Swissquote Bank Europe SA (Luxembourg) regulated by the CSSF, Swissquote Ltd (UK) regulated by the FCA, Swissquote Financial Services (Malta) Ltd regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority, Swissquote MEA Ltd. (UAE) regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority, Swissquote Pte Ltd (Singapore) regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Swissquote Asia Limited (Hong Kong) licensed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and Swissquote South Africa (Pty) Ltd supervised by the FSCA.
Products and services of Swissquote are only intended for those permitted to receive them under local law.
All investments carry a degree of risk. The risk of loss in trading or holding financial instruments can be substantial. The value of financial instruments, including but not limited to stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies, and other assets, can fluctuate both upwards and downwards. There is a significant risk of financial loss when buying, selling, holding, staking, or investing in these instruments. SQBE makes no recommendations regarding any specific investment, transaction, or the use of any particular investment strategy.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. The vast majority of retail client accounts suffer capital losses when trading in CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Digital Assets are unregulated in most countries and consumer protection rules may not apply. As highly volatile speculative investments, Digital Assets are not suitable for investors without a high-risk tolerance. Make sure you understand each Digital Asset before you trade.
Cryptocurrencies are not considered legal tender in some jurisdictions and are subject to regulatory uncertainties.
The use of Internet-based systems can involve high risks, including, but not limited to, fraud, cyber-attacks, network and communication failures, as well as identity theft and phishing attacks related to crypto-assets.
Debugging Pine Script with log.info()log.info() is one of the most powerful tools in Pine Script that no one knows about. Whenever you code, you want to be able to debug, or find out why something isn’t working. The log.info() command will help you do that. Without it, creating more complex Pine Scripts becomes exponentially more difficult.
The first thing to note is that log.info() only displays strings. So, if you have a variable that is not a string, you must turn it into a string in order for log.info() to work. The way you do that is with the str.tostring() command. And remember, it's all lower case! You can throw in any numeric value (float, int, timestamp) into str.string() and it should work.
Next, in order to make your output intelligible, you may want to identify whatever value you are logging. For example, if an RSI value is 50, you don’t want a bunch of lines that just say “50”. You may want it to say “RSI = 50”.
To do that, you’ll have to use the concatenation operator. For example, if you have a variable called “rsi”, and its value is 50, then you would use the “+” concatenation symbol.
EXAMPLE 1
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
//@version=6
indicator("log.info()")
rsi = ta.rsi(close,14)
log.info(“RSI= ” + str.tostring(rsi))
Example Output =>
RSI= 50
Here, we use double quotes to create a string that contains the name of the variable, in this case “RSI = “, then we concatenate it with a stringified version of the variable, rsi.
Now that you know how to write a log, where do you view them? There isn’t a lot of documentation on it, and the link is not conveniently located.
Open up the “Pine Editor” tab at the bottom of any chart view, and you’ll see a “3 dot” button at the top right of the pane. Click that, and right above the “Help” menu item you’ll see “Pine logs”. Clicking that will open that to open a pane on the right of your browser - replacing whatever was in the right pane area before. This is where your log output will show up.
But, because you’re dealing with time series data, using the log.info() command without some type of condition will give you a fast moving stream of numbers that will be difficult to interpret. So, you may only want the output to show up once per bar, or only under specific conditions.
To have the output show up only after all computations have completed, you’ll need to use the barState.islast command. Remember, barState is camelCase, but islast is not!
EXAMPLE 2
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
//@version=6
indicator("log.info()")
rsi = ta.rsi(close,14)
if barState.islast
log.info("RSI=" + str.tostring(rsi))
plot(rsi)
However, this can be less than ideal, because you may want the value of the rsi variable on a particular bar, at a particular time, or under a specific chart condition. Let’s hit these one at a time.
In each of these cases, the built-in bar_index variable will come in handy. When debugging, I typically like to assign a variable “bix” to represent bar_index, and include it in the output.
So, if I want to see the rsi value when RSI crosses above 0.5, then I would have something like:
EXAMPLE 3
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
//@version=6
indicator("log.info()")
rsi = ta.rsi(close,14)
bix = bar_index
rsiCrossedOver = ta.crossover(rsi,0.5)
if rsiCrossedOver
log.info("bix=" + str.tostring(bix) + " - RSI=" + str.tostring(rsi))
plot(rsi)
Example Output =>
bix=19964 - RSI=51.8449459867
bix=19972 - RSI=50.0975830828
bix=19983 - RSI=53.3529808079
bix=19985 - RSI=53.1595745146
bix=19999 - RSI=66.6466337654
bix=20001 - RSI=52.2191767466
Here, we see that the output only appears when the condition is met.
A useful thing to know is that if you want to limit the number of decimal places, then you would use the command str.tostring(rsi,”#.##”), which tells the interpreter that the format of the number should only be 2 decimal places. Or you could round the rsi variable with a command like rsi2 = math.round(rsi*100)/100 . In either case you’re output would look like:
bix=19964 - RSI=51.84
bix=19972 - RSI=50.1
bix=19983 - RSI=53.35
bix=19985 - RSI=53.16
bix=19999 - RSI=66.65
bix=20001 - RSI=52.22
This would decrease the amount of memory that’s being used to display your variable’s values, which can become a limitation for the log.info() command. It only allows 4096 characters per line, so when you get to trying to output arrays (which is another cool feature), you’ll have to keep that in mind.
Another thing to note is that log output is always preceded by a timestamp, but for the sake of brevity, I’m not including those in the output examples.
If you wanted to only output a value after the chart was fully loaded, that’s when barState.islast command comes in. Under this condition, only one line of output is created per tick update — AFTER the chart has finished loading. For example, if you only want to see what the the current bar_index and rsi values are, without filling up your log window with everything that happens before, then you could use the following code:
EXAMPLE 4
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
//@version=6
indicator("log.info()")
rsi = ta.rsi(close,14)
bix = bar_index
if barstate.islast
log.info("bix=" + str.tostring(bix) + " - RSI=" + str.tostring(rsi))
Example Output =>
bix=20203 - RSI=53.1103309071
This value would keep updating after every new bar tick.
The log.info() command is a huge help in creating new scripts, however, it does have its limitations. As mentioned earlier, only 4096 characters are allowed per line. So, although you can use log.info() to output arrays, you have to be aware of how many characters that array will use.
The following code DOES NOT WORK! And, the only way you can find out why will be the red exclamation point next to the name of the indicator. That, and nothing will show up on the chart, or in the logs.
// CODE DOESN’T WORK
//@version=6
indicator("MW - log.info()")
var array rsi_arr = array.new()
rsi = ta.rsi(close,14)
bix = bar_index
rsiCrossedOver = ta.crossover(rsi,50)
if rsiCrossedOver
array.push(rsi_arr, rsi)
if barstate.islast
log.info("rsi_arr:" + str.tostring(rsi_arr))
log.info("bix=" + str.tostring(bix) + " - RSI=" + str.tostring(rsi))
plot(rsi)
// No code errors, but will not compile because too much is being written to the logs.
However, after putting some time restrictions in with the i_startTime and i_endTime user input variables, and creating a dateFilter variable to use in the conditions, I can limit the size of the final array. So, the following code does work.
EXAMPLE 5
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
// CODE DOES WORK
//@version=6
indicator("MW - log.info()")
i_startTime = input.time(title="Start", defval=timestamp("01 Jan 2025 13:30 +0000"))
i_endTime = input.time(title="End", defval=timestamp("1 Jan 2099 19:30 +0000"))
var array rsi_arr = array.new()
dateFilter = time >= i_startTime and time <= i_endTime
rsi = ta.rsi(close,14)
bix = bar_index
rsiCrossedOver = ta.crossover(rsi,50) and dateFilter // <== The dateFilter condition keeps the array from getting too big
if rsiCrossedOver
array.push(rsi_arr, rsi)
if barstate.islast
log.info("rsi_arr:" + str.tostring(rsi_arr))
log.info("bix=" + str.tostring(bix) + " - RSI=" + str.tostring(rsi))
plot(rsi)
Example Output =>
rsi_arr:
bix=20210 - RSI=56.9030578034
Of course, if you restrict the decimal places by using the rounding the rsi value with something like rsiRounded = math.round(rsi * 100) / 100 , then you can further reduce the size of your array. In this case the output may look something like:
Example Output =>
rsi_arr:
bix=20210 - RSI=55.6947486019
This will give your code a little breathing room.
In a nutshell, I was coding for over a year trying to debug by pushing output to labels, tables, and using libraries that cluttered up my code. Once I was able to debug with log.info() it was a game changer. I was able to start building much more advanced scripts. Hopefully, this will help you on your journey as well.