Liquidity sweep
A breach of a visible boundary followed by rejection back through it.
What to look for
- Boundary existed before the breach
- Price trades beyond it by a minimum amount
- Close or later bar returns inside
The lower edge of the range is already clear before price trades beneath it. The sweep candle closes back inside, and the next candle holds there.
For an upper sweep, price trades above an established high, closes back inside, then stays below. The candles still cannot tell you who placed the underlying orders.When the pattern is confirmed
The return close, displacement, or a lower-timeframe structure rule.
Where the idea is wrong
Acceptance beyond the swept extreme.
The easy mistake
The liquidity narrative is not directly observable from candles alone.
A complete liquidity sweep example
Use a boundary that existed before the breach, such as equal highs or lows, a session extreme or a previous-day level. Describe the chart event neutrally as a failed breakout rather than claiming who traded there.
First rule to test
Return close — enter only when price trades beyond the boundary and a complete candle closes back inside.
Alternative rule
Boundary retest — after the return close, wait for price to revisit the boundary from inside and reject it before entering.
Place it where the pattern is wrong
Place the example stop one fixed ATR fraction beyond the furthest price reached during the sweep.
Context, trigger and risk
The pattern handles timing. The other tools decide whether the location makes sense and how far normal price movement can reach.
Provides visible boundaries that predate the breach.
Defines Asian, London or New York extremes with fixed times.
Sets the minimum breach and stop buffer in comparable units.
First exit to test
Range rotation — close at the range midpoint or opposite edge chosen before entry.
Alternative exit
Nearest structure — close at the first opposing swing that was visible when price returned inside.
Patterns need a method around them
Open a related strategy to see the wider market filter, entry, stop, exit and no-trade rule.
London range breakout
Studies expansion beyond a precisely timed pre-London range.
- ENTRY
- Enter at the next M15 open after the first completed 07:00–10:00 candle closes at least 0.10 × ATR beyond the frozen range high or low.
- STOP
- Place the stop at the frozen range midpoint. Risk 0.25% of equity, rounded down to 0.01 lot, because session gaps and spread expansion are material.
- EXIT
- Place a fixed 1.5R target. Close any remainder at the 10:00 London bar close.
Asian range fade
Tests mean reversion at a specifically defined Asian-session boundary.
- ENTRY
- Enter at next M15 open toward the frozen midpoint after the first qualifying same-bar reclaim.
- STOP
- Stop 0.20 × ATR beyond the excursion extreme. Risk 0.25% of equity and round down to 0.01 lot.
- EXIT
- Exit at the frozen midpoint or at the 08:00 UTC bar open, whichever comes first.
Support and resistance rejection
A framework for testing reactions at levels that genuinely predate the trade.
- ENTRY
- Enter at the next H1 open after the first qualifying rejection close back above the prior-day low or below the prior-day high.
- STOP
- Place stop 0.20 × ATR beyond the rejection candle extreme. Risk 0.50% of equity and round down to 0.01 lot.
- EXIT
- Take profit at 2R. Exit after 12 completed H1 bars if neither stop nor target trades.
Try it on older charts
Use the neutral term failed breakout and compare session, news and range-age buckets.