Trading ranges Short
Second-entry sell near the top of a range
Upper edge of a mature trading range. Buyers fail twice to achieve upside continuation.
Read the sequence.
01 / OBSERVE → DECIDE- ContextUpper edge of a mature trading range
- PressureBuyers fail twice to achieve upside continuation
- SetupUpper edge of a mature trading range. Require rejection or acceptance at the marked structure.
- DecisionSecond bear trigger at the range edge
The decision map
02 / QUICK REFERENCE- Location
- Upper edge of a mature trading range.
- Evidence
- Buyers fail twice to achieve upside continuation.
- Trigger
- Second bear trigger at the range edge.
- Invalidation
- Break above the range extreme.
- First objective
- Range midpoint.
- Pass when
- The second attempt is a pause in a strong bull breakout.
03 / THE FULL ARGUMENT
Thesis & participant logic
Supplied study draft · adapted Brooks-style prose, not a quotation from Al Brooks
Price is in the upper third of a mature range. The first reversal down failed, but bulls could not sustain the breakout. A second bear attempt forms after buying pressure weakens. I will sell below the second-entry signal. My thesis is wrong above the range extreme. I will target the midpoint.
04 / FROM IDEA TO A PLAN
Manage the thesis, not the need to be right.
Before entry
Write the structural invalidation and first realistic objective. Size to the loss you have already accepted, including costs and possible slippage. If the stop is unaffordable, reduce size or pass.
After entry
Reassess follow-through against the evidence above. Do not widen the stop or add because price “has gone too far.” A bounce to your average entry is not a market thesis.
At the objective
Range midpoint. Decide ahead of time whether to exit or retain a defined remainder. Continue only while structure and follow-through support the trade.
During review
Record the entry-time chart, planned risk, maximum adverse excursion, actual exit, and whether the thesis was invalidated. Judge the decision separately from the outcome.