Trade in a sideways market

30 Mac

Main price pattern of financial instruments

So, when we talk about the price of financial stuff, like stocks or crypto, it often moves in specific ranges over different timeframes, right? Whether it's weekly, daily, hourly, or even minute charts, prices tend to hang out in these ranges for a while. Traders call this kind of price movement "consolidation," "range-bound," or simply a "sideways market."
In this article, we'll just call it a sideways market or range. When prices are stuck in this sideways action, they can break out with a sudden burst of momentum, kickstarting a trend, or they might just keep bouncing around, forming a new sideways pattern.

Let's check out the daily chart of BTCUSDT starting from October 2021. On the chart (see above), we've marked those periods where the price was moving sideways with blue markers. Since October 2021, we've spotted 7 of these sideways patterns. We label the first point of each sideways move as "1". Out of 884 trading days, the price was stuck in this sideways action for 758 days (884 - 72 - 39 - 15), which makes up about 85%. This means that throughout this whole period, you could've been looking at trades from one edge of the sideways range to the other.
Based on my estimates, most financial instruments spend more than 75% of their time in this sideways market mode.

So, knowing how to trade in sideways markets is a super important skill for traders. And for investors, understanding these sideways moves can really amp up the profitability of their investments by pinpointing better entry and exit points.
For example, right now, considering buying BABA stocks might be a good idea because the price is chilling at the bottom of a sideways range on the weekly chart.
Example1


Mastering the Skills for Successful Trading in Sideways Market

Being able to effectively trade within trading ranges, between their boundaries, requires not only a certain amount of knowledge but also the development of specific skills. Initially, one must grasp the theoretical foundations and then apply them in practice, gradually honing their skills. Let's look at the necessary skills:

• Skill 1: Understanding and applying the Concept of Time Frame (TF) Interconnection: higher TF, lower TF. Grasping the context of the higher TF in relation to the sideways market TF.
  
• Skill 2: Identifying sideways market: determining the absolute and current boundaries of the range, as well as the current direction (vector) of price movement.
  
• Skill 3: Recognizing zones of interest for buyers and sellers.
  
• Skill 4: Determining the presence of buyers at the lower boundary (bottom protection by buyers) and sellers at the upper boundary (top protection by sellers).
  
• Skill 5: Adhering to risk management principles when entering trades (especially crucial for traders).
  

Each of these skills is based on a vast amount of knowledge that needs to be absorbed first and then applied in practice. The journey can be long and sometimes tedious. Is there a way to hack this system and shorten the time it takes to acquire knowledge, develop skills, and start trading? Well, there are options. For example, you can use technical indicators (such as RSI, Bollinger Bands, ATR, etc.) to make buying or selling decisions. Or you could completely bypass the process of acquiring knowledge and skills and rely on signals from Telegram channels or expert opinions. But what will you find there about trading in sideways market (ranges), where the market spends more than 75% of its time?

This series of articles is written for those who are ready to take control of their financial destiny, who strive to understand how financial markets work, and who want to master the skills of independent trading and making more informed investment decisions. Here you will find the knowledge and tools to start understanding what is happening in the financial markets and how to profit from it. I don't promise any magic pills or "money" buttons:).
So, let's get started.

Skill 1: Applying the Concept of Time Frame Interconnection

The higher time frame (TF) always takes precedence over the lower one. For instance, if we observe on the daily chart that the market is in a seller's zone (which is determined by Skill 3), then on the hourly chart, we need to analyze the seller's actions (Skill 4) and primarily look for selling opportunities. However, there might be a situation where the seller is inactive, and the price starts to rise due to buyer pressure (in this case, Skill 4 comes into play again).
Example2


On the provided chart, areas of seller interest are marked in red, while buyer interest areas are marked in blue. Let's examine the period from March 25th to March 27th, highlighted in yellow on the chart.
On the daily TF, we observe sideways movement since December 22, 2023, with the bearish vector (11-12) being relevant. The first target of the bearish vector, 3.119, was reached on March 19, 2024. The second target (2.822) and the third (2.611) remain valid. On March 25th, the price returned to the seller's zone on the daily chart (the red zone with the lower boundary at 3.680).
On the hourly chart, on March 25th, the price trend reached the daily seller's zone and formed a range with 7 points. The breakout from this range occurred downwards on March 27th. Therefore, in this range, it was advisable to look for selling opportunities from the upper boundary and riskily consider buying from the lower one.
Similarly, you can make investment decisions by analyzing, for example, the weekly and daily TFs.

To be continued...

P.S. This is indeed an interesting point! Despite the fact that the market spends more than 75% of its time in sideways movement, indicators and strategies specifically designed for trading in this mode have not gained as much popularity as other trading approaches. Even on the internet, including TV and trading Telegram channels, signals or analyses based on identifying sideways movement are very rarely encountered. If you have experience or knowledge about trading methods in sideways markets (including indicators), please share them in the comments!