Riding the Wyckoff Wave

[DbPhoenix]

Price then resumes its decline and volume becomes climactic. However, even though price breaks the newly-extended supply line, it does not break the previous swing high. Nor is price anywhere near the next potential support level of 1970. All of this constitutes continued weakness.

[DbPhoenix]

Price continues its decline and volume is again "climactic". Even more so. But, again, price doesn't even come near the supply line, much less the previous swing point:

[DbPhoenix]

Price now reaches the next potential support level at 1970. Since the angle of decline is greater, an additional, more form-fitting supply line is drawn. Volume is again "climactic" and the "test" is on lighter volume, a seeming classic buy signal given that all of this is taking place at potential support.

However, even though price breaks this new supply line, it breaches the previous, minor swing high by only a couple of ticks, and there's no "bullish push". The experienced Wyckoff trader takes note of all of this and exits his long, if he had taken it at all.

[DbPhoenix]

Now we approach the next potential support level, the midpoint of the upmove on the 1st, and the trader begins paying attention to volume again.

Here the angle of decline increases again and a new supply line is drawn (the experienced trader knows that as these angles become more acute, the probability of their being broken increases), but even though volume becomes increasingly "climactic", price doesn't break the supply line, much less reach the previous swing high. A new element is a general increase in volume throughout.

[DbPhoenix]

We now get to the next level of potential support, and volume is again "climactic". But even though price breaks the newest supply line, it does not reach the previous swing high, nor does it break the prior supply line. The effort becomes a new -- though not higher -- swing high and the previous supply line is extended. Price continues its decline.

[DbPhoenix]

Now to the next level of potential support, and we're running out of time. Price hits 1950, again on "climactic" volume, breaks the supply line and breaches the previous swing high. This attempt fails, but, this time, price makes a higher low, tries again, and holds above the previous swing high.

Whether a trader goes long at the test of 1950, at the break of the supply line, at the breach of the previous swing high, at the higher low, at the second breach of the previous swing high, or anywhere else inbetween is not Wyckoff's problem. It's up to the trader to decide based on his sensitivity to and analysis of market forces, on his risk tolerance, and on his skill.

In any case, this is how we begin today (which I'll get to later).

[DbPhoenix]

As one might expect after a trend day, particularly one worth so many points and which represented a substantial failure on the part of bulls, Thursday would not be and was not about drama.

But assuming that one had no bias toward the day, he would note first that the market was going to open (the red vertical bar) at or about the midpoint of the 5/1 upmove (1962). This, in and of itself, would be of secondary importance or less. The fact that that midpoint was on the same level as the low of the day on 5/6 might help to account for the level at which Thursday opens, but, again, it’s not all that important. What is more important is that price does not retest 1950 and ricochet off 1962, nor does it punch through 1962, test that, then rocket higher. Rather it just sits there, for an hour and a half, on moderately high but unremarkable and relatively featureless volume. Therefore, unless the trader wants to manufacture a trade, there’s really nothing to do unless and until support is tested on the one hand, or the nearest resistance at the midpoint of the previous day’s downmove (1978) is tested on the other.

The trader, after all, must remember that the proper entry here was at or near 1950 the previous day. Whether he took the entry or not is irrelevant. The market doesn’t care whether he took it or not. It only knows where he should have taken it. If he didn’t take it, he has to keep in mind that any other entry is second-best, if not third or worse. If he has a strategy for pyramiding, this may be the time to implement it. If he doesn’t, his choices are limited: wait and gauge the relative strengths of the bulls and bears or go ahead and buy with a very wide stop.

[DbPhoenix]

Whether or not one buys the higher low that occurs between 1045 and 1100, one can now draw a demand line underneath that low, beginning with the previous day’s low. Note that this is a demand line, not a trend line. It tracks those levels at which demand enters the market and stops or turns price. Therefore, whether 17 hours’ worth of time bars are included or not is irrelevant. One can use P&F or, as here, he can use CVBs. Since only two “points” are needed, the line can be extended toward the EOD.

Once this line is plotted, it can be copied and another, parallel line placed at what has so far been the swing high. This is also extended toward the EOD so that the trader can monitor the behavior of price if and when it approaches this line.

[DbPhoenix]

Shortly after 1100, price does approach, then push through, this line, becoming “overbought” by virtue of having pushed through the line. A few minutes later, it pushes further to the midpoint of Wednesday’s downmove. If the trader were long, should he exit here? Should he go short? That depends on the trader. But this is where the bears gain the upper hand and turn price back, not out of the blue, but at the confluence of these two important levels (compare the time chart to the CVB chart).

[DbPhoenix]

Thereafter, price reverses at 1966, though there’s no way of knowing that it will, and volume does not provide a clue until price hits this level a second time, after lunch. Whether one closes his short and goes long here depends on how confident he is that support is to be found in this area. But the point of this is not to find trading opportunities per se; it is rather to gauge the relative strength of bulls and bears. So far, the bulls are in control as shown by the higher lows.

Price thereafter makes a higher high, again “overbought”, followed by a higher low. If one is going to trade this, volume does provide clues at turning points, but a central and perhaps more important concern is just how far bulls can push price. If it cannot reach the previous day’s midpoint, this suggests weakness. On the other hand, if it can get past the midpoint, this suggests strength, either of which carries implications for the following day’s trading. This second higher high at 1400 does push past the midpoint, suggesting strength. And it appears to make a higher low a half hour later.

However, price now drops below the demand line and is unable to push back through it for more than a couple of points for more than a few minutes. This represents a change in the dynamic between bulls and bears which, again, is the point of plotting these lines and monitoring the relationship of price to them and to the support represented by the previous day’s low and the resistance represented by the midpoint of the previous day’s downmove. Again, one can trade this and, yes, one can make money with it. But, according to Wyckoff, the likelihood of doing so is enhanced by being sensitive to this push and pull between demand and supply and being able to place all of it in the right context. Otherwise, one is more likely to be making random trades, i.e., gambling.

Here, again, the supply line is drawn first, then a parallel line is plotted underneath to track demand.