Twelve steps, in order, no skipping. Every step is a gate: pass it or stop. And this time you can watch one example BUY trade grow through every diagram — for a SELL, flip every picture upside-down.
The one rule above all rules: you never go looking for a trade. You walk the steps, and the trade either appears or it doesn't. No step, no trade.
1
Find the direction
Weekly + Daily chart
Open the Weekly, then the Daily. Are the swings stepping UP (higher highs and higher lows) or DOWN? Write one word on a sticky note: UP or DOWN.
The stairs go up → today you are ONLY a buyer.
Clear direction → Step 2Messy both ways → STOP. No trade today.
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2
Find the range candle
Daily or 4H chart
Find your anchor candle — the fence. Easiest picks: yesterday's Daily candle or the 1AM NY 4H candle. It must be thick: body bigger than wicks. Draw three lines: High, 50%, Low.
You're buying, so look just below the fence low. There must be a key level there for price to raid: an old low, an order block, or a fair value gap.
The prank needs a prize: stops resting under that old low.
Spot exists → Step 4Nothing behind the fence → STOP. A prank needs a prize.
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4
Find the target on the other side
Same chart
Now mark the road home: first the 50% middle (TP1), then the fence high (TP2). Also check: no nasty magnet-level sitting right under where your stop will live.
This road is the REASON for the trade. No road, no reason.
Clean road to target → Step 5Magnet right behind your stop zone → STOP. Skip this one.
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5
Wait for the sweep — at the right time
The waiting step
Wait for price to poke below the fence low into the magic spot. Best hours (NY time): 5–10:30 AM — London lunch through the New York open.
Nothing to do until this wick prints. Waiting IS the job.
Sweep happened in the window → Step 6No sweep → WAIT. Never enter before the prank.
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6
Ask the twin
30 seconds
Open the correlated pair: Gold → Silver · EURUSD → GBPUSD/DXY · BTC → ETH. Did the twin sweep its own low too?
Gold poked the fence, Silver said no. The poke was a lie — best signal there is.
Twin refused (best) or neutral → Step 7Twin swept HARDER and keeps running → STOP. That's a real breakout, not a prank.
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7
Zoom in and find the little story
15m and 5m chart
Drop to the 15-minute (Daily fence) or 5-minute (4H fence). The sweep needs a story: before reversing, price must have taken the little low just before it — and the volume should shout at the bottom.
A lonely wick on quiet volume is nobody. A taken low on loud volume is the Boss.
Small liquidity taken + effort visible → Step 8Lonely wick, no story → WAIT. The scare hasn't really happened.
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8
Find the trigger
Same LTF chart
Three candles tell you GO. Watch them appear in order:
Buying version shown. Selling = the same three candles flipped upside-down.
Missed the close? Don't chase — wait for the pullback into the 50–61.8% of the reversal leg (often right at the messenger) and enter there. Never enter while price is still outside the fence.
Trigger closed → Step 9No confirming close → WAIT. Early entries feed the market.
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9
Check the math
1 minute, calculator
Stop just past the sweep's tip. First target = the 50% middle. Divide the distances. The reward must be at least 2× the risk (3× is ideal).
If the green part isn't at least twice the red part — skipping is free.
RR ≥ 2 → Step 10RR too small → STOP. Skipping is free.
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10
Place the trade
The only clicking step
Size it so the stop costs 1–2% of the account. Enter, then set every level before you look away:
One position per direction. No adding, no doubling, no "one more entry."
Placed → Step 11
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11
Manage it — hands mostly off
Until target or stop
At the 50%: half closes, stop moves to entry. Then expect one last scare before the far edge — if it doesn't CLOSE outside the fence, it's theater. At the far level: out, fully.
After the 50%, the trade cannot hurt you. The scare is scheduled — don't drop your ice cream.
Target or breakeven → Step 12Stopped out → Step 12 anyway (the journal wants it)
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12
Write it down
5 minutes, same day
Four lines in the journal: Catch (what I took) · Miss (what I took and lost — which step did I bend?) · Avoid (what I skipped and why) · Repeat (the one lesson for next time).
If a trade lost, the answer is almost always a step you rushed. The steps don't fail; the skipping does.