Support and resistance cheat sheet.
Support is a price area where falls have stopped before, and resistance is one where rises have stopped. Mark them as zones from clear swing highs and lows, expect broken levels to swap roles, and plan every bounce or break with a stop beyond the zone. Levels show where to watch, and any of them can break.
Nội dung này hiện chỉ có bản tiếng Anh.
This page condenses the support and resistance chapter into rules to check before a trade, using round illustrative prices.
What do support and resistance mean?
Support is a price area where falling prices have stopped and turned up before. Resistance is one where rising prices have stopped and turned down.
As the opening lesson explains, traders remember these turns, and stop losses and pending orders tend to gather near them. A level shows where to watch and promises nothing.
How do you mark a level worth watching?
Mark clear swing highs and lows on the daily chart first, then keep the levels near the current price on the chart you trade.
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Touches | Two or more clear turns in one area |
| Reaction | A sharp move away each time |
| Timeframe | Daily and weekly levels first |
| Age | Recent turns before old ones |
| Round numbers | Prices such as 1.08000 nearby |
Mark each level as a zone, a band from the body closes to the furthest wicks, because wicks overshoot and bodies stop short. The drawing lesson and the zones lesson show the steps.
In the illustrative EUR/USD chart below, buyers stepped in between 1.08000 and 1.08200, a zone 20 pips wide. Sellers appeared between 1.08900 and 1.09000, a zone 10 pips wide.
If a stop beyond a zone would be too large for your account, the zone is probably two levels, or none.
What happens after a level breaks?
Say EUR/USD turns down at 1.09000 twice, then closes clearly above it. Later it pulls back to 1.09000, holds and rises, so the old ceiling is now a floor.
That swap is role reversal, and the return to the level is the retest, as the role reversal lesson explains.
Many breaks never retest, and some retests fail and become false breakouts. A close beyond the zone, on the timeframe you drew it on, is firmer than a wick through it.
Where do trend lines and channels fit in?
A trend line is support or resistance on a slope, joining rising swing lows in an uptrend or falling swing highs in a downtrend. See the trend line lesson.
Two points draw a line, and a third touch makes it worth watching. Use wicks or bodies consistently, and expect steep lines to break sooner.
A channel adds a parallel line on the other side, so price moves between a sloped floor and ceiling. A price channel trades like flat levels, though moving one anchor by a few pips changes the slope.
How do you plan a bounce or a break trade?
A bounce trade expects price to turn at the zone, and a break trade expects it to push through. The bounce or break lesson compares them.
| Point | Bounce | Break |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Once a turn shows at the zone | After a close beyond the zone, or on the retest |
| Stop | Beyond the far side of the zone | Back on the other side of the zone |
| Main risk | The zone gives way | The break fails |
Here is an illustrative bounce plan on the earlier chart, showing the arithmetic only.
- Support is 1.08000 to 1.08200, and resistance is 1.08900 to 1.09000.
- Price turns up from support, and you buy at 1.08250.
- The stop goes below the zone at 1.07950: 1.08250 minus 1.07950 = 0.00300, or 30 pips.
- The target goes under resistance at 1.08850: 1.08850 minus 1.08250 = 0.00600, or 60 pips.
- Risking 1% of a $5,000 account allows a $50 loss.
- $50 ÷ 30 pips = $1.67 per pip. One standard lot of EUR/USD pays $10 per pip, so that is 0.167 lot, rounded down to 0.16 lot, or $1.60 per pip.
- Hitting the stop loses 30 × $1.60 = $48, and the target gains 60 × $1.60 = $96.
One win pays for two losses, $96 against 2 × $48, so before costs the plan breaks even at one win in three. Spread, commission and slippage shift these figures, and the lot size calculator repeats step 6 for other pairs.
Where do support and resistance fail?
Levels are hand-drawn, and on a busy chart any move seems to respect one. Past charts look cleaner than they felt live, so test your rules on charts you have not studied.
News or a weekend gap can push price through a zone and fill your stop well beyond its price. Research on whether drawn levels predict turns is limited and mixed, so let your stop and position size handle the failures.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
Does support and resistance really work?
Price often reacts near old turns, yet levels break all the time. Evidence that they predict turns on their own is limited, so trade them with a stop.
How many touches make a valid support level?
Two clear turns are the usual minimum. More touches make a level easier to see, though one tested many times in a short spell can give way.
Should I draw support and resistance as lines or zones?
Zones, because wicks overshoot and bodies stop short of any single price. Set your stop beyond the whole zone.
Which timeframe is best for support and resistance?
None is best for everyone. A common approach is to mark levels on the daily or weekly chart, then refine them on the chart you trade.
Does broken resistance always turn into support?
No. Many breaks never retest the level, and some retests fail and send price back below it.
Học tiếp
Chương 1What are support and resistance levels?Support is a price area where falling prices have stopped and turned up more than once, because buyers stepped in there. Resistance is the opposite: an area where rises have stalled because sellers took over. Traders use both to plan entries, stops and targets, but any level can break, so none is a guarantee.
Chương 1How to draw support and resistance.To draw support and resistance, find swing highs and lows where price turned at about the same price two or more times, then draw a horizontal line through that cluster. Start on the daily or weekly chart for the main levels, refine them on a 4-hour or 1-hour chart, and keep only the nearest few.
Chương 1Why support and resistance are zones, not lines.Price rarely turns at one exact number, because orders spread out around a level and price feeds differ slightly between brokers. Treat support and resistance as a zone: a band from the bodies to the wicks of past reactions. Put your stop beyond the far edge, then size the trade so the risk stays fixed.
Chương 1When support becomes resistance.When price breaks through a support level, that level often acts as resistance when price returns to it, and broken resistance often turns into support. The return visit is called a retest. Traders watch for a candle that reaches into the old zone and closes back on the break side, though the flip can fail.
Chương 1How to draw a trend line.To draw an uptrend line, connect two or more rising swing lows and extend the line to the right. For a downtrend, connect falling swing highs. Two points draw the line, a third reaction is the usual sign it is confirmed, and a candle closing clearly beyond it usually means the line has stopped counting.
Chương 1Price channels and how to trade them.A price channel is two parallel lines that contain a trend: a trend line along the swing lows or highs and a copy on the other side. Near the lower edge a buy aims for the upper edge, and the reverse at the top. A close outside either line can mean the channel has ended.
Chương 1Trading the bounce or the break.Trading the bounce means buying near support or selling near resistance while the level holds, with a stop just beyond it. Trading the break means entering after price closes through the level, with a stop back inside the old range. Bounce trades fail when the level breaks; break trades fail on false breakouts.
