Ranging Vs Trending Markets

By Dave Norman


In forex trading, it is important to figure out if the market is trending or ranging. This helps traders pinpoint their entry and exit levels for their trade setups. When the market is making higher lows, it means that it is trending higher. When the market is making lower highs, it means that it is trending lower. When price action is simply moving sideways between support and resistance, it means that it's in a ranging environment.

The use of chart lines is one of the easiest ways to determine if there's a ranging or trending market behavior. In particular, the falling trend line can be used to connect the highs of price action and show that the market is in a downtrend. The rising trend line can be used to connect the lows of price action and show that the market is in an uptrend. With that, one can make use of the trend line to determine entry points to ride the current trend and combine this with the use of the Fibonacci re-tracement tool to set entry levels.

However, if the highs or lows are connected by horizontal lines, it means that the market is ranging or moving sideways. The range boundaries or support and resistance levels can be used as entry points to catch bounces and one can aim for the opposite side of the range as profit targets.

Technical indicators can be very useful in determining if the market is ranging or trending. One example is the ADX or average directional index, which is typically used to identify directional movement or sideways movement. If the ADX is above 25, it means that the market is trending. If the ADX is below 25, it means that the market is consolidating or ranging.

If you are more comfortable with moving averages, you can also use these to determine ranging or trending environments. When the moving averages are arranged from lowest to highest on the chart, it means that the market is trending down. When the moving averages are arranged from highest to lowest on the chart, it means the market is trending up.

Bollinger bands are also useful in reflecting market behavior as it tends to widen when the market is trending and forms a squeeze when the market is ranging. In ranging market environments, the stochastic tool is useful in confirming if a bounce is about to occur. If stochastic is overbought and price is at the top of the range, a sell-off could take place soon. If stochastic is oversold and price is at the bottom of the range, a rally could happen next.




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