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Range Trading, A Step-by-Step Guide

Range-bound markets can be profitable if you approach them with rules. Here is a structured way to trade a range. Step 1: Confirm the range. At least two touches on both the high and low, with a reasonably clear boundary. The range should be wide enough to offer a worthwhile reward.

Step 2: Mark the zones. The high, low, and midpoint. Think of the edges as zones, not exact lines.

Step 3: Check the bigger picture. Is the range forming inside a larger trend? If so, breakouts often follow the trend direction.

Step 4: Wait for price at the edge. Do not trade the middle.

Step 5: Look for rejection. A sweep beyond the edge with a close back inside, or a lower-timeframe structure shift.

Step 6: Enter with defined risk. Stop beyond the sweep, or beyond the zone.

Step 7: Target the midpoint first. Then consider the opposite edge.

Step 8: Respect breakouts. If price closes decisively beyond the range and retests, stop trading the range and reassess.

Common mistakes:

- Fading the edge without confirmation
- Using stops too tight
- Staying in range mode after a breakout
- Ignoring news that can end the range abruptly

Ranges demand patience and discipline. The setups are often small, but clear.

If you find it boring, that may be a good sign. Boredom often accompanies disciplined execution.

Step 1 is worth tightening with a time element. A range that formed during the Asian session on EURUSD or GBPUSD is a different animal from one that held through London: the Asian range was built while most participants were away, and the London open breaks it far more often than the touch count suggests. I'd only trust fades at the edges of a range that has survived at least one full active session. A range that has held through London and New York tells you the bigger participants are genuinely content at these prices, which is what makes the edges worth fading.

"Don't trade the middle" is the rule people break most. One more check before trading a range: compare its width with spread and ATR. A range that's only a few times the spread wide on a lower timeframe leaves little profit after costs, even with perfect entries.

A range at least several times the average spread plus a margin for the stop beyond the edge is usually a minimum for it to be worth trading.

FXS Prop Desk's width check gets stricter once Step 7 is taken literally. If the first target is the midpoint, the trade only ever sees half the range, so the ratio should be worked out on half the width rather than the full box.

A 40 pip EURUSD range on H1 leaves 20 pips to the midpoint. With a stop 6 pips beyond the edge and about 0.8 pip of spread and commission, the cost is roughly 4 percent of the first target, which is comfortable.

The same rules on an 8 pip M5 range give 4 pips to the midpoint, and the same 0.8 pip becomes a fifth of it. A stop 3 pips beyond the edge is then almost the size of the target, which is the problem FXS Prop Desk describes.

My minimum is a range whose midpoint is at least ten times my round trip cost. On EURUSD that means about 16 pips of total width, and I skip anything narrower however clean the touches look.

LondonNewsTrader's survival test fits with this. Ranges that held through London are usually wide enough to pass anyway, while most Asian ranges fail the width check before the touch count even matters.