Chasing the candle that already left
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2026 9:10 pm
A candle explodes by 8 pips in forty seconds. The clock on the platform says it's still in progress, so the setup feels live. The mouse moves, the order goes in, and the entry is at the top.
What happened: the move was real, but the information in it was already used up. The trade is entered at the worst price of the move, with spread, into a market where the fast money has taken profit.
On a one-minute chart, it's easy to mistake "still forming" for "still available". The candle's body is mostly finished by the time the eye registers it.
The sign of a chase is the feeling of urgency. If the thought is "it's running, get in now", the entry is probably late. A genuine setup usually feels slightly boring, since it's planned before the move happens.
A good rule of thumb: if a candle has already traveled more than the usual target distance, the opportunity belongs to someone else. Waiting for a pullback, or skipping it entirely, tends to cost less.
How is a chase noticed in the moment, before the order is sent?
What happened: the move was real, but the information in it was already used up. The trade is entered at the worst price of the move, with spread, into a market where the fast money has taken profit.
On a one-minute chart, it's easy to mistake "still forming" for "still available". The candle's body is mostly finished by the time the eye registers it.
The sign of a chase is the feeling of urgency. If the thought is "it's running, get in now", the entry is probably late. A genuine setup usually feels slightly boring, since it's planned before the move happens.
A good rule of thumb: if a candle has already traveled more than the usual target distance, the opportunity belongs to someone else. Waiting for a pullback, or skipping it entirely, tends to cost less.
How is a chase noticed in the moment, before the order is sent?