Understanding Ranges

Understanding Trading Ranges Simply

In this video, I lay out how to recognize and use different price ranges on trading charts. This should clear up the confusion around choosing swing highs and lows, plus show you how ranges help identify trade direction, liquidity levels, and key areas of support or resistance.

Types of Price Ranges

Candle Range (Most Rule-Based)

What it is: Just the high and low of one candle - can be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or even yearly.

How it’s used

Works across all timeframes like 1-hour, daily, or 3-month charts.

These levels often turn into zones where price reacts - either bouncing or breaking through.

If price moves away from a range low or high and comes back, that shift can tell you if the market is turning bullish or bearish.

Example: Using the high and low from Q1 to spot Ethereum targets.

Price holds above the Q1 low, stalls near the midpoint, then breaks out above the high.

Swing Range (Clear, Systematic Approach)

What it is: You take a recent clear swing high and low, usually from the 12H/1H or 1H/5M timeframes.

How to find it

Spot a move that changes the market’s structure.

Mark where that swing started and ended.

That range becomes your zone of interest.

Why it’s useful

Great for structured trade setups.

Works for both bullish and bearish conditions.

Can be applied across multiple timeframes to confirm entries.

ICT / Price Leg Range (Flexible but Trickier)

What it is: Focuses more on the dominant move or leg in the market rather than the most recent high or low.

How it differs

May skip the most recent swing if it’s not part of the “real” trend.

Takes more experience to judge, since it’s less clear-cut.

Example: If price dips but still fits into a longer bullish move, then the trend bias might still be up.

Visual Range (Most Subjective)

What it is: You eyeball it. Look at the chart and decide what seems to be forming a range.

No rules, just feel

Depends on your experience and judgment.

Spot areas where price has bounced or reversed multiple times, even if they don’t follow technical swing rules.

Why it matters

Can pick up patterns that strict rules might miss.

Good for traders who rely on what they see, not just strict levels.

Example: Defining ETH’s range highs and lows just by observing repeated reactions, not exact swing points.

Things That Apply to All Range Types

When price reclaims a range high or low, it often signals a change in direction.

Midpoints of ranges often turn into support or resistance.

Extremes of ranges tend to attract liquidity - where traders place their stop orders or take profits.

Every type of range can offer

A framework

Support and resistance

Liquidity clues

Targets for entering or exiting trades