I went long 1 contract of ES at 11:07:53 at 6005.50 with an 11 tick stop: At 11:08:54 the price was 6003.25 and getting close to my stop: I trade the Sierra Chart Delta Volume Charts which takes sometimes 10 minutes to fill a bar but at 11:08:53 I saw it fill 8 bars in less than a second with the 7th bar filling my stop at 6000.25 for a 21 tick loss (10 ticks below my stop). The final bar had a high of 6004.00 and closed at 6001.75: Keep in mind all 8 of these bars had the time stamp of 11:08:53: This was used to launch a rally to 6008.50 at 11:13:13 This is one of those things that there is no defense for the retail trader and I ask those of you who know the innerworkings of the market better than I do. What in the world just happened? Is it manipulation to take out all the sell stops to set the stage for a nice little rally?
Of course it's manipulation. Most institutions know where retail is going to have stops at and this is how they make their money. Be more selective when putting a stop. I personally would rather have a phone alert than a stop, this way I have a better idea what's going on in the market
Yes. Happens all day, every day. It's called a liquidity grab. They'll push it down through support to trigger stops and use that liquidity to buy many, many more than they just sold. This is why it's incredibly stupid to buy near support and set a stop below it. Or to trade any classic technical pattern in general. It's a guaranteed way to fail.
A 10 tick stop and a 21 tick loss is a fairly small scratch. Hopefully, it didn't ruin your day. From my POV, the market was in a fairly steady sell at that point, so essentially you were trying to catch a bottom, no? The best protection as a retail trader is to focus on larger moves. When we narrow down on the smaller time frames it's easy to get lost in random noise.
It's called "selling climax". You will see these climax often at both the highs and the lows, but they're more prone and violent at the bottom. And they usually coincide with major round numbers, such as 6000.
Strange way to put it - stating there is no defense, then ask those who know better. Of course there is a defense (maybe not using Delta Vol Charts). Use a wider stop. I use 3xATR which in your trade case would have been approx. 4.5 pts or 18 ticks. Entry @ 6005.50 - 4.50 = 6001.00 or exact swing low. Maybe you would have escaped unfilled and still in long? If not, oh well chit happens. But always always honor your stops.
The never get old sentence: "The market went against me to trigger my stop just to continue in the direction I was going in the first place" These cheeky market makers robbing the retailers again.
two solutions, beef up your account balance with no stops, and trade only the first or last hour of the day.
Huge numbers that end in hundreds 5700, 5800, 5900, 6000, 6100 etc are often bounce areas, coming from above can expect price to take out stops to 5999.00, so if you going to be buying in this area, best to buy 6000 to 6001 and use stop at 5998.75
This is part of "been around the block". One should not be surprised. If you read enough charts you see this often. I would suggest taking some time on Sim and simply watch the market in real time. Watching after the fact does not show the velocity. Velocity is a critical part of price action. After you get a feel for these rapid accelerations, then you will be better equipped to place orders. Best of luck