Support & Resistance
(Zones, Not Lines)
Support and resistance are best treated as zones—price areas where buying or selling pressure often increases. Because volatility, wicks, and bid/ask spreads create ranges, expecting “perfect line respect” is unrealistic.
Wicks matter
Multiple touches
Break & Retest
Trend context
Zones vs lines (visual)
Zones capture where reactions actually happen. Lines often fail because price can “pierce” and still reject.
What makes a zone “valid”
Strong reactions ▾
Look for clear bounces or rejections (not tiny pauses). The clearer the reaction, the more meaningful the zone.
Higher timeframe first ▾
Zones from H4/D1 often matter more. Mark higher timeframe zones, then refine entries on lower timeframes.
Confluence (optional) ▾
A zone is stronger when it aligns with other factors (trend, moving average, VWAP, volume, prior structure).
Clean touches
HTF zones
Confluence
Step 1 — Find swings
Mark obvious swing highs/lows where price reversed strongly.
Step 2 — Draw the area
Include wicks and closes. Keep it tight, not huge.
Step 3 — Update on breaks
If price breaks and holds, the old zone may flip (resistance ↔ support).
3 core ways to trade zones (beginner-safe)
These are widely used because they match how markets often behave around prior structure.
| Setup | What you wait for | Entry idea | Invalidation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bounce | Rejection at zone (wick + close back) | Enter after confirmation candle | Zone breaks and holds through |
| Break & Retest | Clean break + retest of the zone | Enter on retest confirmation | Retest fails (no hold) |
| Range | Price bounces between two zones | Buy support / sell resistance with rules | Range breaks and holds |
Risk rules (correct use)
- Stops go beyond the zone (outside wick noise).
- Use smaller size when volatility is high.
- Don’t “add” to losing trades at the zone.
Beginner mistakes
- Drawing too many zones → confusion.
- Ignoring trend (zones behave differently in trends).
- Trading directly into major news spikes.
FAQ
Are zones the same as supply/demand? ▾
They overlap. Support/resistance describes repeated reaction areas. Supply/demand focuses on imbalance areas.
In practice, both are commonly drawn as zones.
How many touches make a zone strong? ▾
Multiple clean reactions can increase relevance, but too many hits can weaken a zone as liquidity gets consumed.