Trend Reversals In Forex and How to Anticipate Them

15 Price Action Patterns Insiders are Using If a hedge fund managers were using 15 specific price action patterns would you want to know?

Todayโ€™s article is focused on anticipating Forex trend reversals. When can Forex traders expect a trend to end? What signs are visible and looming on the horizon when the trend is losing steam? Find the answers to these questions and more in this article on forex trend reversals. Weโ€™ll take a look into the framework of trends, reversal trading, and the impact of reversal signals.

Bill Williams, the father of trends and indicators, has a famous quote: โ€œGo with the flow, ride the tide, bend with the trend.โ€ Weโ€™ve discussed the โ€œgo with the flowโ€ and โ€œride the tideโ€ parts of the quote in previous articles. These articles explained the importance of a trend and defining a trend and also dove into tools and methods of trend definition. You can find more in our Best Average True Range Forex article.

In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about forex trend reversals. This includes the entire spectrum of trend environments:

  1. Trending environments
  2. Countertrend environments
  3. Lack of trend/range environments

This article, together with our article on Forex entry methodology and the nature of the Forex market, should give you a great starting point on how to trade in the Forex market successfully.

And as proof of evidence, we implement our specific trending strategy ourselves and made the following past trades: GNPZD +2.5, NZDJPY +2, GBPJPY, +0.3, EURJPY 0, AUDJPY 0, USDJPY -1, CADJPY -1 for +2.8 total this week.

Other trade calls, which were not taken by WET account due to normal risk management parameters, were GBPUSD +2, GBPCHF +2, EURNZD +1.7, AUDJPY +2, NZDUSD +1.3, AUDNZD 0, NZDUSD 0, CADJPY 0 (excluding the 6 trade calls that all went for +2 during FOMC). Take a look here at our trading room for more details.ย 

Forex Trend Reversal Trading

Letโ€™s talk about trend reversal trading in forex. Every trend in the forex market will one day reverse and the trend will stop. But how will it stop and when? Will it make a small pullback or a big retracement? Will the currency pair make a reversal? These are difficult questions to answer.

This is why trend trading has higher statistical odds of success. And that is why when trading Forex trend reversals, the Forex trader needs to have a trend reversal trading strategy to offset the lower odds of trading success. You need a higher reward-to-risk ratio in order to retain and remain profitable (unless a trader has a proven method that allows for lower r:r).

When and How to Identify Forex Trend Reversals:

Trading Forex trend reversals are usually recommended for traders with at least 5 years of Forex trading experience, and sometimes 7-10+ years. Until then, focusing on trend setups is the basic premise. The reason is simple: trading with the trend is already tough enough. First, trend trading needs to be mastered.

Focusing on the trend trades is NOT as easy as it might seem. Why? Many Forex traders want to be in a trade right now. Many traders trade the Forex regardless of whether the market is set up sufficiently for their edge to materialize. Missing a trade is often unbearable for a trader, but chasing the market is hazardous for the equity curve and profitability. Other potential reasons for that could be a lack of trust in the trend and the attractiveness of picking a top or bottom. However, the middle 60-80% of the trend is the real juicy part traders should be targeting.

Trading with the trend requires a balanced dose of patience, discipline, trust, and confidence. Keeping oneโ€™s mindset focused on the trend trades is already an accomplishment in itself, because most of the time it is oh-so-easy for the trader to wonder with their creativity and seek out trades that are in fact reversal trade setups.

Readย more about the 123 Reversal Forex Strategy here.

Reversal Trading

Impact of Forex Trend Reversal Signals

Watching out for reversal signals is always important. Regardless of the fact if you are with the trend trader or reversal trader (or both), watching out for reversal signs is a very important part of trading. Reversal traders use these signals to establish their entries. With-the-trend traders use these signals to exit their trades and/or refrain from trading with the trend. By keeping an eye on the reversal signals, the with-the-trend trader becomes a smart trend trader.

Reversal signals could have various impacts such as:

1)ย ย ย ย ย  Passive retracement โ€“ price goes sideways and corrects trend in time.

2)ย ย ย ย ย  Active retracement โ€“ price moves in a counter-trend direction and corrects trend by pips.

  • This retracement can vary in depth depending on the timeframe.
  • A retracement on the higher time frame would be deeper.
  • This retracement is more impulsive in nature.

3)ย ย ย ย ย  Reversal โ€“ trend direction changes from up to down OR down to up.

4)ย ย ย ย ย  Range โ€“ one trend stops and is followed by a range environment.

Also, the importance of multiple time frame analysis is back into play. Here is why:

A.)ย  ย  Reversal signals on a higher time frame command more respect from the market participants than from lower time frames.
B.)ย ย ย  Multiple reversal signals in 1 day time frame give more confluence and increase the odds of the signals indeed having an effect.
C.)ย ย ย  Multiple reversal signals on multiple time frames also increase the odds of those signals having an effect on the price.

Important warning: reversal signals and chart patterns take time to play out and develop and usually do not materialize immediately.

Forex Trend Reversal Trading
22 8 2013 gbpusd daily

Reversal Signals

Potential reversal signals can vary widely. We will discuss my methods and also look at a few other commonly used techniques to tackle this topic.

1)ย ย ย ย ย  Divergence: This method is often number one on the reversal signals list and it should be. The trend is your friend and it will remain so until the trend becomes unsustainable. The latter happens when the trend is not supported with sufficient momentum. If the price is making higher highs and higher lows, but the oscillator is not confirming price action with equivalent higher highs, then the probability of trend continuation is decreasing. This means 1 of the above scenarios (passive or active retracement, range, or reversal) is imminent. In the case of a retracement, the trend can and will continue. Obviously, the trend ends when a range or reversal kicks in. More on trading divergence here.

2)ย ย ย ย ย  Candlestick reversal patterns: Candlesticks are great indications when a move would have higher statistical odds of ending. A pin bar or engulfing twins are candlesticks that indicate that the with-the-trend move is losing its momentum.

3)ย ย ย ย ย  Support and resistance: This includes Fibonacci retracement/tops & bottoms/trend lines / moving averages / Fibonacci targets / Fibonacci extension. When in a trend, it is important to keep an eye out for obstacles that could hinder a trade from developing. In an uptrend, a Forex trader wants to check whether a resistance level (such as the one mentioned above) could be blocking the trade from developing (the opposite is true for the downtrend). The most important resistances are always on one or two time frames higher than your usual chart viewing time frame.

4)ย ย ย ย ย  Chart patterns: Head and shoulders, inverse head and shoulders, rising wedges, falling wedges, double top, double bottom, triple top, and triple bottom are all examples of chart patterns that indicate a lack of trend continuation probability. The confirmation of the pattern completion is the break of the neckline.

Forex Trend Reversal

5)ย ย ย ย ย  Weakness: Lower highs and higher lows. A trend is confirmed when it keeps posting lower lows and higher highs. If a trend cannot break resistance or support and price forms a lower high or higher low, then the steam of the trend might be slowing down. Be careful, as the trend could only encounter a small hiccup before continuation, especially if this happens in a trend channel. The lower high or higher low could in some cases be a pattern as mentioned above as well.

6)ย ย ย ย ย  Trend lines and trend channels: An important signal and confirmation of a trend ending is the break of the trend channel. The break of the trend channel or line is not an immediate indication of a reversal, however, as the currency could also become a range (using the top or bottom as support and resistance).

It just shows that the past trend has been placed in the fridge for now (end of trend), and the trader needs to be cautious or even refrain (depending on the strategy preference and trader) from trading until more evidence supports the ideal trading environment of the Forex trader.

7)ย ย ย ย ย  Break of the bottom or top: The break of the bottom or top indicates that a range formation is less likely and that the chances of a reversal occurring are increasing.

8)ย ย ย ย ย  Nature of price action: Price will move either impulsive or corrective. Knowing which is which will help understand the momentum dynamics of the market structure. An important aspect to realize is that the market can make impulsive corrections (moves with momentum against the trend), and corrective impulses (moves with little momentum with the trend) as well, although the opposite is most common and likely.

9)ย ย ย ย ย  Elliott Wave counts:ย By counting the waves and the waves within waves (sub-waves), a Forex trader can increase their understanding of the market structure and provide more accurate weight to certain scenarios or paths of least resistance.

10)ย ย  Time Frame Analysis: Depending on how long a move takes to develop, the likelihood of a trend continuation is decreasing. If the with-the-trend move occurs too quickly, a higher statistical probability of a retrace occurs. If the with-the-trend move occurs too slowly, then a with-the-trend move has fewer statistical chances of occurring and the odds of reversal or range environment are higher.

11)ย ย  Other elements: Ichimoku cloud, oscillator peaks, oscillator crossovers, price breaking through moving averages, Gann angles, Gartley patterns, bands, Bollinger bands, candle highs/lows, etc. Here is an example of a master candle setup.

Conclusion โ€“ Forex Trend Reversals

What elements do you use for identifying the end-of-trend signals? Did this article help you?

Let us know down below in the comment section. Please leave a comment below if you have any questions about Forex Trend Reversals.ย 

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15 Price Action Patterns Insiders are Using If a hedge fund managers were using 15 specific price action patterns would you want to know?

4 Comments

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  1. I enjoy reading these, Chris.
    Iโ€™ve been playing around with AO; Iโ€™m keeping note when I see divergence, not using it for decisions or as a filter yet, just keeping note on my trades. With enough data Iโ€™ll be able to decide how to best use momentum as a filter. ๐Ÿ™‚
    Thank youuuuuuuuu

    • Hi Christine! Great to hear from you. Happy that you like the articles. ๐Ÿ™‚
      That is an excellent way of incorporating a new tool in oneโ€™s trading arsenal. Great job. Let me know how it works out ok? Would like to hear how the process is continuing.
      I use the AO as a filter as well, not as a trading tool. The exception is one swing trade on the 4 hour charts which does focus primarily on the AO. I myself am focus most of them time on with the trend trades, with a few exceptions at major levels.
      Thanks again and have a great weekend, Chris
      Is anyone else using the AO in stead of the MACD?

  2. You made some good points there. I did a search on the subject and found a good number of persons will agree with your blog.

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