Trade Breakdown — 18 August 2026

The market reached a Daily level and showed a reaction from that area. I had already identified a 4H flip around the same region, which gave me the initial bearish context.

After the flip, the market started making a small retracement back to the upside. However, the market had already spent considerable time sustaining around the Daily level. Because of that, I did not expect a clean and straightforward entry from the higher-timeframe area.

Instead, I identified a clean 1H area above the current price as a potential reaction zone. At the same time, I anticipated that the market might not retrace cleanly enough to give a perfect entry at that level.

Therefore, I planned the trade with a layering approach.

I started building short positions from the area where the market was already sustaining, while keeping additional entries available in case price moved higher for a deeper retracement. This allowed me to manage the trade without depending on a single perfect entry.

During the New York session, the market pushed slightly higher and created the expected manipulation. Two of my entries had their stop losses placed just above the sustained liquidity pool, and those stops were triggered during the move.

However, the additional stop loss that I had specifically placed for the layered entries was positioned above the stronger 1H level. This acted as the main protection for the overall setup and remained untouched.

After the manipulation, the market respected the expected bearish idea and moved lower. The remaining entries delivered the intended move, allowing me to secure a strong overall profit.

The move eventually reached a fresh Weekly level, where I decided to exit the trade the following morning.

Key Takeaway

This trade was mainly about understanding the higher-timeframe context and preparing for imperfect execution rather than waiting for a textbook entry.

The key was recognizing that the market had already sustained around the Daily level and that a clean retracement might not occur. By planning the layered entries and keeping the final protective stop above the stronger 1H level, I was able to manage the manipulation without allowing it to invalidate the overall trade idea.