Every man and his dog

I have seen more and more Wyckoff posts recently, well - here's another one!

I was trading Wyckoff methodology when it wasn't cool. Unfortunately for the masses, it's not as easy as an 'influencer' will have you believe, from seeing their posts - they clearly lack the understanding and are simply joining the 'HYPE' club for view count.

A few years back I went into some depth on Bitcoin's phases as you can see below;


Here you would expect the mark up and straight into a Point and Figure forecasted level, which then became 'Re-accumulation'


As the price moved up, you could see as clear as day a nice AR move; I'll go into that shortly. But this was the sign of professional involvement.


This chart was posted on the 18th of March to highlight the BC (also cover in a second) Why was it so obvious? It was smacking us in the face with the fact it had it's re-accumulation phase earlier - although many said the 60+ thousand level was the accumulation. Point and Figure analysis had the range mapped out and as we neared the zone, the AR come into play.

To understand this, I have drafted the help of my good friend Chat GPT to explain this like we are 10 years old.

Imagine you have a jar filled with your favorite candies, and you really want to collect as many as possible. Here's how the stages of a Wyckoff accumulation schematic can be related to this candy scenario:

Stage 1: Markdown Phase
In this stage, you notice that the candies are on sale and their price has been reduced. This makes you excited because you can buy more candies with the same amount of money. So, you start buying some candies, taking advantage of the lower prices. Other people also notice the sale and start buying candies too. This is like the first stage in Wyckoff accumulation, where prices are falling, and smart investors start buying.

Stage 2: Absorption Phase
In this stage, you and other candy lovers continue buying candies, but you start to notice that even though you're buying a lot, the price doesn't go down as much as it used to. It's like the candies are getting harder to find on sale. This means that there are fewer candies available at the lower price, and more people are buying them. You and others keep buying as many candies as you can, but you start to realize that the sale might be ending soon.

Stage 3: Markup Phase
Now, the sale is over, and the candies are back to their regular price. However, you notice that the candies you bought during the sale are now worth more than what you paid for them. You feel happy because you made a smart decision to buy them when they were cheap. Other people who missed the sale also want to buy candies now, but the price is higher. You may decide to sell some of your candies at a higher price to those who want them. This is like the third stage in Wyckoff accumulation, where prices start to rise, and the smart investors who bought earlier can sell for a profit.

So, to summarize, in the Wyckoff accumulation schematic, we have the markdown phase where prices fall, the absorption phase where prices stabilize, and the markup phase where prices rise. Just like buying candies on sale, smart investors try to buy assets when their prices are low and sell them when prices go up.

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So now you got the basic idea of Wyckoff phases; this is still a very hard thing to spot. It helps if you have a bias and of course background as to where the price has been. When I posted the "Rocket call" in March 21, we had seen the Buyers Climax which can be defined like this; A major panic that occurs at the end of a steep ascent in prices. In its classical form it is typified by large range reversal in prices accompanied by large volume.

However to simplify this further; contrary to popular 'influencer' belief - Large operator don't go chasing 100x returns, their seeking to make money in all environments and often over a much longer time frame than retail would like. So think of a buyers climax like the bigger players have reached a target that they are comfortable with, the level of returns are sufficient. They sell off as retail are buying every little dip on their 15 minute chart.

An AR is an Automatic Reaction to either a buyers or sellers climax (for more, read the post below - Wyckoff basics explained)

Once we dropped to the 4 level marked up in March. The move away was ugly, it was low volume from the get go. Meaning a lack of overall interest (at the time) But under the surface, there was more to it. A lot more to it to be honest!

I covered the Wyckoff Distribution in this educational post;

So, we dropped "exactly as predicted" into a range that was measured only to rise on low, depleting volume. You would then expect a re-accumulation and the measurement for the extension is again mapped out.


Re-read the Chat GPT section above.

You see, Wyckoff can be useful if you know how to use it properly... People often say things like "it's over 100 years old, it can't work in these markets" Or they try and make patterns out of every move, clearly lacking the understanding.

As I explained in August 21 on the way to the current All Time High - the price could be plotted as the image above shows. Volume and COT intel plays a major part here, the sell off was going to be quick to the 40k level - why? Well, it was re-distribution in play.


And just like that January 22 through to May was also mapped out...

Once we got that break down lower, you could assess the Point and Figure regions.


And just like that, we are back into Accumulation. To the MOOOOON!!! ... Not so fast, as this is a much bigger cycle you have to look out for volume, what the bigger players are manipulating and assess the overall situation, being a bigger schematic it is likely to be a slower burner. Refer back to the Chat GPT section above.

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Wyckoff, Elliott and Dow Theory still works today as it's not a study of technical charts to be honest, they understood the depth of psychology, retail sentiment based on an individuals own mindset. I have covered the psychology around this in several posts including the Simpsons one! Here's a quick look at the cycle.


Now, place these retail sentiment analysts together.


You see, things don't have to be complex to work.

Zoom out and if you have read this post well enough, you might spot the next clue as to where exactly we are. If you already know me or follow my posts and educational content, you might spot not only where we are, but why.

Anyways, I hope this helps at least one person out there!

Have a great week!



Disclaimer
This idea does not constitute as financial advice. It is for educational purposes only, our principle trader has over 20 years’ experience in stocks, ETF’s, and Forex. Hence each trade setup might have different hold times, entry or exit conditions, and will vary from the post/idea shared here. You can use the information from this post to make your own trading plan for the instrument discussed. Trading carries a risk; a high percentage of retail traders lose money. Please keep this in mind when entering any trade. Stay safe.