Range Trading Beginner Issues

Hello, I am really struggling to simply take a trade in a range on the 15 minute charts EURUSD. What keeps on happening is I see a range that has met and come away from two highs and two lows at roughly the same level, I then either sell when it again meets the high or buy when it again meets the low. Then the trade usually goes outside the range and looks like a trend is about to start and the range is about to finish, it might hit my stop loss, I might exit the trade and swap directions convinced it’s a trend, then it goes back and resumes the range. I keep losing money swapping directions and do not know how to overcome this problem where I keep thinking a false breakout is a real breakout and I change directions and waste money, because sometimes the breakout is real but I have been convinced the range has been resumed and need to swap three or so times. Please any advice or help would be much appreciated as I’m determined to overcome this. Many thanks to all you very experienced and very bright traders for your help.

Welcome to trading. Your experiences go hand in hand with trading. Some simple truths about trading- it only goes up or down, and it only has so many moves of up/down to make in each trading session. I trade the Asian session, USD/JPY predominately. I find it may trend for the Asian session 1 day out of 5, be range bound for 2 days out of 5, or make a move bull, or bear, which is then fully retraced and the trade moves opposite to how it started. Taking this information into account , personally, I hunt for reversals about 2 hours into the Asian session, especially if it has already moved 10 pips in 1 direction. I don't trade with the direction as ( per above) there's only an approximate 1/5 chance of it continuing to trend, but 4/5 chance of at least getting a trade with a 5pip sl and room to move the opposite direction, whilst hunting a risk/reward of at least 2:1 ie minimum 10pip profit for a 5 pip SL

It sounds like you are chasing trades and trading too often. If you are bullish, be patient and wait for a retracement. If there isn't one, don't trade. It takes a LOT of time to get some measure of how a market breathes, and I am no expert, but I do know it only goes up or down, and if I am placing multiple trades each Asian session both bullish plus bearish, I will 100% lose money

Time, practice, patience

Good luck
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For the most part, a mistake on Forex is a mistake in observing some fundamental or tactical rules. If a novice trader does not bother to learn the basics of activity, or does not use any strategy, then practically every step he takes will be wrong.

I've always had a tendency to try and outsmart the price action, making multiple trades and reversing directions in less than 15 mins. Lesson learnt, you will get burnt 100%, just be patient and trade with longer outlook.

Hi PianistMat,
You accurately describe an experience nearly everyone endures at some point, so don't feel too bad about it. If you think about it, the real problem here is constantly switching your trade based on the market movements, you are being whipsawed back and forth by the markets over and over. You are handing control to the market and chasing price - neither are good and you can easily feel the market has somehow 'got in in for you'.

Of course, it hasn't, the market doesn't care about small individual participants. You have essentially created the problem for yourself by not sticking to your plan. You said you are trying to range trade. Well, just do that then, there is nothing in a range trading plan that says you chase trends. By trying to both range trade and trend trade you are getting whipsawed as described.

If the market tests your range edge and breaks away, leave it. That's no longer a range trade. However, if it breaks then quickly comes back into the range you have a valid range trade and can take it. In this way you will only trade as you intended - long at the bottom of ranges with price going back up; and short at the top of ranges with price going back down. Your trades won't always win - far from it (so make sure you always have a stop back outside the range!) - but at least you are following a disciplined path now and not letting the market push you around. Have a plan, stick to the plan, stay in control.

Hope that helps
PS one last bit of advice - it's generally much better to trade only one side of a range, the side that is with the broader trend/flow of the market. So, only long trades at range bottoms in a general uptrending market; and only short trades at range tops in a general downtrend.

It is called range trading because price should move up and down in a channel, or a predetermined range, but there will be always fluctuations of price and you should keep your stop losses bigger, because in a range market there will always be choppy price action and watch your risk.

Also I prefer to look at weekly and daily charts direction and then change to 30 minutes timeframe and look for a top in price, but only once per day, 3-4 times per week, not in smaller timeframe, then I stick to my first view and not change direction even if I get stoped, this is a mistake, don't change your first view you are always right when you do your analysis in bigger timeframes.

A trade could take some hours, or a day and rare two to three days and Fridays better risk less money, or don't trade at all, you can get ready for the next week.

The main thing for a newcomer in my opinion is to stay calm and not try to earn all the money in the world. Here the enthusiasm must be kept under control, so as not to lose all forces before time. Yes, you will encounter a lot of information and you will have to filter it and find only what is really useful for you. But on the other hand, it's the specifics of this business and it has to be understood and accepted. You wouldn't forget about the demo and even when you switched to real money, you would work on all the new information first. It will save you money and make you more confident in the market. In general, it's always hard to start, but if you can do it, you'll have an incredible success.