Phases - Protraction

————-- 006 -Protraction
Now it begins to become interesting. Here we start to up the aggression within trading and anticipation/reaction to what the market gives us.

Protraction is a sharp impulsive move in the opposite direction to what you expect within the daily bias/direction you have created. Once you notice it, you will see how it occurs during specific times of the day.

In essence, its liquidity grab on the grander scale. It comes down to being the last false move/trap before going into its intended direction.

There are two key areas where we expect these protractions to happen. After our london open, which will then set the london HOD or LOD, and then another time during the NY open.

Often enough we also see this occurance before high impact news, when the books are illiquid and that HFT step in... These protractions are 9/10 moves caused by HFT, more on that later, to solidify your knowledge.

Here is an example - Bullish delivery and daily bias

Notice how prior to london we protract sharply taking out all of the sell side liquidity, likewise through the new york opening, taking out the consolidation.

Like I said previously in the earlier phases module, it's not something you build an edge upon. It helps you understand what is occuring, and why. Remember, price flows like water, with purpose. If the expansion during asia was already bullish, it will be difficult for price to expand even further without grabbing liquidity.

Another example - sideways delivery

In this case we notice once again a protraction to the downside, which then fuels the expansion to the upside which creates the high of the day, and slowly consolidates. Creating that bearish sideways candle we say from cycle examples.

A couple more examples :

New York opening, running BSL as a protraction against anticipated delivery, into our shift zone and our first bearish OB

Here we see the protraction take place after asia session, before London Open, notice how both protractions are in the same direction, as mentioned prior, they go against the daily delivery.

Right, so what do we do with this information?

We try to use these protractions for both reversals and continuations.

In a healthy one sided delivery, we expect to see the LOD/HOD to form during 02:00 - 05:00 during London session, which sets direction, from there we expect NY to be a continuation of that direction.

- LOD -> Bullish within NY

- HOD -> Bearish within NY

From 07:00 to 11:00 NY time we then expect another protraction to occur in the opposite direction of the delivery.

So bullish bias for the day would entail the following

- Protraction to the downside running asia SSL preferably

- LOD being marked during london

- Continuation during NY, protraction to the downside taking SSL to fuel final delivery of bullish momentum

Sometimes, as seen above, the protraction will form the LOD/HOD.

How to spot a protraction:

- Clear run on SSL/BSL pool

- Time of day

- Sharp reversal of price when it bounces back

So till when does a market protraction go to?

-> Up until the next opposing PDA.

Sometimes you wont have a clear direction till how far it goes. This is where you look at your HTF and wait until the protraction has reached that PDA.

Wait for all the pieces to line up ;)