inside bars as setups - what makes one worth trading and what to ignore
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inside bars seem like they should be one of the cleaner patterns to trade since the range is so defined. but i've found the false breakouts are frequent enough to make them frustrating. every time i think i have a clean inside bar setup it reverses on me.
what separates inside bars that become good trades from the ones that fake out? trying to understand the filter criteria.
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the key filter is the mother bar quality. an inside bar is only as good as the bar that contains it. a mother bar that is a strong trending candle closing near its high or low (momentum candle) with an inside bar forming next is a high-quality compression. a mother bar that has a large wick or closes in the middle of its range (indecision) with an inside bar is just more indecision - don't trade it.
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location is the second filter. inside bars near major key levels - daily or weekly support/resistance - have much higher failure rates because the compressed range is being pushed against real supply or demand. inside bars in open space within a trend, away from obvious levels, tend to break out cleaner. the pattern works better as continuation than reversal.
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either works depending on your execution style. entry orders at the extremes are cleaner - you get filled exactly at breakout and the stop below the mother bar is well defined. the risk is getting chopped if price breaks both sides (common on small inside bars). waiting for a confirmed close above/below is more conservative and reduces chop but means a worse entry price. most price action traders use entry orders on quality setups.
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i filter heavily by timeframe. inside bars on daily charts are one of my highest-quality setups when mother bar quality is good. on hourly and below they generate constant false moves. the daily timeframe gives the inside bar enough weight that a breakout through it represents actual committed order flow rather than noise.
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