They lose because they don’t understand what price is trying to do.
Let’s start with something uncomfortable but important.
If I remove every indicator from your chart and ask you:
“Who’s in control right now, buyers or sellers?”
Most new and even mid-level traders hesitate.
That hesitation is the real problem.
Because trading starts before entries, before setups, and long before indicators.Step 1: Always read the chart in layers, not signals
A chart has layers, just like a conversation.
Layer 1: Market intent (the big question)
Before anything else, ask:
Is price expanding or contracting?
Are moves impulsive or overlapping?
Strong, fast moves with follow-through = intent.
Slow, choppy moves = indecision or distribution.
If you miss this layer, every trade after that is guesswork.
Step 2: Structure is the language of price
Structure isn’t fancy. It’s just memory.
Higher highs & higher lows → buyers are winning
Lower highs & lower lows → sellers are winning
No clear sequence → range or transition
Here’s the mistake most traders make: They think structure is about predicting reversals.
It’s not.
Structure tells you what should not happen if your idea is right.
Example:
If I’m long, price should not break the last higher low
If it does, I’m wrong — no debate
That’s how professionals use structure:
as invalidation, not confirmation.
Step 3: Location decides whether a trade is smart or stupid
The same setup can be:
high probability in one place
guaranteed loss in another
Ask yourself:
Is price near an area where it previously exploded?
Or am I entering in the middle of nowhere?
Good trades usually start where other traders are uncomfortable:
After a long drop
Near a level everyone doubts
When sentiment is one-sided
Bad trades usually start where everyone feels safe.
Step 4: Momentum tells you when, not where
Momentum is not direction.
Momentum is energy.
Watch how price moves:
Does it push and keep going?
Or push and immediately give it back?
This tells you whether:
moves are being accepted
or just faded by stronger hands
A common beginner mistake: Seeing one strong candle and assuming continuation.
Experienced traders ask:
“Did price keep what it gained?”
If not, that strength was borrowed.
Step 5: Understand pullbacks before you trade them
Not all pullbacks are the same.
Healthy pullbacks:
slow
overlapping
low momentum
Dangerous pullbacks:
fast
straight down
erase progress quickly
If a pullback is stronger than the move that created it, that’s a warning.
This single observation can save you dozens of bad trades.
Step 6: Stops are not protection, they are truth tests
Most traders place stops like this:
“Where do I feel comfortable losing?”
Professionals place stops like this:
“Where does my idea stop making sense?”
If price reaches that level:
the market gave information
you were wrong
you exit without emotion
A stop hit doesn’t mean you’re bad.
It means you listened.
Step 7: Indicators are assistants, not decision-makers
Indicators answer secondary questions:
Is momentum increasing or fading?
Is volatility expanding or contracting?
They do not answer:
Who is in control?
Where is the important level?
What happens if price fails here?
That’s why copying indicator settings never works.
You’re copying tools without understanding the job.
Step 8: Context changes everything
A setup that works perfectly:
in a range
will fail repeatedly in a trend
A pattern that works at support:
will get destroyed in the middle of a move
Before every trade, ask:
“What type of market is this?”
Trend, range, transition — trade the environment, not the pattern.
The real skill most traders never build
Good traders don’t predict better.
They:
recognize invalidation faster
exit earlier
re-enter smarter
stay emotionally neutral
Reading charts is not about being right.
It’s about losing small when wrong and pressing when right.
If this helped you read the chart a little clearer, hit like so I know this is useful.
Got questions, doubts, or a chart you’re confused about?
Drop a comment I’ll break it down like a trader, not a textbook.
Follow if you want real chart reading,not signals thrown around without structure@Sam catching real moves