Where the orders are
Every obvious level has orders resting around it: stop losses just beyond a swing, pending entries just inside it. Together those orders are liquidity — and a large participant who needs to fill a large order needs exactly that pool to fill against.
That is why price so often pushes through a clean support, triggers the stops below it, and then reverses. The move through the level was not a breakdown. It was a large buyer using the stopped-out sellers as their counterparty.
Sweep versus break
| Liquidity sweep | Genuine break | |
|---|---|---|
| Price beyond the level | briefly, usually a wick | closes and holds |
| Follow-through | none; sharp reversal | continuation, then a retest that holds |
| Volume | spike, then fades | spike that persists |
| Structure after | old range resumes | new swing forms beyond the level |
The difference is not visible at the moment of the break. It is visible one to three candles later, which is why the patient entry — after the reaction, not on the break — is the one with the edge.
Change of structure
In an uptrend, a swing low broken with a close, followed by a lower high, is a change of structure: the market has stopped making higher lows. The first pullback after that change is the highest-probability short of the new trend, because it is where the trapped longs from the old trend give up.
Trading the sweep
Step 1: Mark the liquidity
The most recent equal highs or lows, and the swing beyond a clear range — the places where stops obviously cluster.
Step 2: Wait for the run
Price pushes through, often on news or at a session open. Do not trade the push.
Step 3: Enter on the reclaim
Price closes back inside the range on your timeframe. Stop beyond the sweep's extreme; target the opposite side of the range.
Summary
Obvious levels attract stops, and stops attract large orders. Trade the reaction after the level is run, with the stop beyond the extreme, rather than the break itself.