Mark the range before you chase the break
Why swing trade preparation starts with naming the active range — and how skipping that step turns every candle into a false invitation.
Most breakout losses we see in homework share a quiet cause: the trader never decided whether price was still inside a range. A strong candle through a round number feels like permission. Without a written range map, it is only motion.
Start with two anchors
On the timeframe that matches your swing horizon — often daily for multi-day holds — mark the clearest swing high and swing low that still contain recent closes. If closes have already left that pocket, the range may be finished; say so on paper instead of pretending the old high is still “resistance you almost broke.”
Write the waiting rule
Preparation means deciding in advance what a real leave looks like. Examples we use in class:
- A daily close beyond the range high, then a hold above that high on the next session
- A failed leave that returns inside — treated as information, not as an automatic fade without levels
What we skip in the intensive
We do not grade you on finding the “best” breakout of the month. We grade whether your notes show a range decision before any entry language appears. That habit alone removes a surprising number of mid-range impulse trades.
If you want this drilled with live markup, the Swing Trade Preparation Intensive spends week one almost entirely on structure maps.