Clean Structure vs Rangy Price Action
Clean structure shows clear HH/HL or LH/LL — trade this. Rangy PA chops sideways with no direction — avoid or wait.
Clean structure means price is making clear directional swing sequences: higher highs and higher lows in an uptrend, or lower highs and lower lows in a downtrend. Zones hold in the trend direction, pullbacks are predictable, and targets are obvious. All trading framework concepts (front leg, continuations, IRL, realignment) work best during clean structure. Rangy price action means no clear directional bias exists — price chops sideways, sweeps both sides, zones fail on both the buy and sell side, and every breakout is followed by a reversal back into the range. Most framework concepts break down during rangy conditions. The correct response to rangy PA is usually no action: wait for the range to resolve and a new front leg to develop. Trading rangy PA like it is clean structure is one of the most common sources of unnecessary losses.
✓How to Recognize
- •Clean: clear HH/HL or LH/LL sequence, one-sided breaks, zones hold in trend direction
- •Rangy: no clear swing sequence, both sides get swept, zones fail on both sides
- •Clean structure appears ~60-70% of sessions, rangy PA ~30-40%
- •Best approach for rangy PA: wait for resolution or only trade extreme range boundaries
⚡How to Avoid
- →Trading rangy PA with the same continuation strategy used for clean structure
- →Flipping bias repeatedly as both sides of a range get swept (chasing the chop)
- →Assuming every session must have a trade — some sessions are best skipped entirely
- →Forcing the front leg concept when no clear front leg exists (the market is ranging)