# How to Trade Using Price Action When the Chart Looks Overwhelming Learn how to trade price action: market structure, break of structure, retraces and liquidity traps explained with a simple, repeatable chart-reading process. Source: https://unlocksblues-tick-page2025.top/how-to-trade-using/ · based on the channel [TJR](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGHBUXjDCeiIXNdKR0HUZnA) · Video: [Once You Learn Price Action, Trading Becomes Embarrassingly Simple](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdu6j2E1DEI) · 2026-10-18 ![How to Trade Using Price Action When the Chart Looks Overwhelming](https://unlocksblues-tick-page2025.top/how-to-trade-using/how-to-trade-using.webp) ## Key takeaways - Price action trading reads raw candles and structure instead of stacking lagging indicators. - The core sequence is simple: mark swing highs and lows, wait for a break of structure (BOS), then wait for the retrace. - Most failed breakouts are liquidity traps: price breaks a level, grabs stops, then reverses. - A 1-minute scalping approach demands more patience than most beginners expect, which is why overtrading kills accounts. - The TJR video frames price action as a small set of repeatable rules rather than a large library of setups. Price action trading is the practice of reading a chart from raw candles and market structure alone, without leaning on a stack of lagging indicators. The repeatable method is to mark the obvious swing highs and lows, wait for a break of structure, and then wait for the retrace before acting. The TJR breakdown of this approach is built around that same short sequence, and the full framework behind it is available through the [TJR trading blueprint](https://go.tjrtrades.com/blueprint-fb6wqsf). ## Why price action trading feels simpler than indicator stacking Price action removes the noise that makes charts look complicated. A chart with five oscillators, three moving averages and a volume profile is not more informative than a clean chart with marked levels; it is just harder to read in real time. Candles already contain open, high, low and close, which is the same data every indicator is derived from, only delayed. The practical consequence is speed. When price approaches a level you already marked, you do not need to check whether an indicator has crossed or whether a histogram has flipped. You need one decision: did structure break, and is price coming back to the level it broke? That is a binary question, and binary questions are easier to execute under pressure than multi-condition checklists. The second benefit is consistency. Indicators change settings between timeframes and assets, so a setup that works on one chart often needs re-tuning on another. Swing highs, swing lows and breaks of structure look the same on a 1-minute chart of an index future and on a 4-hour chart of a major crypto pair. The rules travel. ## The four-step price action routine A price action routine is a fixed order of operations you run on every chart before you consider a trade. The order matters more than any single step, because it stops you from entering on impulse. 1. Mark the swing highs and swing lows that are visible without zooming in. If you have to squint to find a swing point, it is not a level other traders are watching. 2. Identify the current structure: is price making higher highs and higher lows, lower highs and lower lows, or chopping sideways? Trade with the structure, not against it. 3. Wait for a break of structure (BOS), meaning a candle close beyond the most recent swing point in the direction of your bias. 4. Wait for the retrace back into the area that was broken, and only then look for an entry trigger. The retrace is where risk is defined and where the trade either works or fails quickly. Steps three and four are where most traders lose discipline. The break is exciting and the retrace is boring, so people buy the break itself, get filled at the worst price of the move, and then watch price come back through their entry. The comment threads under TJR videos keep returning to the same line for a reason: wait for the retrace. ## Break of structure versus the liquidity trap A break of structure is only useful if you can tell a genuine continuation from a stop run. Price often pushes just past an obvious high or low, triggers the resting stop orders clustered there, and then reverses hard. That move is a liquidity grab, not a breakout, and it is the single most common reason beginners report that the market does "the exact opposite" of what they expected. Three filters help separate the two: - **Candle close, not wick.** A wick through a level is a probe; a close beyond it is a decision. Waiting for the close costs you a few ticks and saves you most of the fakeouts. - **Where the level sits.** A high that has been tested three or four times holds more stop orders above it, which makes it a better trap candidate than a fresh high nobody has traded against. - **What happens after the break.** If price breaks, retraces shallowly and continues, structure held. If it breaks, snaps back through the level and closes back inside the range, you were the liquidity. This is also why a break of structure is a test of patience rather than a signal to click. The break tells you where the market is interested; the retrace tells you whether it is serious. ## Scalping on the 1-minute chart without blowing accounts The 1-minute chart amplifies everything, including your mistakes. Beginners are drawn to it because entries look effortless in edited videos, but the same speed that produces quick wins produces quick overtrading, tilt and repeated stop-outs. If you have already burned through several courses and several accounts on fast timeframes, the problem is usually not the strategy library, it is the number of decisions per hour. A workable structure for fast-timeframe trading looks like this: - Cap the number of trades per session, for example two or three, and stop when you hit the cap regardless of results. - Define risk per trade before the session in fixed currency terms, not in "I'll be careful" terms. - Only take 1-minute setups that align with structure on the 5-minute or 15-minute chart, so the fast chart is a timing tool rather than the whole thesis. - Journal every trade with a screenshot of the entry, the level you were trading and the reason. A trading journal such as Tradezella, which TJR lists among his tools, makes this review step mechanical instead of optional. Overtrading is rarely a knowledge problem. It is a process problem, and a hard cap plus a journal fixes more accounts than another course does. ## Where beginners actually get stuck The gap between understanding price action and trading it profitably is almost always execution, not theory. Traders can describe a break of structure and a retrace correctly and still chase the break in the moment, because the chart is moving and the description is not. Three sticking points come up repeatedly: - **Waiting.** The setup requires you to do nothing for long stretches. Sitting out is the skill, and it feels like wasted time right up until the trade you waited for pays for the session. - **Isolation.** Reading charts alone with no feedback loop means you cannot tell whether a loss came from a bad read or bad execution. Structured review, whether with a mentor, a community or a recorded journal, closes that loop. - **Expectation drift.** Social media shows the winning trades and hides the waiting, so the real experience of trading feels broken by comparison. Adjusting expectations to "most trades are skipped" fixes more psychology than any mindset book. If you want the exact system TJR uses to move from scattered setups to a defined process, the [full-time trader blueprint](https://go.tjrtrades.com/blueprint-fb6wqsf) is the starting point referenced in the video. ## Useful links - [TJR trading blueprint](https://go.tjrtrades.com/blueprint-fb6wqsf) — the full system for becoming a consistently profitable trader. - [Indicators TJR uses daily](https://go.tjrtrades.com/indicators-dek54m1) — the toolset shown on his charts. - [Funded account raffle entry](https://form.tjrtrades.com/funded-contest) — contest form for a funded account. - [Alpha Futures](https://app.alpha-futures.com/signup/TJR/) — 10% off funded accounts. - [Lucid Trading](https://lucidtrading.com/ref/TJR/) — 40% off funded accounts. - [Tradeify](https://tradeify.co/?ref=PBCGEZAG) — 30% off funded accounts. - [Tradezella](https://tradezella.com/?fpr=tjr) — the trading journal used for review. - [HeroFX](http://herofx.co/tjr) — the broker used in the videos. ## The bottom line on price action trading Price action works because it reduces trading to a short, repeatable sequence: mark structure, wait for the break, wait for the retrace, manage risk. The hard part is not learning the vocabulary of swing highs, breaks of structure and liquidity traps; it is sitting through the wait and refusing the trades that do not fit the sequence. TJR's breakdown is a useful reminder that simplicity in trading is a discipline rather than a shortcut, and that fewer, better-defined setups beat a large library of half-understood ones. Start with one market, one timeframe and one written rule set, review every trade, and only add complexity once the simple version is consistently executed. For the complete framework, start with the [TJR blueprint](https://go.tjrtrades.com/blueprint-fb6wqsf). ## Questions & answers **What exactly is a break of structure in price action trading?** A break of structure is a candle close beyond the most recent significant swing high or low, in the direction of your bias. It signals that the market has accepted a new price area rather than just probing it with a wick. The break alone is not an entry; it defines where you then wait for a retrace. **Why do so many breakouts fail right after they trigger?** Obvious highs and lows collect stop orders, and price is often pushed just past them to fill those orders before reversing. That is a liquidity grab rather than a real breakout. Requiring a candle close beyond the level, favouring heavily tested levels and waiting for the retrace all reduce exposure to these traps. **Is 1-minute scalping realistic for a beginner?** It is possible but punishing, because the number of decisions per minute multiplies the cost of poor discipline. Beginners typically fail there through overtrading and tilt rather than through a lack of setups. A trade cap per session, fixed risk and a journal are the minimum requirements before attempting it. **How long does it take before price action reading feels natural?** It depends on how much deliberate review you do, not on how many videos you watch. Traders who mark levels before the session, take a limited number of setups and journal each one tend to progress faster than those who collect strategies. The skill that takes longest to build is waiting for the retrace instead of chasing the break.