Institutional Volume Patterns at Retail Key Levels - Sharing 14 Years of Observations

[Brian Johnson]

Good morning everyone,

I've been trading professionally for the past 14 years, primarily focusing on institutional order flow and volume analysis. Recently joined this community because I believe in giving back to developing traders.

Background: Started as a retail trader and took heavy losses in the early years, transitioned into proprietary trading where I refined my edge, and now trade full-time with a focus on exploiting the disconnect between what retail sees and what institutions are actually doing.

What I want to share: I've noticed many talented traders here struggle with the same issues I faced - great technical analysis but getting stopped out by "random" moves that seem to ignore key levels.

The reality: These moves aren't random. There are volume signatures that telegraph institutional activity before price catches up.

My goal here: Help serious traders understand these patterns. Not selling anything - just believe the retail vs institutional information gap needs to shrink.

Today's observation: Watched several setups yesterday where retail was positioned for bounces at "obvious" support levels. Volume told a completely different story. Those who understood the volume context avoided the traps.

Question for the room: How many of you incorporate volume analysis beyond basic "volume confirms trend" concepts?

Looking forward to contributing here.


Best,
Brian Johnson

 

[tinek36]

Nope, volume reflects dailymarket hours and is a mix of both , buy and sell ,no trend .
Trade bottom candle when up trend and exit if trend is reversing and do it by robot ,no human can do that.

 

[Brian Johnson]

Nope, volume reflects dailymarket hours and is a mix of both , buy and sell ,no trend .
Trade bottom candle when up trend and exit if trend is reversing and do it by robot ,no human can do that.

You’re correct that raw volume is just the sum of transactions and doesn’t inherently show “buy” or “sell” — but the real edge comes from how we interpret that data in context.

Institutional traders don’t just look at total volume; they study where it’s building, how it’s distributed inside each candle, and whether that activity supports or contradicts the current price move. This is where concepts like absorption (large players quietly taking the other side of retail trades) and exhaustion (a move driven by weaker hands losing momentum) come into play.

For example:

• Price pushing up but underlying aggressive buying is fading → bullish exhaustion → often signals reversal.
• Price holding steady while institutional buying steadily builds → bullish absorption → often precedes breakout.
  
  Please check this Example images : In the attached example images, the footprint chart clearly illustrates this behavior.
  
  
  

Robots can certainly execute faster, but whether manual or automated, the rules behind them still come from understanding these patterns. In my experience, when you filter your trades through volume–price relationship analysis rather than just “trend + exit,” the number of false breakouts and failed reversals drops dramatically.

Always appreciate hearing different perspectives — there’s more than one way to win in the markets.

Best,
Brian

 

[tinek36]

sorry im swingman , only machine can handle cci stoch or momentum, propably same aproach but on smaller chanel.
well is the RR ok, try automate,ninja ai has a bunch of robots

 

[tinek36]

Who can recommend a good broker ?

 

[Devilmatrix7]

Brian Johnson , great thread man.....any sharing based on your experience to spot these key levels and how to take a trade based on this levels

 

[tinek36]

wow smooth mq5