I use price patterns to identify key levels in both directions.

Over time, I have found this to be one of the most reliable ways to estimate how far price can travel under different conditions.

The goal is not to predict the future.

The goal is to map the terrain and identify potential levels of interest.

When you do that, you already know where support and target levels are likely to appear before price gets there. Many of these are the same areas others are watching for entries and exits.

Fortunately, TradingView offers numerous free and paid mechanical systems and indicators that can identify these levels consistently and automatically. They also allow you to apply those same systems to your portfolio and watchlists, including setting alerts when new buy or sell signals are triggered.

For example, I have been monitoring this swing system, among many others, for the past year. After making a few minor adjustments, it triggered a short signal on February 5th at 6798 with a stop at 6997.

From a structural standpoint, the chart suggests three nearby support areas.

Key support areas sit near:

• the prior swing low in December

• the prior swing low in November

• the 200 day moving average

This particular system does not utilize AVWAPs.

Key price target objectives for the short are:

• 6599

• 6401

• 6202

Having a roadmap ahead of price can be extremely useful. When you track numerous approaches in addition to your own, it also helps you understand what many active investors, traders, portfolio managers, and algorithms are likely seeing when they use similar swing systems.

Now we watch to see which level price decides to test first, if any.

Which level(s) are you watching?