Range-Bound Trading

Range-bound trading is a trading strategy that seeks to identify and capitalize on stocks trading in price channels. After finding major support and resistance levels and connecting them with horizontal trendlines, a trader can buy a security at the lower trendline support (bottom of the channel) and sell it at the upper trendline resistance (top of the channel).

Range-bound trading strategies involve connecting reaction highs and lows with horizontal trendlines to identify areas of support and resistance. The strength, or reliability, of the trendline as an area of support or resistance depends on the number of times the price has reacted to it. For example, if the price has moved lower off of the resistance trendline five or four times, it's considered more reliable than if the price only moved off of it two times.

Traders capitalize on range-bound trading by repeatedly buying at the support trendline and selling at the resistance trendline until the security breaks out from a price channel. The idea is that the price is more likely to rebound from these levels than break through them, which puts the risk-to-reward ratio in their favor, although it's important to always watch for a potential breakout or breakdown.

Most traders place stop-loss points just above the upper and lower trendlines to mitigate the risk of heavy losses from a high volume breakout or breakdown. For example, if a security has a lower support trendline at $10.00 and an upper resistance trendline at $15.00, the trader may purchase the stock at $11.00, just after a rebound, with a stop-loss of $9.00. This protects the trader if the stock broke down from the support trendline.

Many traders also use other forms of technical analysis in conjunction with price channels to increase their odds of success. For instance, traders might watch the volume associated with a rebound from a support level to gauge the likelihood of a breakdown or breakout. The relative strength index (RSI) is also a useful indicator of the trend strength at any give point within a price channel.

The following chart shows an example of a range-bound trading strategy with arrows in place for potential long and short trades.

In this chart, a trader may have noticed that the stock was starting to form a price channel in late-October and early-November. After the initial peaks were formed, the trader may have started placing long and short trades based on these trendlines, with a total of four short trades and two long trades. The stock's breakout from upper trendline resistance marks an end to the range-bound trading.

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com.