Definition
The InSide Bar Strategy is a significant candlestick pattern that helps traders time entries with low risk. This strategy can be used to follow and trade with a trend or with reversals. An InSide Bar is a candle that is essentially “covered” by the previous candle. When you see this type of candle, it usually means that there has been reduced volatility within markets. The InSide Bars are not all equal in terms of size and range, and it is important to keep this in mind throughout your analysis. This will be explained further below in our What to look for section.
Takeaways
Traders use the InSide Bars strategy by waiting for price to make a reversal move and then form an InSide Bar. This way they are able to control their positions based on specific criteria and manage the perfect entry point by waiting for an ideal reversal in the market. In addition, there would then be volatility contraction, allowing the buying pressure to potentially continue if the price were to break out higher. The approach is also less prone to fake outs.
What to look for
As mentioned earlier, InSide Bars can vary in terms of size, and can also vary in range, color, etc. Here are a few types of bars that you will most likely use when utilizing the InSide Bar Strategy.
The standard. The standard InSide bar has a small range and is “covered” by the previous candle. This standard candle tells the trader that there is indecision and low volatility within the markets.
The InSide Bar with a large range. This bar is still “covered” by the previous candle, but the range is larger than the standard. Depending on the close, the bar could represent indecision, trend, or a reversal within the market.
Multiple InSide Bars within a single candle pattern. This pattern tells the trader where there is low volatility within the markets. As market volatility is always shifting, it helps to see multiple InSide Bars together because it is a strong sign that there will be big movement in the markets.
Now let’s analyze how traders can manage entries and exits while using this specific strategy.
Entry. Some traders prefer to enter using a stop order and when the price breaks out of the InSide Bar. Many like this method because they enter the trade just as price moves in their favor. Please be mindful, however, that there is a possibility of a false breakout in this case. Traders could also wait for the candle to close, but this comes with the risk of missing a big move in the market. Our suggestion would be to find whichever method works best for you.
Exit. Depending on what you are trading and what your end goals are, your exits will vary. If you are looking to capture a swing, some traders find it most helpful to exit trades before any opposition starts. If aiming to ride a trend, however, traders tend to trail their stop loss just as the market begins to adjust to their prediction.
Limitations
There are limitations to almost every indicator, and those specific to the InSide Bar Strategy would be choosing to trade the breakout of the indicator. We caution traders here because with low probability trades like this example, the market does not have a smooth range and it could prove more trouble than it is worth.
Summary
The InSide Bar Strategy is a candlestick pattern used to time entries with low risk. It can be used to follow and trade with a trend or show reversals within the market through its candles. InSide Bars vary in size and range of the candle body, with the smaller variants showing an indecisive market. The strategy is useful when determining market strength and to capture a swing or ride a trend on the exit.
