Trading & Crypto

How Do You Find Your Trading Entries When the Chart Is Moving Fast?

How I Find My Trading Entries | Trading Course 003

Video: How I Find My Trading Entries | Trading Course 003

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· based on the channel SCI

Key takeaways

  • Entry timing is a skill, not a signal — the setup must exist before the trigger.
  • Direction comes from the higher timeframe; the lower timeframe only times the entry.
  • Liquidity sweeps, displacement, and an imbalance are the three marks of a valid entry.
  • Risk is fixed before the entry: stop beyond the invalidation point, not at a random dollar amount.
  • SCI's Trading Course 003 focuses specifically on entry selection, following the ICC concept.

Trading entries are found by waiting for price to sweep liquidity, then displace in the direction of your higher-timeframe bias and leave an imbalance behind — the entry is the retrace into that imbalance, not the first candle that moves. In practice this means you do not hunt entries; you build a bias, mark the levels where resting orders sit, and let price come to a level you already decided on. SCI's Trading Course 003 walks through exactly this selection process, and the free resources behind it are linked from the instructor's page at Trades By Sci on Instagram.

What does "finding an entry" actually mean in trading?

An entry is a pre-defined price zone where you accept risk, not a feeling that the market looks bullish. Finding one means three decisions are already made before you click: the direction, the level, and the invalidation point that proves you wrong.

Most retail traders invert this. They see a big candle, enter on emotion, and only then look for a reason. The result is a stop placed where it is comfortable rather than where the idea actually breaks. A real entry has structure:

  1. Direction — set by the higher timeframe (daily or 4-hour trend, or the draw on liquidity).
  2. Level — a specific zone where liquidity has been swept or an imbalance sits unfilled.
  3. Trigger — the reaction inside that zone: displacement, a shift in market structure, or a rejection wick.
  4. Invalidation — the price that proves the setup dead; your stop goes just beyond it.

If any of the four is missing, you do not have an entry. You have a guess.

Why the higher timeframe decides the direction before anything else

Direction is the first filter because a perfect entry in the wrong direction is still a loss. Before looking at a 5-minute chart, mark where price is drawing to on the daily: an old high, an old low, a weekly level, or an equal-highs/equal-lows cluster where stops are stacked.

A workable routine looks like this:

  • Mark the previous day's high and low and the current week's open.
  • Identify whether the market is trending or ranging; in a range, entries only make sense at the extremes.
  • Note the nearest pool of liquidity above and below — that is the magnet price is most likely to reach.
  • Only then drop to the execution timeframe.

This is the difference between reacting to candles and trading toward a target. Traders who skip this step usually describe their entries as "random" and their results as inconsistent, which matches the most common complaint in the comments under entry-focused videos: it looks simple until real money is on the line.

The three marks of a valid trading entry

A valid entry usually shows three things in sequence: a liquidity sweep, displacement, and an imbalance. Each one filters out a different kind of bad trade.

Liquidity sweep. Price pushes through an obvious high or low, taking out stops, then fails to hold there. This is the market collecting orders before the real move. Entering before the sweep means you are the liquidity.

Displacement. After the sweep, price moves away aggressively — large bodies, small wicks, momentum in one direction. Displacement is the market telling you which side it chose. A slow grind is not displacement.

Imbalance. The aggressive move leaves an inefficiency: a gap between candles, a fair value gap, or an untested order block. Price often returns to that zone to rebalance, and that return is the entry.

When all three line up, you have a level, a direction, and a reason. When only one or two appear, the probability drops sharply and the trade becomes a coin flip with fees.

How to time the entry on a lower timeframe

Timing means waiting for the reaction inside your zone rather than entering the moment price touches it. A zone is a region, not a line, and price can wick through it, tap it twice, or reverse from the edge.

Practical timing rules that hold up across forex and gold:

  • Let price enter the zone and then wait for a lower-timeframe structure shift — a small break of the most recent swing in your direction.
  • Enter on the retest of that small break, not on the break candle itself.
  • If price closes cleanly through the zone against you, the setup is invalidated; do not average down.
  • If the reaction never comes and price runs without you, that is a missed trade, not a reason to chase.

This is what separates a plan from a reaction. Missing a move costs nothing; taking a bad entry costs capital and confidence.

Risk, position size, and the mistakes that break entries

Risk management is what makes a good entry survivable, because even a high-probability setup fails regularly. Fix the risk before you consider the reward.

A simple framework:

  1. Decide the percentage of the account you are willing to lose on the trade — commonly 0.5% to 1% for intraday work.
  2. Place the stop just beyond the invalidation point identified in the setup, not at a round number.
  3. Calculate position size from that distance so the loss equals your fixed percentage.
  4. Set the target at the next liquidity pool or imbalance, and only take the trade if the reward justifies the risk.

The recurring failure pattern traders describe is not a lack of setups — it is poor risk control and emotion turning a working method into a losing month. One trader in the comments notes that after a hard lesson in risk management, the method itself still held up. That is the correct conclusion: the edge is in the process, and entries are only one part of it.

Common questions traders ask about entries

"I understand the concept but still hesitate." Hesitation usually means the plan is not specific enough. If your entry zone, trigger, and stop are written down before the session, there is nothing left to decide in the moment.

"How many setups should I take per day?" Fewer than you think. One or two A-grade entries beat ten mediocre ones, because each additional trade adds exposure without adding edge.

"Do I need to trade the New York session?" No. Traders working night shifts report doing better in quieter hours because there is less noise and slower price action is easier to read. Session choice should match your schedule and the liquidity your instrument actually offers.

"Why do my entries work on demo and fail live?" Because demo removes the emotional cost of the stop. The fix is smaller size, not a different strategy.

The takeaway on finding trading entries

Finding entries is a repeatable process: build a higher-timeframe bias, mark the liquidity, wait for a sweep and displacement, and enter on the retrace into the imbalance with risk fixed in advance. The skill is not prediction — it is patience plus a written plan that tells you when you are wrong. SCI's Trading Course 003 is built around this exact selection process, and the channel keeps publishing the follow-up lessons in the same series. If you want the full toolkit and the community around it, start with Trades By Sci on Instagram and work through the course in order rather than cherry-picking single setups.

Source: How I Find My Trading Entries | Trading Course 003 · Markdown version

Questions & answers

What timeframe should I use to find trading entries?

Use a higher timeframe such as the daily or 4-hour to set direction and mark liquidity, then drop to a lower timeframe only to time the trigger. The higher timeframe answers "which way and to where"; the lower timeframe answers "when." Trading a single timeframe in isolation is the most common reason entries feel random.

How many confirmations do I need before entering a trade?

Three are usually enough: a liquidity sweep, displacement away from that sweep, and an imbalance left behind. If only one or two are present, the probability drops and the trade becomes a guess. More confirmations is not automatically better — at some point you are just waiting for the move to be over.

Why do my entries work in backtesting but fail in live trading?

Backtests remove the emotional cost of a stop being hit, so hesitation, early exits, and revenge trades never appear in the data. The method may be sound while execution is not. Reducing position size until the process feels neutral is the standard fix.

Can I trade entries profitably outside the New York session?

Yes. Quieter sessions have less noise and slower price action, which some traders find easier to read, especially those working night shifts. What matters is that the instrument you trade has enough liquidity during your chosen hours and that your plan matches that session's behavior.

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