Zone width without wishful thinking
8 August 2026 · Tom Rees
Hairline levels look precise and fail when spreads and noise are ordinary. Giant bands look “safe” and excuse any outcome. The useful middle is narrower than beginners expect.
Cues we use in the room:
- Cluster of wicks in a tight vertical range often justifies a band the height of that cluster — not the entire day’s range.
- Single clean rejection from a prior swing may stay a line until a second visit muddies it.
- Gap edges can be marked thinly at first; widen only if subsequent sessions keep reacting across a small corridor.
If your band is so wide that both a stop and a target fit inside it, you are no longer mapping — you are negotiating with hope. Shrink until a clear invalidation sits outside the band, then leave it alone until the market proves otherwise.