Who else sees brutal manipulation in the London closures?

Lately I have noticed very suspicious movements just before the closing of London. 30-40 pipe sails for no reason, liquidity disappearing and stops flying through the air. Am I the only one or anyone else seeing it too?

You're not crazy. I've been swept twice this week just at 16:58 Madrid time. Coincidence, I don't think so. It seems that someone knows very well where the stops are and they hunt them as if they were candy.

The saddest thing is that this is not new. They do it every week and yet people still operate in those hours as if nothing. Then they come to cry that the market is unfair. Learn to fucking read the traps!

It happened to me today in EURUSD. I had a well placed sale and just at the close a fuse pulls me out and then the price drops 60 pips as if nothing. I’m not making it up, it was criminal.

And what do you expect? London is one of the most manipulated sessions because it moves a lot of liquidity. Institutionals need counterpart and retailers are breakfast.

The solution is easy: do not operate near the closing. I have blocked the trading between 16:45 and 17:10. It has saved me more dislikes than any magical indicator.

I don't think it's manipulation as such. It can just be a revaluation of positions before the rollover. You have to be objective too, not everything is the fault of "the bad guys."

Manipulation or not, timing is not casual. Just when most European traders are disconnecting, it’s when the jolts happen. I already take it as a counter sign.

Well, I operate just that moment... and I'm doing fine! I learned to use that volatility as an input with very distant stops. Sometimes chaos also gives opportunities, if you know where to look.

Most of us here are crying for volatility and you're pulling juice out of it, that's how it's done, crying to the wall, the markets are the ones that adapt, not the ones that complain.

Yeah, yeah... until the market spits in your face and sends the SL into space.

The worst thing is that they don't just sweep stops, they also fake technical ruptures. They break a resistance like it's real and they return it all down the minute. It's a butcher shop.

Instead of complaining, use that in your favor. Wait for the trap and go in the opposite direction. So many pros do. If you do not like to lose, do not put SL where all robots have them.

If you know they exist, why don't you operate against them instead of being their prey? The problem is not the system, it's that you don't know how to adapt.

I just came to say that if you don't understand how the institutional market works, you have nothing to do at key times. It's not manipulation, it's just that you're not ready.

What many interpret as manipulation is not always. You have to understand how big players operate to see why certain movements happen just before the close of London. At that time, they square order books, adjust positions for daily reports and many institutional ones take advantage of low liquidity to optimize the price of entry or exit. That generates sudden movements, yes, but they have a logic behind them, they are not simple "hunting chips." Another key point is the "fixing" of currencies. Many pension funds, insurers and even central banks adjust valuations at that time. It’s not that the market is against you, it’s that you’re not understanding which market you’re participating in. If the market was completely fair or static, it wouldn’t be profitable either. It’s the imperfection and real behavior that generates the opportunities, and that’s where an informed trader has the advantage. If you want to operate that schedule, you need to prepare a completely different approach. If you can’t use the same setups that mid-morning morning. It requires strict risk management, looser stops and above all, a quick mentality to cut off losses and let the profits if you don’s run away if you don’t deal with that you don’t work out with that you don’t work out with the last time.

Brutal explanation. Thank you for bringing so much value, so it is good to read forums.

What if all that stuff you're saying is a post-defeat rationalization?

I've never considered it in my analysis. Thank you crack!

If the market were as rational as you paint it, no one would lose. Sometimes there is just manipulation and point.

I keep this answer, it's full of gold.

Could you explain in more detail how you detect volume absorption?

Thank you for this piece of explanation, really.

And what about the days when there is no news and yet the price collapses nonsense? Is it also "bookbox"?

Thank you, very instructive. I stay mostly with the fixing, I never considered it and now everything fits better.

Thank you so much for sharing your approach so clearly. It's nice to read to you.

Do you have real evidence or do you only speak from theory? Because the market sometimes acts like it's a brazen hunt.

If you say there's no manipulation, how do you explain the exact spikes on retail liquidity zones over and over again?

It is true that many blame the market without assuming their ignorance.

This is worth more than many paid courses. Thank you for the contribution.

I like that you don't sell smoke, but you appeal to the real understanding of the market.

So all those sudden moves you see as "logical"? Looks like you minimize the impact of the market makers.

And the sweeps that are done just before a clear reverse? Don’t tell me that that’s chance or market efficiency...

I understand what you're saying, but I still have a hard time believing that it's all a product of "institutional adjustments." Sometimes it seems like pure manipulation.

Thank you so much for the level of detail. You have given me a new way to see the session closing.

Thank you for taking the time to write this. You can tell that you speak from experience.

Amazing contribution, I've read it three times and I keep taking out new things.

I find your argument very simplistic. Not everything is explained with order flow and PA, sometimes there is black hand.

And how do you know when it's "institutional square" and when it's just a sweep to generate volume? It's not as clear as you paint it.

So much technicality to justify that the market does what it wants. In the end we all lose on those fuses.