Wyckoff is the granddaddy — a century old and still the clearest model of how smart money operates.
The core idea: a "Composite Man" accumulates a position quietly while the crowd is bearish, marks price up, distributes (sells to the euphoric crowd), then lets it mark down. Your job is to read which phase you're in and trade with the Composite Man.
What you look for:
- The four phases — accumulation, markup, distribution, markdown — and the sub-phases (A–E) inside a range.
- Schematic events — the Spring (a shakeout below support that grabs stops before markup) and the Upthrust/UTAD (the distribution version above resistance). These are Wyckoff's liquidity sweeps.
- Volume as truth — effort vs. result. A big-volume push that fails to make progress betrays hidden supply or demand (this is Volume Spread Analysis).
Who it suits. Traders who think in terms of campaigns and volume rather than precise entry candles. If "read the story of accumulation and distribution" resonates more than "enter at the FVG," Wyckoff may be your lens. It's slower and more discretionary — and for many, more intuitive.