What it is
Higher-timeframe highs and lows are where a lot of stops and pending orders sit. Last week's high, for example, is where traders who sold last week have their stops, and where breakout traders have their buy orders.
WickSpeak builds these levels from whole trading days and only draws a week or month when the one before it is also on the chart's history, so the levels are complete and not cut off where the data starts. You can show the week, the month or both.
How it is calculated
1. Group the chart's history into trading days, then into calendar weeks or months. 2. Skip the current, unfinished week or month. 3. For the most recent completed one, take the highest high and the lowest low. 4. Draw them as dashed lines labelled PWH and PWL for the week, PMH and PML for the month.
Settings
| Setting | Default | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Period | week | week, month or both | Which completed period's high and low are drawn. |
How to read it
How to trade it
- 1
Show the week's levels on a 15 minute or 1 hour chart of gold or US30.
- 2
For a sweep trade, wait for price to poke above the previous week high and then close back below it. Sell on that close.
- 3
Put the stop just above the sweep high, often 5 to 10 points on gold or 40 to 80 points on US30.
- 4
Target the middle of last week's range first, then the opposite level.
- 5
For a break trade, wait for a close beyond the level and a retest that holds, then trade in the break's direction with the stop back on the other side.
A sweep trade is proved wrong when price closes back beyond the level and holds there. A break trade is proved wrong when price closes back inside last week's range after the retest.
WickSpeak runs in your browser with nothing to install. When you add previous week and month levels, it writes a plain-English reading on the live candle: what the indicator is, what it is doing right now, how to trade it and what would prove that reading wrong. It names each level and how many points away it is, and says whether price is approaching, sweeping or breaking it.
The previous day, week and month highs and lows are also part of WickSpeak's key levels. In Playbook, the price level and "no level in the way" conditions can use them, for example to only take a trade when no key level sits between entry and target.
Best markets and timeframes
Useful on all liquid markets, especially gold, US30, NAS100 and major forex pairs, on 5 minute to 4 hour charts.
Common mistakes
- Fading a level blindly without waiting for a rejection or sweep close.
- Treating a wick through the level as a breakout.
- Forgetting that on a Monday the previous week's levels are often the nearest important levels.
Works well with
Questions traders ask
Why is the previous week high important?
Many stops and breakout orders sit around it, so price often reacts there. A sweep and rejection or a clean break both give useful information about who is in control.
What does PWH and PWL mean?
PWH is the previous week high and PWL the previous week low. PMH and PML are the same for the previous month.
Which timeframe should I use with weekly levels?
Most traders use them on 15 minute to 4 hour charts for entries, while watching them as targets on the daily chart.
Do weekly levels work on gold?
Gold often reacts at the previous week's high and low, either with a sweep and reversal or a breakout. Treat them as places to watch, then let the candles decide.