What it is
People like tidy numbers. Traders place limit orders, stops and targets at round prices far more often than at odd ones, and options and news headlines are quoted at them too. That clustering of orders can make round figures act as small support and resistance, or as triggers when they break.
The indicator simply marks these prices for you. It has one setting, the spacing, which controls how far apart the lines are as a share of price. WickSpeak rounds the step to a clean figure so the lines land on prices people actually use.
How it is calculated
1. Take the latest close. 2. Multiply it by the spacing percent (1% by default) to get a rough gap. 3. Round that gap to a clean step, such as 10, 25, 50, 100 or 1000, so the lines sit on tidy numbers. 4. Find the round price nearest the current close. 5. Draw a line there and at each step up to six steps above and six below.
Settings
| Setting | Default | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spacing % | 1 | 0.1 to 10 | How far apart the lines are, as a percentage of price. Smaller values draw the smaller round figures for intraday trading; larger values show only the big ones. |
How to read it
How to trade it
- 1
Set the spacing so the lines suit your timeframe. On a 5 minute gold chart a small spacing gives lines every 5 or 10 points; on a 1 hour US30 chart, every 100 or 250 points works well.
- 2
For a rejection trade, wait for a candle to touch the round number and close back away from it with a clear wick, then enter in the direction of the rejection.
- 3
Put the stop beyond the wick, plus a small buffer for spread, for example 3 to 5 points on gold.
- 4
Target the next round number in your direction, or the middle between two lines if that is too far for your stop.
- 5
For a break trade, wait for a full close beyond the line and a retest from the other side before entering.
A rejection trade off a round number is proved wrong when a candle closes beyond the level on the wrong side. A break trade is proved wrong when price closes back on the original side of the level after the retest.
WickSpeak runs in your browser with nothing to install. When you add round number 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 the nearest round figure above and below and how many points away each is.
Round numbers are also part of WickSpeak's key levels, alongside pivot points, the previous day, week and month high and low, the open, VWAP and average daily range levels, each showing how many points away it is. In Playbook, the price level and "no level in the way" conditions can use these levels in a play.
Best markets and timeframes
Strongest on heavily traded markets where retail and institutional orders overlap: gold, US30, NAS100 and major forex pairs such as EURUSD at the big figures. Useful on every timeframe, but the bigger the round number, the more it matters.
Common mistakes
- Expecting an exact touch. Price often turns a few points before or after a round figure.
- Treating every line as equal. A whole thousand on US30 carries far more weight than a minor step.
- Fading a round number in a strong trend with no rejection candle to confirm it.
Works well with
Questions traders ask
Do round numbers really work as support and resistance?
They often matter because many orders are placed there, but they are not guaranteed to hold. Treat them as places to watch for a reaction, then let the candles confirm it.
What are the key round numbers on gold?
Traders watch whole hundreds most, then fifties, then tens on short timeframes. A whole hundred, or a whole thousand when price is near one, tends to draw the biggest reaction.
What is a big figure in forex?
The big figure is the handle of a currency price, for example 1.08 in EURUSD at 1.0800. Moves through a big figure such as 1.0800 or 1.0900 are watched closely, and 50 pip levels are the next most important.
Why does price stop just before a round number?
Traders who expect a reaction place their orders slightly in front of the figure so they get filled. That pulls the turning point a few points short of the exact number.