Journal
When a wick is exhaustion and when it is only noise
A long upper wick after a strong advance looks decisive on a thumbnail. In session it is often just a stop run. In our reversal work we refuse to call exhaustion on wick length alone.
Context first
Ask where the wick sits relative to the preceding swing structure. A wick that prints into a multi-week supply shelf after expanding ranges carries more weight than a wick mid-channel on average volume.
Volume agreement
Exhaustion prefers climax participation. If the wick bar trades on quieter volume than the prior three bars, treat it as hesitation, not a finished move. Confirmation rules come later; this filter simply keeps weak candidates out of the journal.
What we mark in class
Attendees annotate three fields on every candidate: structure location, volume rank versus the recent twenty bars, and whether the next session failed to continue. Only then do we discuss entries. The discipline sounds slow. It cuts the number of “obvious” reversals that never reverse.