Price doesn’t move randomly. Behind most major moves are market makers — the players who control liquidity, not direction opinions.
Understanding how they operate helps you stop getting trapped and start trading smarter 👇
Who Are Market Makers?
Market makers are institutions or large players who:
Provide liquidity
Facilitate buy & sell orders
Profit from spreads, liquidity, and positioning
📌 They don’t predict price — they manage order flow.
What Market Makers Actually Want
Market makers aim to: ✔ Create liquidity
✔ Trigger stop-losses
✔ Fill large positions at best prices
📌 They need traders on the wrong side.
How Market Makers Move Price
1. Stop-Hunt Moves
Price is pushed to:
Equal highs / equal lows
Obvious support & resistance
Trendline stops
Result: ➡️ Retail stops get triggered
➡️ Liquidity gets filled
📌 Stops are fuel.
2. Fake Breakouts
Price breaks resistance:
With low follow-through
Long wicks
Immediate reversal
Purpose: ➡️ Trap breakout traders
📌 Not every breakout is real.
3. Liquidity Sweeps
Market makers push price:
Above highs (take buy stops)
Below lows (take sell stops)
Then: ➡️ Reverse price direction
📌 Liquidity first, direction later.
4. Ranging to Build Positions
Price moves sideways:
Boring ranges
Choppy candles
No clear trend
Purpose: ➡️ Accumulate or distribute positions
📌 Ranges are preparation zones.
5. Volatility Expansion
After liquidity is collected:
Sharp impulsive move
High volume
Fast candles
📌 This is the real move — after traps.
Why Retail Traders Lose
Common mistakes: ❌ Chasing breakouts
❌ Tight stop-loss at obvious levels
❌ Overleveraging
❌ Trading during low liquidity
📌 Predictability gets punished.
How to Trade Like Market Makers Think
✔ Wait for liquidity sweeps
✔ Enter after stop-hunts, not before
✔ Use higher timeframes for bias
✔ Let price return into range
📌 React — don’t predict.
Key Tools to Spot Market Maker Behavior
✔ Support & resistance
✔ Equal highs / lows
✔ Volume spikes
✔ Open Interest changes
✔ Funding rate extremes
📌 Price tells the story.
Market Truth
Market makers don’t chase price — they create the conditions for price to move.
📌 If you feel trapped, you probably are.
Final Thoughts
Stop trading what you think should happen.
Start trading what liquidity needs.
That’s where consistency begins.