If you’ve been trading an ‘entry system’ with mixed success – you might be missing the broader structure of how price moves. Chris Capre at 2ndSkiesTrading explains that identifying impulsive and corrective moves helps you do that.
Price alternates between expansion (impulsive) and consolidation (corrective). If you can identify which phase the market is in, you can align with dominant order flow rather than guessing.
You begin by identifying whether the market is expanding strongly in one direction or moving sideways in balance, then position yourself to trade with the expansions — not against them.
A practical framework
Impulsive moves =
• Large candles
• Majority of candles one colour
• Strong closes near highs (bullish) or lows (bearish)
• Clear directional momentum
Corrective moves =
• Smaller candles
• Mixed candle colours
• Closes toward the middle
• Sideways or overlapping price action
How it’s applied
STEP 1: Identify the dominant impulsive direction
Look for strong directional movement with clear imbalance (buyers or sellers in control).
STEP 2: Wait for the corrective phase
After most impulsive moves, price pauses or retraces in a balanced, slower structure.
STEP 3: Trade the next impulsive continuation
If the prior impulsive move was with trend, the move following the correction is more likely to resume in the same direction.
Why it works
Trading in the direction of impulsive moves means you are:
• Trading with dominant order flow
• Aligning with imbalance (not fighting it)
• Participating in faster, larger price movements
