Wyckoff Method — Trading Wiki

Publisher and editorial transparency

Published by TradeHQ. Site creator: Anuga Weerasinghe. This page has no recorded editorial review date; the About page explains the site's editorial approach.

What Wyckoff Method means

The Wyckoff method interprets price and volume through phases such as accumulation, markup, distribution and markdown. Those labels describe a framework rather than verified institutional intentions.

In depth

Wyckoff's historical framework describes selected price and volume changes with labels such as accumulation, markup, distribution and markdown. Some educators label a temporary break below a chosen range a spring. These labels are an interpretation of visible data, not records proving institutional intentions. For a hypothetical exercise, mark the range and spring criteria before looking at later candles, then compare a reversal with a continuation lower. A chart cannot identify beneficial owners, hidden orders or a verified cause for a future rally.

A chosen phase does not establish a reliable entry probability. Generated practice charts are not evidence of large traders' actual positions.

Key points

• Four phases: Accumulation, Markup, Distribution, Markdown
• A Spring is a framework label, not an established highest-probability entry
• Price and volume interpretation does not reveal institutional positions

Why it matters when you are learning

Wyckoff supplies a vocabulary for price and volume interpretation, without proving institutional intent. Compare alternative phase labels and record examples that do not follow the proposed sequence.

Worked exercise and its limits

Label a hypothetical trading range using explicit price and volume criteria. Separately list evidence that would be needed to identify an actual participant's holdings. Phase labels alone cannot establish accumulation by an institution.