Recognising the shift
The tells arrive together: candle ranges jumping to multiples of recent ATR, spreads visibly widening, reactions at levels compressing from candles to seconds, and correlation behaviour going strange as everything reprices at once. The moment two or three co-occur, the ordinary assumptions, fills near quotes, stops meaning their prices, patterns completing at normal speed, are suspended, per the execution mechanics.
The triage rules
Rule one: size divides before anything else, fast markets deliver normal strategies' outcomes at multiples of intended risk through slippage alone. Rule two: market orders and chasing are banned, limits at chosen levels or nothing. Rule three: the playbook shrinks to its most violent-condition setups, sweep-reclaims at major levels, and everything subtler waits. Rule four, always available: flat is a position, and in the first minutes of true chaos, usually the best-paid one, echoing the news discipline.
After the burst
Fast phases exhaust into wide, whippy digestion: the new range's edges are unreliable for a while, and the honest trade is often the first clean structure that forms after speed normalises, not during the fireworks. The post-burst review matters too: fast markets expose every latent flaw, oversized positions, stops on obvious shelves, and the journal entry written that evening is worth ten ordinary ones.
FAQ
Should I trade fast markets at all?
With reduced size, limit orders and a violent-conditions playbook, selectively. Without all three, observation is the profitable choice.
Why did my stop fill so far from its level?
Fast markets gap through prices; stops become market orders into thin books. That slippage is why size divides first.
How long do fast phases last?
Data-shock bursts often exhaust within minutes to hours; cascade events can echo for sessions. Structure re-forming at normal speed is the all-clear.
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