Using Pivot Points for Reversal Entries

Real Source: http://2ndskiesforex.com/articles/using-pivot-points-for-reversal-entries/

One of the most challenging aspects for traders is finding and entry point into the market, particularly when looking for reversals or rejections. However this is not as complicated as it seems for there is a tool which is exceptional at helping traders find intraday entries for reversals – Pivot Points.

What are Pivot Points?
Originally created by floor traders, Pivot Points were simply used to mark key support and resistance levels based upon the previous High, Low and Close for the last day of price action. These three metrics were combined, then divided by 3 and this formed the Daily Pivot. The DP (daily pivot) was used to determine if the overall pressure for the day would likely be more down or up. If price opened above the DP, buying was generally preferred and vice versa if it opened below.

From the DP several other pivots were formed which were Resistance or R pivots and Support or S pivots. Finally, after becoming so popular they created Mid-Pivots which were simply the halfway point between any two pivots. Below are the calculations for pivots which we use:

DP = (H + L + C) /3

s1 = DP – (H – DP);//S1
s2 = DP – (H – L); //S2
s3 = L – (H – L); //S3

r1 = DP + (DP – L); //R1
r2 = DP + (H – L); //R2
r3 = H + (H – L); //R3

S1 = Support 1 pivot
S2 = Support 2
S3 = Support 3
R1 = Resistance 1 pivot
R2 = Resistance 2
R3 = Resistance 3

The blue colored lines are the support pivots and the red colored ones are resistance pivots while the yellow are the mid-pivots. As the name suggests, support pivots are the intraday support levels for that day while the resistance pivots offer key resistance price levels to watch for that day. We set our pivots to the London open since the London traders are basing their charts off their open and with the majority of traders coming out of London, we feel these will be the most effective and consistently watched by the institutional market.

The Statistics
The bottom line is price action has a greater chance to respond to a pivot level for that day than any other indicator out there. Our quantitative research done over the last 10 years suggests every 1hr candle from the London open to NY close has a 70+% chance of touching a pivot. Meaning, if you are going to be in a trade for more than 1hr, chances are the price will touch, react or respond to a pivot.

Since the institutional traders move the market, they are likely placing orders here on an intraday basis more than anything else.

How to use them for Reversals and Rejections?
To use them for a rejection/reversal play, the first thing we need to do is find an existing trend or momentum play. If you read our article on Impulsive vs. Corrective moves in reading price action, you will be able to easily spot these.

EURCAD
We will start with the EURCAD which on the daily chart below we can see is clearly in a downtrend.