You enter a trade, set your stop, and sit back. Everything looks good, until, bam! Price barely tags your stop before reversing exactly where you expected. Annoying, right?

I get it. It feels personal, like the market is out to get you. But let me be blunt: it’s not personal. You’re just placing your stops where everyone else does.

The Market Feeds on Your Stops (And It’s Not Personal)

Think about it. The market moves on supply and demand, and big players—banks, institutions, market makers—need liquidity to fill their positions. Where do they find it? Right where retail traders, like you, stack their stop losses.

This is what we call liquidity grabs or stop hunts.

How the Market Exploits Your Stop Placement

1. Retail traders put stops in obvious places—below swing lows, above swing highs, near round numbers, etc.
2. Smart money sees this and pushes price into these levels to trigger stops and create liquidity.
3. Your stop gets hit, their orders get filled, and the real move begins.
4. You sit there, watching price go exactly where you thought it would—but without you. Ouch.

My Personal Wake-Up Call: The USD/JPY Stop Hunt

Let me tell you about a trade that slapped me awake. I was watching USD/JPY during the Asian session, stalking a long setup. Price was hovering near a clean support level—a level that looked almost too perfect. But I ignored the warning signs and entered long, placing my stop just below the support.

What happened next? A classic stop hunt. Price wicked just below my stop, triggered my exit, then rocketed back up without me.

At first, I was furious. But then I looked deeper: the market had simply done what it always does. It hunted the liquidity sitting just below that support before making the real move. That was the moment I stopped trading like prey and started thinking like a predator.

I’ve seen this same pattern repeat over and over again—especially in high-liquidity pairs like USD/JPY. Once, during a major news event, I watched price plunge straight into a cluster of stop losses before launching back up in a textbook reversal. Traders who anticipated the stop hunt caught a perfect entry. The rest? Stopped out, watching from the sidelines.

Stop Being an Easy Target

You keep getting stopped out because your stop placement is too predictable. Let’s fix that.

1. Stop Placing Stops Where Everyone Else Does

If your stop is sitting just below support or just above resistance, guess what? So is everyone else’s. And that’s why the market sweeps that level before reversing.

Instead of placing your stop at the obvious level, think ahead:

• Expect a fake-out before the real move.
• Place stops slightly beyond liquidity grab zones.
• If a level looks “too clean,” assume it’s a trap.

2. Trade After the Stop Hunt, Not Before

Most traders jump in too early. Rookie mistake. Smart money often pushes price beyond key levels first, stopping out early traders before making the real move.

• Wait for the liquidity grab. If price sweeps a level and sharply reverses, that’s your signal.
• Look for confirmation. A strong rejection candle, market structure shift, or order flow change tells you it’s time to enter.
• Let others get stopped out first—then take the trade.

3. Use Smarter Stop Placement Techniques

If you don’t want to be part of the herd getting hunted, tweak your stop placement strategy:

• ATR-Based Stops – Use the Average True Range (ATR) to adjust stops based on volatility.
• Behind Structural Levels – Place stops beyond liquidity sweeps, not at obvious levels.
• Time Your Entry Better – Even a well-placed stop won’t save a bad entry.

4. Think Like a Predator, Not Prey

Most traders are playing checkers. The market is playing chess. Stop making it easy for smart money to take your money.

• Don’t chase the first breakout. Wait to see if it’s real or just a liquidity grab.
• Identify liquidity pools. If price is hovering near a key level, assume a stop hunt is coming.
• Ask yourself: Where is the pain? The market moves to cause maximum frustration—position accordingly.

Final Thoughts: Adapt or Keep Getting Stopped Out

If you keep getting stopped out, it’s not bad luck. It’s bad strategy.

The market is designed to take money from those who don’t understand how it really moves. But now you do. So the next time price sweeps a level and reverses, don’t just sit there feeling betrayed. Adjust, anticipate, and trade smart.

Stop being the hunted. Start being the hunter.