What it means
It is less a villain hunting you than large orders going where liquidity is.
In practice
Stops gather where everyone can see them, and a cluster of stops is a cluster of market orders waiting to be triggered. Price moving into that cluster gets a burst of fuel, and once it is spent the move often reverses.
Traders use the idea to place their own stops with more thought, beyond the obvious spot, and to look for entries after a run on stops has finished.
What to watch for
Blaming every stopped trade on a hunt hides real mistakes. Most stops are hit because the idea was wrong or the stop was placed inside normal noise.
Related terms
3 terms- Liquidity sweepPrice wicking through an obvious high or low to take the stops, then closing back inside and reversing.
- Turtle soupFading a failed run above an obvious high (or below a low) once price fails back inside and shifts structure.
- Round numberPrices like 1.1000 or 100,000 where orders cluster, so they act like support and resistance.