Free reference · Updated August 2026
The Mindroutehub chart reading guide
Five steps we teach in every workshop — from opening a bare chart to writing a stand-aside rule. Use this as a checklist before you book a session or sit down for your weekly review.
View workshopsStrip the chart
Remove every indicator, volume profile overlay, and auto-drawn trend line from your charting software. Set the chart to candlesticks with a white or neutral background. If the empty chart makes you uncomfortable, that discomfort is the point — you are about to replace overlays with observation.
Identify swing structure
On the daily timeframe, mark the most recent sequence of higher highs and higher lows (uptrend) or lower highs and lower lows (downtrend). When the sequence breaks — a lower low in an uptrend, for example — note the break but wait for a second confirming swing before calling a reversal. One break is a warning, not a verdict.
Draw horizontal zones from prior reactions
Find areas where price reversed at least twice in the past six months. Draw a zone covering the cluster of bodies and wicks, not a single price line. Keep no more than three zones above and three below current price active at once. Archive older levels in a separate folder.
Read candlestick context at the zone
When price reaches a zone, ask three questions: Did the candle close beyond the zone or reject back inside? How large is the body relative to recent candles? Does the wick show rejection in the direction of your planned trade? Pattern names are optional — these three facts are not.
Write the stand-aside rule
Before any entry, write the condition that cancels the trade: weekly trend conflict, news event with abnormal spread, price nowhere near a marked zone, or a candle that closes mid-range with no rejection signal. If the stand-aside condition is true, close the chart. No trade is a valid outcome.
Ready to practise with feedback?
The guide above is the skeleton. In a workshop you apply it to historical and live charts with an instructor correcting your level placement in real time. That correction is what turns a checklist into a habit.