Have you ever been frustrated when price revisits a supply or demand zone, fails to form a clean pin bar or engulfing pattern, and yet reverses anyway?

It’s annoying, isn’t it?

This is a common occurrence in supply and demand trading, but the good news is that there’s a way to capitalize on these moves — even without traditional entry signals like pin bars or engulfing patterns. Most supply and demand traders rely solely on these two signals to enter trades, but they’re missing out.

There are two other high-probability entry patterns you can use to get into zone trades — and they’re just as effective.

In this lesson, we’ll cover the first of these patterns: The Large Range Candle (LRC).

What Are Large Range Candlesticks?

Open your charts and look for a recent sharp price movement — whether it’s a rally or a decline. Notice how most of the move is made up of two or three enourmous candles?

These are Large Range Candlesticks (LRCs).

At first glance, they might seem like ordinary price action, simply reflecting a strong price move. But in reality, they tell us critical information about what’s happening behind the scenes, particularly about the buying and selling activity of institutional traders.

LRCs reveal that the banks’ positions have overwhelmed the opposing side, making a continuation or reversal more likely.

The Role of Large Range Candles at Supply & Demand Zones

Let’s break it down:

When price enters a supply or demand zone, banks and institutions begin placing their orders — either buying in demand zones or selling in supply zones.

These orders take time to fill, as the banks need enough opposing orders from other traders.

The large range candle forms when the banks’ positions overwhelm the opposing side, causing a sharp price movement and signaling that the reversal is now underway. All significant reversals and market movements happen through the appearance of large range candles.

For example:

• In a supply zone, a bearish LRC shows sell orders (placed by banks) have overpowered buy orders.
• In a demand zone, a bullish LRC indicates that buy orders (from banks) have overwhelmed sell orders.

These candles provide a clear visual confirmation that the zone is holding and the banks are driving price in the expected direction. This is evident when analyzing the time it usually takes price to break the low or high of large range candles, which data shows rarley happens 3 hours after the candle forms.

Example: Using Large Range Candlesticks in Action

Let’s look at a 1-hour supply zone on AUD/CAD.

Price enters the supply zone, but no strong entry signals appear at first.

Some small pin bars and candles with short upper wicks form, but none clear enough to signal a reversal and trust with an entry.

Normally, this would be a missed trade.

But then, a bearish Large Range Candle forms.

The bearish LRC confirms institutions are entering sell orders and that their positions have overwhelmed the opposing buy orders (demand) entering the market.

Plan: Enter a short trade after the candle closes, with your stop loss above the supply zone’s distal line.

As price continues to fall, it validates the bearish LRC signal, and you’re now in a high-probability reversal trade. Just remember to bring your stop-loss down to the high of the large range candle after 3+ hours to reduce risk. (Exact data for LRC’s coming soon!)

Key Considerations When Trading Large Range Candles

1. Larger Stops: LRCs are bigger than pin bars or engulfing candles, so your stop loss will often be wider.
2. Not Always the First Signal: LRCs may not initiate the reversal but often appear soon after it begins, confirming the move.
3. Use as Extra Confirmation: Combine LRCs with other signals/context (like trend direction) for additional confidence.

Remember: LRCs aren’t just random large candles — they’re clear markers of institutional activity.

The candles show the precise moment when institutional orders overwhelm the opposing side of the market, causing price to move sharply in their favor, and forcing buyers from the rise to close at a loss by selling. By understanding and using large range candlesticks, you can still enter supply and demand zone trades even when typical patterns fail to appear, increasing your overall consistency trading S&D zones.