Smart Money Range Expansion AI

How to Trade the Smart Money Range Expansion Method (Manual Guide)

A Practical, No-Indicator Blueprint for Traders - This tutorial guides the reader on the 4th out of the 10th key hedge fund positioning systems.

1. Identify the Higher-Timeframe Range (HTF Range)

Smart money always accumulates or distributes inside a clear box before expansion.

How to mark it manually:

1. Go to H4 or Daily

2. Look back 20–50 candles

3. Draw a box around:

   • Highest high of the range

   • Lowest low of the range

This defines the zone where liquidity is built.

Goal:You are waiting for price to take liquidity on either side and then expand away.

2. Wait for a Liquidity Sweep

Before institutions move price directionally, they take the opposing side’s stop losses.

How to confirm a sweep:

• Price wick breaks above the HTF range high (or below the range low)

• But closes back inside the range or slightly beyond

• Stop runs are often violent and sharp

Your job:Do nothing until liquidity has been cleared.

3. Look for a Break of Structure (BOS)

A sweep means nothing without a structural shift.

Bullish BOS:

• After a sweep of range low,

• Look for candle closes that break a prior swing high

Bearish BOS:

• After a sweep of range high,

• Look for candle closes that break a prior swing low

This confirms that the sweep was intentional.

Most traders enter here—you still wait.

4. Confirm Institutional Displacement

Institutions reveal themselves through two things:

1. A displacement bar

A candle with noticeable range that is larger than recent averageRule of thumb:

• Range > 1× ATR(14) of your execution timeframe (M5/M15)

2. Volume spike

Volume should be:

• Higher than the last 20–50 candles

• Ideally 2× the average

This is the actual expansion.This is where the market chooses direction.

5. Mark the Imbalance (Fair Value Gap) or Order Block

This tells you where institutions will likely retest before continuing.

After bullish displacement:

• Mark the small bearish candle before the move → that’s your bullish order block

• OR mark the gap between low of displacement candle and high of the previous candle → FVG

Do the opposite for bearish setups.

These areas act like magnetic zones where price returns to fill inefficiency.

6. Take the Retest

The retest is your entry.This is the safest, most asymmetric location.

Entry rules:

Bullish:

• Price returns into the FVG or bullish OB

• Wicked rejection or small reversal candle forms

• Market structure on the execution TF begins turning upward

Bearish:

• Same logic inverted

You are now aligned with:

• Sweep

• Structure shift

• Displacement

• Retest

This is where funds load.

7. Use Optimal Windows (Killzones)

Smart money deploys size when liquidity is highest.

Trade only inside these sessions:

London Killzone

• 3:00–6:00 NY Time

NY AM Killzone

• 8:30–11:30 NY Time

NY PM Expansion

• 13:00–16:00 NY Time

This naturally filters out 80% of fake moves.

8. Avoid Trading If ADR Is Exhausted

ADR = Average Daily Range

Never trade continuation if the daily move has already traveled:

• 70–100% of ADR

Price rarely trends further without reversing.

If the move is “tired,” stand down.

9. Stop Loss & Take Profit

Keep it ultra-simple:

Stop Loss:

• Below (for longs) or above (for shorts)

  
  

  the extreme of the retest zone

• Usually < 15 pips FX / < 1.5 pts indices / < 0.5% crypto on M5

Take Profit:

• 1R: Partial (50%)

• 2R–5R: Remainder depending on trend conditions

• Or trail behind swing structure

10. The Full Manual Sequence (Snapshot)

A. Define Range (H4/Daily)

→ Draw the box.

B. Wait for Sweep

→ Stops taken.

C. Confirm Structure Shift (BOS)

→ Market confirms reversal intent.

D. Confirm Displacement (ATR + Volume)

→ Institutions enter.

E. Mark the FVG / OB

→ Find where they will return for re-entry.

F. Wait for the Retest

→ Enter at the most efficient price.

G. Trade ONLY Killzones

→ Avoid low-volume fakeouts.

H. Check ADR

→ Avoid exhausted markets.

This is the entire Smart Money Range Expansion Method—no indicator required.

Smart Money Range Expansion Engine™ AI — Professional Manual

Plazo Sullivan Roche Capital

(Not Available for Public Release)

1. Core Logic Overview

The Smart Money Range Expansion Engine (SMREE) is designed to detect—and safely participate in—the true institutional expansion phases that follow periods of accumulation or distribution. Rather than chasing breakouts or reacting to volatility spikes, the engine waits for:

1. A validated higher-timeframe range (HTF Range)

2. A liquidity raid against that range (Sweep)

3. A structured break (BOS-style confirmation)

4. A displacement impulse with volume expansion

5. A controlled retest into imbalance (FVG) or an institutional order block

6. Bias alignment across higher-timeframes

7. Execution only during high-volume trading windows

When these conditions synchronize, the engine prints a BUY or SELL signal and triggers a unified alert carrying direction metadata.

The result is a tool that captures the precise window where funds deploy capital—not the choppy noise that retail indicators respond to.

2. Why This Is Fund Grade

Professionals don’t rely on a single signal.They require stacked confluence, tight risk environments, and controlled participation parameters.

The SMREE is fund-grade because it incorporates eight institutional-level protections, ensuring signals only occur at optimal locations:

1. Multi-Timeframe Range Analysis

The engine identifies meaningful accumulation/distribution zones using HTF logic (e.g., H4, Daily).Expansions only trigger once price truly leaves a value area.

2. Dual EMA Bias Across HTFs

Daily and H4 trend alignment is mandatory.This mirrors macro-bias filtering used by funds to reduce whipsaw participation.

3. Volume + Impulse Confirmation

Institutional expansions always show:

• Sudden increases in participation (volume)

• Displacement bars exceeding ATR

These confirm non-retail order flow.

4. Fair Value Gap (FVG) and Order Block (OB) Validation

Re-tests into imbalances or OBs are the core entry models of desk traders.When combined with expansion logic, this removes over 80% of false breakouts.

5. Liquidity Sweep Filter

Price must raid a prior high/low before expansion.This ensures:

• Liquidity has been cleared

• Smart Money is no longer incentivized to reverse

• Post-raid expansions have room to trend

• 
  

6. Structure Confirmation (BOS-Style)

The engine only allows signals that follow a structural shift.This eliminates trades taken in:

• Compression zones

• Counter-trend traps

• Early impulses without confirmation

• 
  

7. Session/Killzone Enforcement

Signals are restricted to the windows when real volatility enters the market:

• London

• New York AM

• New York PM

• Combined filters

Funds do not trade expansions during dead zones.Neither does this engine.

8. ADR & Daily Trade Safeguards

The tool blocks trades when:

• ADR is mostly consumed (trend exhaustion)

• Too many trades triggered in a single day (signal degradation)

Institutional logic: Never trade in tired markets.

3. Protection Mechanisms (Summary)

Protection	Purpose	Mode
HTF Range Validation	Filters irrelevant breakouts	Auto
Volume Spike + Impulse Bar	Confirms institutional participation	Auto
VWAP Alignment	Keeps signals inside value-driven order flow	Toggle
HTF Dual Bias	Ensures macro alignment	Auto
Liquidity Sweeps	Confirms liquidity engineering	Toggle
Structure Filter (BOS)	Removes counter-trend entries	Toggle
FVG Multi-TF Check	Confirms displacement inefficiency	Toggle
Order Block Retest	Confirms valid origin zones	Toggle
ADR Filter	Blocks exhaustion entries	Toggle
Daily Trade Caps	Prevents over-trading	Toggle
Killzone Filtering	Limits trades to high-vol windows	Toggle

This is why the engine prints fewer signals—but the ones it prints have significantly higher quality.

4. Best Usage Practices

The engine was built for traders seeking extreme selectivity and high signal fidelity.

Recommended Workflow

1. Select your HTF bias

   
   

   Use H4/200 and Daily/50 (default).

2. Let the engine mark the HTF range

   
   

   No need for manual boxes. It handles this automatically.

3. Wait for a sweep

   
   

   Price must take a prior high/low.

4. Wait for a BOS shift

   
   

   The script will print BOS↑ or BOS↓.

5. Only take signals that appear after:

   • Sweep

   • BOS

   • Volume impulse

   • Breakout

   • Retest

   • FVG / OB approval

6. Use killzones (London or NY AM)

   
   

   The best expansions happen here.

7. Respect ADR — do not trade when MAX ADR Used is hit

   
   

   The engine blocks these trades anyway.

8. Look left

   
   

   Avoid executing signals directly into major HTF supply/demand zones.

   
   

5. Optimal Timeframes

Best Performing (Based on institutional behavior):

• 5 Minute (M5)

  
  

  Clear displacements, defined ranges, frequent but high-quality signals.

• 15 Minute (M15)

  
  

  Stronger structure, less noise, extremely clean expansions.

These timeframes match:

• XAUUSD

• US100

• US30

• EURUSD

• BTCUSD/ETHUSD

  
  

Secondary Timeframes

• 1 Minute (M1) — works but expect more noise; use for scalpers only

• 30M / 1H — excellent for position entries but fewer signals

HTF Settings

Defaults already optimized:

• Range TF: H4

• EMA Bias: H4 200 + Daily 50

• FVG Multi-TF: ON

• Sweep Filter: ON

• Structure (BOS): ON

  
  

6. Summary

The Smart Money Range Expansion Engine isn’t a retail breakout tool.It is a multi-layer institutional logic engine engineered to:

• Identify the exact window when liquidity has been cleared

• Confirm displacement with real order flow

• Validate trend direction across timeframes

• Delay participation until the retest

• Limit trades to high-probability volatility windows

• Block trades in exhausted or risky markets

• Output one clean, unified signal feed for automation

In short:

It doesn’t chase price. It waits for the smart money to show its hand—then follows it.