Trapped traders
Volume Profile Analysis glossary · Profile Anatomy & Volume Nodes
Definition
Market participants who entered positions that have moved sharply against them and have not yet been stopped out. Their forced exits provide fuel for continuation in the opposite direction.
Trapped traders in plain English
Trapped traders are people who bought or sold and then watched the price lurch the wrong way, leaving them sitting on a loss they haven't yet cut. Think of buying concert tickets that instantly plunge in resale value — the longer you cling to them hoping they recover, the more painful it gets, until you finally give up and dump them at whatever price you can. When lots of trapped traders panic-exit at once, their forced selling (or buying) shoves the price even harder in the direction that hurt them, which is why smart traders watch for these trapped crowds as fuel for a move to keep going.
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