--- title: "Entry methods: daily patterns, Monday and near-zone rules" slug: "simple-entry-methods-in-trend-hunter-strategy" kind: "ACADEMY" category: "trend-hunter-strategy" locale: "en" canonical: "https://app.forecastcity.com/academy/trend-hunter-strategy/simple-entry-methods-in-trend-hunter-strategy" published: "2026-10-31T13:06:03.745Z" updated: "2026-11-02T22:46:30.677Z" description: "Learn the daily entry triggers in the Trend Hunter Strategy: Hammer and Valley in a Buy zone, Shooting Star and Peak in a Sell zone, plus Monday entry rules." --- # Entry methods: daily patterns, Monday and near-zone rules In the **Trend Hunter Strategy**, reaching a Buy zone or Sell zone is only the first condition. You wait for a daily reversal pattern to confirm that buyers or sellers have stepped in, while **Daily Trading Opportunity (DTO)** scans every chart and scores pattern strength for you automatically. ## Wait for a daily reversal pattern inside the zone? Strict entry confirmation is a key reason why the **Trend Hunter Strategy** achieves a high win rate. When price touches a **Buy zone** or **Sell zone**, you never place a blind entry order. Instead, you wait for the daily (`D`) candle to close and form one of four reversal patterns: - **Candlestick reversal:** A daily [Hammer]() at a Buy zone, or a daily [Shooting Star]() at a Sell zone. - **Swing reversal:** A daily [Valley (Trough)]() at a Buy zone, or a daily [Peak]() at a Sell zone. Our [**Daily Trading Opportunity (DTO)**]() scanner detects these patterns automatically at the daily close and calculates a pattern strength score. That score reflects the historical success rate of the pattern so you can size your position with confidence. Intraday forecasts (`1h` and `4h`) can also provide earlier entries inside a daily zone. However, because intraday timeframes carry more price noise, only experienced traders should use them for **Trend Hunter Strategy** entries. ## Entry methods for Buy trades (USDJPY example) When price touches or enters the **Buy zone** and forms a daily **Hammer** or **Valley**, you open Buy trades. In Figure 1 on `USDJPY` daily (up to `2014-07-05`), the **Buy zone** held as support for months. Price formed four Valleys and one Hammer inside the zone, and earlier entries banked smaller gains of `100` to `200` pips before pulling back to Break-Even. ![Figure 1: USDJPY Daily (D) chart up to 2014-07-05 showing the Buy zone holding support through four Valleys (Troughs) and one Hammer.](https://m.forecastcity.com/t/tnt_forecastcity/media/6d/6d23bd9871a03eaf925181d93fad0bd768e76a56e278ea4bf63caea7e1d5fa9d.gif) Figure 1: USDJPY Daily (D) chart up to 2014-07-05 where the Buy zone held support through four Valleys (Troughs) and one Hammer. **Buy entry result on USDJPY (Figure 2):** On `2014-07-02`, entering Buy trades on the final daily **Valley** inside the Buy zone caught the major uptrend and banked `11327` pips in `112` trading days. ![Figure 2: USDJPY Daily (D) performance chart from 2014-07-02 to 2014-12-04 showing the Valley Buy entry generating 11327 pips in 112 days.](https://m.forecastcity.com/t/tnt_forecastcity/media/a5/a573ecb552162f93a8ff59a5b7f7b5a2b7aa0052aa789f48f59e104b13054a2e.gif) Figure 2: USDJPY Daily (D) performance from 2014-07-02 to 2014-12-04 showing 11327 pips gained in 112 days from the final Valley entry. In Figure 3, you can see the automatic **DTO** scanner table from `2014-07-02`, which reported that `USDJPY` daily **Trough (Valley)** with a pattern strength of `+32`. ![Figure 3: Daily Trading Opportunity (DTO) table on 2014-07-02 detecting the USDJPY daily Trough (Valley) pattern with strength +32.](https://m.forecastcity.com/t/tnt_forecastcity/media/bb/bb32075b4f9034934c053e46b78ad2606f1de24c1b16bf69c7cb77fbbeb99eda.gif) Figure 3: Daily Trading Opportunity (DTO) table on 2014-07-02 reporting the USDJPY daily Trough (Valley) with pattern strength +32. ## Entry methods for Sell trades (EURUSD example) When price touches or enters the **Sell zone** and forms a daily **Shooting Star** or **Peak**, you open Sell trades. In Figure 4 on `EURUSD` daily, the **Sell zone** capped price for months across three Peaks and one Shooting Star. Earlier entries banked `100` to `200` pips before the main wave began. ![Figure 4: EURUSD Daily (D) chart showing the Sell zone capping price across three Peaks and one Shooting Star.](https://m.forecastcity.com/t/tnt_forecastcity/media/8f/8ff7e3fe8a8e0e4139478d83b1710c1ac53e8bed95bf309ead0ea2261f73caea.gif) Figure 4: EURUSD Daily (D) chart showing the Sell zone holding resistance across three Peaks and one Shooting Star. On `2014-05-09` (Figure 5), both a daily **Shooting Star** and a daily **Peak** formed in the Sell zone on the same day, launching a downtrend that earned `10287` pips in `150` trading days. ![Figure 5: EURUSD Daily (D) performance chart from 2014-05-09 to 2014-12-04 showing the Peak and Shooting Star Sell entry earning 10287 pips in 150 days.](https://m.forecastcity.com/t/tnt_forecastcity/media/79/791186e37c47bbfa4f4a8a9868f1013828e32267828d1b6be9e7c2c9d61c1c56.gif) Figure 5: EURUSD Daily (D) performance from 2014-05-09 to 2014-12-04 showing 10287 pips gained in 150 days after the Shooting Star and Peak in the Sell zone. In Figure 6, the **DTO** scanner table from `2014-05-09` shows both the **Shooting Star** (strength `-66`) and the **Peak** (strength `-82`) on `EURUSD`. ![Figure 6: Daily Trading Opportunity (DTO) table on 2014-05-09 detecting the EURUSD Shooting Star (strength -66) and Peak (strength -82).](https://m.forecastcity.com/t/tnt_forecastcity/media/a2/a279e38f4ce5d48b102a9c5844a1054e5fc5d2892c81e568293096d348f2e049.gif) Figure 6: Daily Trading Opportunity (DTO) table on 2014-05-09 reporting both a Shooting Star (strength -66) and a Peak (strength -82) on EURUSD. ## Rule 1: for Friday patterns, enter early Monday? If a daily entry pattern forms on Friday, do not enter on Friday night. Wait and open your trades when the market opens on **Monday morning** for three reasons: 1. **No weekend swap fees:** You avoid paying overnight swap charges for Saturday and Sunday. 2. **No weekend gap risk:** Wars, elections, or natural disasters over the weekend can cause a Monday morning price gap. You enter on Monday morning only if the market opens normally without a gap. 3. **Updated Saturday targets:** You can check the new **Weekly Forecast** published on Saturday and use the newest take-profit levels. Because of this rule, no entry mark appears on Friday night's chart. Once Monday's open confirms normal conditions, the Buy or Sell mark appears on the next week's chart. ## Rule 2: patterns that form near a Buy or Sell zone? **Buy zones** and **Sell zones** are approximate support and resistance bands. Sometimes price forms a daily reversal pattern just before touching the edge of the zone. Measure the gap between the pattern and the nearest edge of the zone. If that distance is less than half of the 264-day Average True Range (`ATR(264) / 2`), the entry pattern is valid and you can take the trade.