28 July 2026
When an extension lands on an older high
Kittipong draws clusters only after both swings have been spoken aloud. A cluster, in the clinic, means a small-swing extension and a larger-swing extension landing near the same price, or an extension landing near an older high or low that is already on the page. Near is a judgment. We do not pretend it is a formula with a secret width.
Last month a student brought a currency chart on which the 127.2 extension of a short push sat almost on top of the 161.8 extension of the larger decline that contained it. She had circled the area in red before class. The circle was the first thing we ignored. We rebuilt the short swing, then the larger one, and only then looked at where the two projections sat. They did neighbour each other. The circle went back, this time in a light pencil, with both swing sentences written in the margin.
The older high matters for a different reason. An extension that finishes in empty space is just a measured distance. An extension that finishes where a prior high already turned price gives the room something else to discuss: the projection and the old extreme are describing one neighbourhood from two directions. We still do not call that a signal. We call it a place the next candles can be watched.
The failure mode is flattery. If a student hopes price will reach a round number, it is easy to pick swings until some extension kisses that number. The clinic forbids choosing the swing after the target. The target is allowed to appear only once A and B are fixed. If nothing clusters, the honest note is that nothing clustered.
On paper we label the circle with the two ratios and the two swings, not with an arrow. Arrows sneak a decision into a drawing. The drawing’s job is to show the measurement.
If you want this exercise with a teacher in the room, the Sunday clinic is the short version. The studio spends two evenings on it after the retracement work is already steady.