Stop-Hunting Pins: How Market Makers Clear the Board

You open your trading account, feeling good.Your trade was perfectly placed.

Your stop was safe. You even followed the damn rules.

And yet—you're out. Stopped out hard.

You open your chart and see it:

A massive spike in both directions.

So… What Actually Happened?

This wasn’t just a stop-hunting pin.

This was a full-on board clear—a brutal liquidity sweep designed to stop out both long and short traders before continuing in the real direction.

Check out the 10-second video to see it in action.

Let’s break down what just happened, why it wasn’t random, how to minimize the damage when it does happen again… Because spoiler alert: It will. It's a cost of playing the game.

The Move

This one hit at 4:00pm NY Close on April 2nd

There was also news about tariffs (Freedom Day), giving the perfect excuse for some serious volatility.

In just 30 minutes, CAD/JPY spiked 70 pips up, then 70 pips down—a 140-pip stop-loss massacre.

After the damage was done?

Price continued short for 10 hours.

Why Day traders weren't safe.

Most traders follow textbook rules and use 20-30 pip stop losses.

Even those playing it “safe” with a 50-pip stop got wrecked.

But with JPY pairs—like CAD/JPY—you’ll usually see slightly wider stops- 30 to 50 pips- since these pairs tend to move in bigger ranges.

💸 To put it into perspective:

• A 1 standard lot trade on CAD/JPY moves about $7–$8 per pip

• A 50-pip stop loss = $350–$400 loss

• A 70-pip stop? We’re not even gonna talk about it.

The only way to survive this

Be insanely lucky—or one of those traders raw-dogging the market with no stop-loss.

It’s the trading equivalent of texting your ex after two margaritas.

Not smart… but it happens.

Why Market Makers Pull These Moves?

This wasn’t random. Market makers do this to clear the board and grab liquidity.

Here’s how it works:

1. Price pushes into order-heavy zones, triggering pending stops.

2. It reverses sharply, taking out the traders who just got activated.

3. At the same time, it hits stops on the other side—both directions wiped.

4. Once the board is cleared- They take price where they always intended—in this case, short.

This isn’t to trap you into a trade.

It’s to kick you out of the one you were already winning.

How to Avoid Getting Slaughtered

(Or At Least Minimize the Damage)

✅ Don’t use obvious stop-loss levels

The market knows where they are.

✅ Expect traps at key sessions & news events

Volatility is the market maker’s playground.

✅ Use tighter stops—but smart ones

Don’t smother your trades—focus on accurate entries.

A wide stop isn’t protection, it’s just a bigger loss.

✅ If you do get stopped out, don’t revenge trade

Take a breath. Wait for the next clean setup. The market’s not going anywhere.

Here’s How I Survived It

Let me show you how this Stop-Hunting Pin looked on my end.

Trade off the Highs and Lows. Trade in Green, Stop loss in Red.

Had I been trading that day, I probably would’ve entered short on the 2pm candle—and gotten stopped out like everyone else.

But I wasn’t.

I was already in the trade from the previous week, off a high, with my stop placed just above the PFH (Peak Formation High).

And that stop? It held.

That’s the edge.

Why I Only Trade from the Highs and Lows

Market makers will come back to sweep liquidity…

But they rarely create new highs or lows during the trap.

Those levels tend to be respected—because the manipulation isn’t about pushing beyond structure, it’s about clearing out orders.

That’s why I only build trades off true highs and lows. Not random zones. Not “kind of close” entries.

This is how I was able to walk away with 225 pips on this move— without getting stopped out like the majority of retail traders.

If your stop is floating somewhere in the middle of the range… you’re basically chum in the water.

But when you learn to identify the real levels—and build your trades around them— you stop reacting and start anticipating.

You go from hunted… to hunter.

From frustrated… to strategic.

From wrecked… to trading like a market maker.

Final Thoughts

This wasn’t just a stop hunt.

This was a full-on board clear.

And if you got hit—don’t take it personally.

Market makers don’t care about your feelings. They care about liquidity.

It’s only by dumb luck that I hadn’t moved my stop loss yet.

It happens to all of us.

But next time, instead of panicking, you’ll recognize it for what it is and ask:

“They just cleared the board. Now… where’s the next entry?”

Stick around, and I’ll teach you how to spot those.

✅ Next Steps:

👉Have a battle tale you want to share? Tell me about it in the comments.

👉 Want to learn more about these Stop-Hunt candles? Check out the follow-up post:

“The Truth About That Candle: It’s Not Trapping You—It’s Kicking You Out.”