What to do after you missed a big price move (Example: EUR/USD)

There was a big fast move in EUR/USD last week.

The ‘European currencies’ did especially well versus the US dollar, including GBP/USD and USD/CHF as well as the ‘Skandies’ SEK/USD and NOK/USD.

If you rode the move, then job done. If you did ride the move up, you might have taken full profits already - or maybe you are leaving a little bit of the position open to ride any continuation of the move.

But, what to do if you missed it completely?

Explosive moves in the market usually mean traders who were on the ‘losing’ side step out for a while, having lost confidence in their view. For example if you were bearish and the market makes a significant move higher - you’re probably going to be a lot less confident in your bearish view - but perhaps also not ready to take an opposite bullish view. The loss of sellers in the market can see the up-move continue with minimal pullback.

This might suggest buying any small dips to ride the next leg higher, and emotionally it would offer some salvation to capture the second leg of the move even if you missed the first leg. However, what you are doing here is ‘chasing the market’.

One trouble is that after a big move in the market, there is no definitive place to put your stop loss, except at the beginning of the move - which is now far away. That's a bad risk: reward.

It is tempting to place a closer (more manageable) stop loss under lower timeframe levels of support - but then you find yourself trading an unknown strategy that requires different rules to follow because it is based on a lower timeframe.

And indeed, after a sharp move in the market - there is still a chance for a sharp pullback to match. Why? Because buyers quickly take profits on their unexpected quick gains, which will create selling pressure into minimal support - because the next support level is far away.

A sharp pullback would mean an opportunity to buy into the uptrend at a lower level, closer to the previous support. But then the flipside of the sharp pullback is that it raises questions over the sustainability of the initial move.

Probably the biggest takeaway here is not to think about this ‘explosive’ move in isolation.

Instead of forcing a trade, consider:

1. Waiting for the right setup in the same market. If your strategy is based on structured breakouts, wait for the next clean consolidation or pattern before re-engaging. A big move often leads to a new setup—but forcing a trade in the middle of a volatile move isn’t a strategy, it’s FOMO.
2. Looking at uncorrelated markets. Just because EUR/USD already made a big move doesn’t mean you have to trade it now. If you want to be in at the start of a move, shift focus to another market that hasn’t yet made its move.
3. Sticking to your edge. If your strategy works over hundreds of trades, don’t abandon it just because one market moved without you. The next opportunity will come—if not in this market, then in another.

Again, the best trades don’t come from reacting to what already happened, but from positioning for what’s about to happen. If you missed the move, accept it, reset, and wait for the next high-quality setup—whether in the same market or somewhere else.