Stop hunts follow a predictable four-step pattern, which is bad news for traders who park their stops at obvious levels and useful for those who learn to spot the setup.

• It starts when an obvious high or low forms and everyone places stops in the same spot, building a pool of orders.
• Big players then push price hard into that level on purpose, not by accident.
• When price touches the pool, all those stops fire at once and become forced market orders.
• The big player takes the other side of that panic selling, getting all the liquidity they need in seconds.
• Once the pool is used up, there is nothing left driving price, so it snaps back the other way.

Outlook: Expect the same pattern to keep repeating around well-watched highs and lows, since the goal is simply to create liquidity, not to punish anyone personally.