ICT / SMC Concepts · Lesson 08
Equal Highs
Learn how repeated highs around the same price level can reveal an important area in market structure.
What Are Equal Highs?
Equal Highs happen when price forms a meaningful swing high, and later returns to about the same price area without clearly going above it.
In the framework the source uses, traders read the repeated high as a bearish or resistance-related clue. It may mark an area of interest. It does not guarantee a reversal.
Your First Equal Highs
Price rallies, pulls back, rallies again, then turns lower. Nothing is marked yet.
How to Identify Equal Highs
- Step 1: Find a meaningful swing high.
- Step 2: Wait for price to move away from that high.
- Step 3: Watch price return and form another high near the same level.
Start with the first swing high. Price moves away. Now watch the second rally. If the second high forms near the first, that gives us Equal Highs.
Do the Highs Need to Be Identical?
No. Two highs can still count as approximately equal if one is slightly higher or lower. The goal is not perfect numbers. It is seeing that price tested roughly the same structural area.
High 1: 100.00. High 2: 99.95. The same area.
High 1: 100.00. High 2: 97.50. A different area.
Would You Classify This as Equal Highs?
Look at both examples. Decide first, then read the answer under the chart.
Not Every Candle High Counts
The first high should be a meaningful swing high. A tiny wick inside noisy price should not automatically be marked as an EQH.
A visible rally, then a visible turn.
A small wick inside noise.
What Might Happen Next?
Equal Highs mark an area where price has struggled to move higher. Several things can happen from there:
Two Possible Outcomes
The same Equal Highs. Two different endings.
Common Mistakes
Forcing perfect equality
Correction: The highs only need to form around the same area.
Marking every small high
Correction: Focus on meaningful swing highs.
Assuming EQH means automatic reversal
Correction: Price can still break above the highs.
Using EQH as an entry by itself
Correction: Treat it as market information, not certainty. The source also suggests looking for extra context.
Knowledge Check
Knowledge check
Check 1
A clear swing high, a pullback, then a second high at about the same level. Are these Equal Highs?
Knowledge check
Check 2
The second high is significantly lower than the first. Would this normally be considered Equal Highs?
Knowledge check
Check 3
Do Equal Highs guarantee that price will reverse lower?
Your Turn
Can You Find the Equal Highs?
Three candidate highs are lettered. Nothing else is marked.
Which two highs form the EQH?
How to find Equal Highs
- Step 1: Find a clear swing high.
- Step 2: Wait for price to move away.
- Step 3: Watch price return.
- Step 4: Compare the new high with the first.
- Step 5: If they are around the same area, mark EQH.
Where Can Equal Highs Appear?
On any timeframe. The source notes that shorter timeframes may suit intraday traders, while hourly and daily charts may matter more to swing traders. No single timeframe is best for everyone.
What You Learned
- Equal Highs are two meaningful highs around the same price area.
- The highs do not need to be perfectly identical.
- The first high should be a real swing high.
- EQHs may highlight resistance or an important structural area.
- Equal Highs do not guarantee a bearish reversal.
SWING HIGH + RETEST NEAR SAME HIGH = EQUAL HIGHS. An area of interest, not a guaranteed reversal.
+ RETEST NEAR SAME HIGH
= EQUAL HIGHS
= AREA OF INTEREST
≠ GUARANTEED REVERSAL