Below an obvious session low — a prior-day low, an opening-range low, a round number — sits a cluster of resting stop orders. Price sometimes sweeps just below to trigger those stops (grabbing the liquidity), then immediately snaps back. That fake breakdown is a failed break with a specific fingerprint, and the snap-back is a high-odds long.
Anatomy of the grab
The tell is a quick spike through the level and an immediate reclaim — a long wick below the low, then price back above it fast. The move down had no acceptance; it existed only to run stops. Volume often spikes on the sweep (stops firing) and the reversal is sharp. It's the market taking liquidity, not changing direction.
Entry, target, stop
Entry: the reclaim back above the swept level — a first green candle retaking the low after the sweep (buy calls). Target: VWAP, the range middle, or the opposite edge — trapped short-sellers from the sweep provide fuel. Stop: a new low below the sweep's wick — if price keeps going, it wasn't a grab, it was a real breakdown.
A sweep-and-reclaim isn't a breakdown — it's a liquidity grab. Trade the snap-back, and put your stop below the wick that ran everyone else's.
When it's strongest
Stop-run reversals are cleanest at a put wall or strong support in a positive-gamma regime, where the level is mechanically defended and the sweep is more likely a grab than a genuine break. In negative gamma, be careful — what looks like a stop-run can be the start of a real breakdown. Require the fast reclaim; a sweep that stays below isn't a reversal. NoVo's mapped levels tell you where the stops (and the grabs) are likely to cluster.