The real reason the chart keeps getting blocked at that price: mastering resistance zones and volume profile zones

This is for people who can read candlesticks but keep getting caught at the same point every time.

[Stocks 1~2%EC%A3%EC%8%C9%EA%B3%B5%EB%B6%80-%EC%88%9C%EC%84%9%C-%EB%8B%A8%EA%B3%84%EB%B3%84-%EB%A1%9%EB%93%9%EC%A7%B5-%EC%B4%88%EB%B3%B4%EA%B0%80-%EB%A8%BC%EC%A0%80-%EB%B0%B0%EC%9B%8C%EC%95%BC-%ED%95%A0-%EA%B2%83-vs-%EB%82%98%EC%A4%91%EC%97%90-%EB%B0%B0%EC%9B%8C%EB%8F%84-%EB%90%98%EB%8A%94-%EA%B2%83) You have probably had an experience like this at least once
A stock that was clearly rising gets eerily blocked whenever it reaches a certain price
It looks as though it might break through, then gently slips downward
And a few days later, when it reaches that price again, it gets blocked once more.

It is not a coincidence.
There is a reason for that price
The moment you understand that reason, you begin to see the chart differently

1. Why does resistance form

Indicators show the result
Volume profile shows why that result occurred.
It is a discussion one level deeper.

There is exactly one reason resistance forms: many people want to sell at that price
Why are there so many?
It is because three groups overlap

First, people who were caught at a lossPeople who bought at that price in the past and got stuck. When the price comes back near breakeven, they sell, thinking, "I won't miss my chance this time"
It is the breakeven mentality
This is the core driving force behind resistance

Second, people looking to take profits
People who bought cheaply at the bottom take their profits and exit around that price

Third, people who remember the past "It got stuck here last time," they say, and sell in advance. Resistance is a self-fulfilling structure that creates resistance.

Where the selling volume from these three groups has piled up around a particular price range, that is the supply zone. The resistance zone is the result, while the supply zone is the cause.

**2. What is the difference between a resistance zone and a supply zone?

It is easy to get confused, but the summary is simple

A resistance zone is a concept of 'price'
A price level that was blocked several times in the past

A supply zone is a concept of 'trading volume'How many shares actually changed hands in that price range
The more trading that occurred at a price, the thicker the supply zone.

This is how the two are related.
A price with a large accumulated trading volume (a thick supply zone) becomes strong resistance.
A price with little to no trading has weak resistance.
So, to assess the “strength” of resistance, you need to look at the supply zone.
Looking only at the line, you cannot tell whether it is resistance that is merely brushed against or resistance as thick as a wall.

3. How to read supply zones

Most HTS and MTS platforms have a “supply zone chart” or “volume by price (Volume Profile)” function.
It is the one with horizontal bars stacked in layers on the right or left side of the chart.

The way to read it is simple.

Long bar = an area with high trading volume = [thick supply zone = strong resistance/support](/blog/%EA%B1Short bar = an area with low trading volume = a thin zone =
easy to pass through0%EB%9E%98%EB%9F%89-%EB%B3%B4%EB%8A%94%EB%B2%95-%EC%99%84%EC%A0%84-%EC%A0%95%EB%B3%B5-%EC%A3%BC%EC%8B%9D%EC%BD%94%EC%9D%B8%B0%EB%8E%8%EB%8F%97-%EB%B90%B84%EB%9A%7%EB%B84%7-%EC%9%8%EC%A0%98-%EC%A8%0%EB%B80%B0-%EC%A4%BC%EC%82B%4D%EC%BD%8%EC%94D%B2-%EC%B95) Short bar = an area with low trading volume = a thin zone =
easy to pass through

Here is one practical tip. If there is almost no trading above a thick supply zone a “vacant zone,” once the supply zone is broken,
the vacant zone is passed through in an instant

Because there is no one willing to sell.
Targeting this is the basic logic of breakout trading.
If the price breaks through one resistance level and the area above is empty, a sharp rise occurs.

5%EB%A4%5. Types of resistance

1If you are a ~-year veteran, distinguishing just these five is sufficient.2years old, distinguishing just these five is sufficient.

1) Previous high — The most basic level. The highest price reached immediately beforehand. Since the most people are trapped here, resistance is strong

2) Overhead supply resistance — The price range explained above, where trading volume has built up heavily. It can be powerful even when it is not a previous high

**3) Round number (psychological resistance) — 10,000won, 50,000won, and 100,000won, for example, are neat, round numbers
People unconsciously place sell orders at those numbers

**4) Moving-average resistance — In a downtrend, when the 60-day line and the 120-day line act as a ceiling from above, a rebound is blocked when it reaches the moving average

5) Gap resistance — A level previously broken through on a gap-down move. When the price rises to fill that gap, it becomes resistance.

When several overlap at the same price range? That is truly strong resistance.
When a previous high, a round number, and heavy overhead supply are concentrated at one point, it is difficult to break through under ordinary circumstances
The key point is that the more they overlap, the stronger it is.

**5. The moment resistance turns into support — role reversal

If it breaks through resistance “decisively,” that resistance line becomes support this time.
Its role is reversed.

The reason is psychological again. People who could not buy at that price and missed their chance (“I should have bought then”) buy this time when the stock price falls back to that level.
A place that was a sell wall turns into a buy wall.

Knowing this takes you up a level.

So in practice, this is the pattern to look for: resistance breakout → move upward → pullback near the resistance line → buy after confirming support
It is a much safer entry point than jumping into a breakout blindly. This is called a “breakout followed by a pullback (retest).”

-Two ways to apply it to trading

Approach A — Strategy of selling ahead of resistance (conservative)

When there is strong resistance above, take profits and exit before reaching it. You decide, “There is a thick supply zone here, so it cannot be broken through in one move,” and sell in advance. In exchange for avoiding the risk of waiting for a breakout, you miss out on the large gains that come when it actually breaks through.

Method B — Breakout-Seeking Strategy (Aggressive)

Ride the move at the moment the resistance is decisively broken with strong volume. If there is no overhead resistance (3see reference), the potential return is substantial. However, if you are caught by a false breakout, you must cut your losses.

True Breakout vs. False Breakout — Volume Is the Answer

Conditions for a True Breakout

• That candle sees a sharp surge in volume compared with usual. Breaking through a thick supply zone requires that much buying pressure. I do not trust a gradual move above it without volume.

• After breaking through, the closing price finishes above it. If it briefly moves above it during the session but comes back down and closes below it, that is not a breakout.

• Even if a pullback comes after the breakout, it finds support above the resistance line.

Characteristics of a false breakout (deception)

• It broke through without volume.

• It immediately collapses back below it after breaking through. In many cases, large players briefly push it above the level to induce retail investors to buy, then sell.

• Only a long upper wick, with the closing price below resistance.

So there is only one rule:
Do not jump in after seeing just one breakout candle;
check the volume, wait for the closing price, and then act. Impatience burns through your account

8. Cases where it does not work — knowing this is what makes you the real deal

Most content simply ends with, "This is how you do it." But in real trading, those who know when it does not work are the ones who survive.

In a range-bound market, every signal is a deception. In a market that moves narrowly up and down without direction, it repeatedly breaks through resistance and then falls back, or breaks support and then rises again. Volume-profile trading works much better in a market with a trend. In a range-bound market, only stop-losses pile up.

It is useless ahead of news and earnings announcements. No matter how thick the volume profile, a single earnings surprise can cause the price to leap over it with a gap.
When the catalyst is stronger than the technical level, the chart does not work.

Volume profiles that are too old lose their strength
1Years-old volume profiles may involve people who were trapped at that time and have already cut their losses and left. The more recently formed a volume profile is, the stronger it is

A resistance level that has been decisively broken no longer serves as resistance
A supply zone that has already been absorbed is not a wall

A failure case can be illustrated with just one example. Believing only in the thick supply zone, I judged that "it would be stopped here" and responded with [short selling or selling](/blog/%EA%B3%B5%EB%A7%A4%EB%8F%84%EB%9E%80-%EB%AC%B4%EC%97%87%EC%9D%B8%EA%B0%80-%EA%B0%9C%EB%85%90%EB%B6%80%ED%84%B0-2025%EB%85%84-%EC%9%EA%B0%EB%A9%A0%EB%9F%8%EB%84E%3-%EB%AC%B80%EC%99%94%EC%9D%B8%EA%B7%80-%EA%B95%9C%EB%2%88%EB%B97%90%ED%