$RIVER this wave of market movement has made me re-understand what "classic controlled manipulation" really means.

Looking back at the entire process, I initially entered at the long lower shadow of 16, which is a typical support signal. Subsequently, the price slowly rose into a plateau phase, and at this point, it was not far from the left shoulder of the U bottom, but the big players chose to oscillate within a narrow range — this is a hallmark of controlled manipulation. I judged at the time that this was an overbought correction, so I continued to hold my position and waited for a breakout confirmation.

The key turning point occurred around 19+. When I observed a volume surge breaking above the left shoulder, I added a position. I originally intended to use a trailing stop to lock in profits, but the price quickly broke below the support of the plateau, triggering a stop-loss exit. At that moment, I realized this might be a trap to lure in buyers, so I reversed and opened a small short position. But the subsequent development was completely unexpected — the big players did not give any retracement opportunity and directly started pushing higher. This kind of relentless upward surge usually signals two things: either it’s not a trap but a shakeout, or the target is still far from reached.

After weighing the options, I chose to exit at 21.8 with a stop-loss, abandoning the plan to hold until 27. My current strategy is to wait for a clear trend confirmation with a waterfall pattern before re-entering.

Interestingly, I haven't seen this traditional manipulation method in a long time. Retail traders tend to lose their mindset in this rhythm — wanting to chase at the top, trying to bottom-fish at the decline, only to be shaken out repeatedly. The key is to recognize: when the big players don’t give a retracement space, don’t use limited funds to bet on how high they will push. Wait for a confirmation signal, then get on board — that’s a safer approach.