Richard Wyckoff

Richard Wyckoff was one of the most influential figures in early 20th-century Wall Street. Through decades of tape reading, he distilled markets to their purest truth: the battle between supply and demand, orchestrated by the Composite Operator. His method reads price and volume to identify when smart money is accumulating or distributing — before the move happens.

“The market is made by the minds of men, and all the fluctuations in the market and in all the various stocks should be studied as if they were the result of one man's operations.”

• The Composite Operator accumulates before markup — follow the smart money
• A Spring is a false break below support on low volume — the highest-conviction buy
• Sign of Strength (SOS): breakout above resistance on expanding volume confirms markup
• Last Point of Support (LPS): pullback after SOS on dry volume — ideal entry
• Effort vs. Result: big volume with little price movement signals absorption
• Never fight the tape — always trade in the direction of least resistance