3 June 2026
Which Retracement Ratios Earn a Line on the Plan
Not every Fibonacci percentage belongs on your order sheet — here is how we triage 38.2 through 78.6.
A full Fibonacci suite looks thorough and reads like clutter. On a planning sheet we keep only ratios that do work for the timeframe.
Default set we teach
- 38.2% — shallow pullback in strong trends; often too early for mean-reversion entries
- 50% — midpoint habit of many discretionary traders; useful when it aligns with a round number or prior close
- 61.8% — frequent zone for planned entries when confluence exists
- 78.6% — deep retracement; often used for invalidation more than for fresh entries
23.6% appears on the chart for context but rarely as a primary entry in our templates.
Confluence filter
A ratio earns ink on the plan when it also meets at least one of: prior swing high/low, unfilled gap edge, or a session open that still matters. Lonely fibs stay on the screen optionally; they do not get wait conditions.
Invalidation
Stops belong beyond a level that would break the swing thesis — commonly a close through 78.6% or through the origin. Parking a stop inside the 50–61.8% band invites noise exits. Coaching hours spend more time on this placement than on decorative mid-levels.