The Silent Signal Before the Storm - NR4

Markets don’t always roar before a big move. Sometimes, they whisper. And if you’ve been in this game long enough, you know one thing for sure: volatility contracts before it expands.

Among the most powerful of those “quiet signals” is the NR4 pattern—a price action setup that doesn’t look impressive at first glance, but hides a time bomb of movement inside it. This setup tells you exactly when the market is going to wake up. And when used right, it can give you early entry into some of the sharpest directional moves in any stock, index, or commodity.

Today, I want to share with you one of the cleanest, most underrated setups in technical trading: the NR4, or Narrowest Range in 4 Days. And more importantly, I’ll share how I use this not just as a mechanical breakout—but how I blend it with Gann’s time vibration methods, planetary timing, and market behavior to make smarter, cleaner trades.

Let’s decode the signal the market often hides in plain sight.

What Is NR4?

In technical terms, NR4 is short for Narrow Range 4.

It’s simple: you look at the daily candle (or bar), and calculate its range (High minus Low). If today’s candle has a smaller range than each of the past 3 days, it is considered an NR4 Day.

It looks something like this:

Range = High – LowCompare today’s range with the last 3 days. If today’s is the smallest → Today is an NR4.

Think of NR4 as a compression signal—a rubber band getting tighter. The tighter it gets, the more explosive the snap when it finally breaks.

Why NR4 Works (The Psychology Behind It)

Markets move in cycles. They don’t go up or down in a straight line forever. After a big move comes a rest, and after a rest comes another move. It’s this expansion-contraction principle that lies at the heart of price action.

An NR4 day tells you that the market has gone quiet. Fewer participants. Reduced trading activity. Often, it’s a sign that buyers and sellers are both hesitant, waiting for some trigger.

What follows an NR4 day is often a breakout—a directional move that follows through with strong momentum. It’s not magic. It’s market structure telling you that energy is building up.

A Quick Example

Let’s look at a example:

Day	High	Low	Range
Day 1	18,100	17,950	150 pts
Day 2	18,120	17,980	140 pts
Day 3	18,180	18,050	130 pts
Day 4	18,140	18,080	60 pts ✅

Here, Day 4 is an NR4 day. Its range of 60 points is the smallest compared to the previous 3 days. That’s your signal.

How to Trade NR4

Here’s the classic method to trade NR4:

Entry:

• Buy if price breaks above the high of the NR4 day.

• Sell (or short) if price breaks below the low of the NR4 day.

Stop-loss:

• Place just below the opposite end of the breakout (the low if long, the high if short).

Target:

• Based on risk-reward (e.g., 1.5x to 2x of risk).

• Or trail the stop using a moving average or previous swing levels.

Timeframe:

• NR4 is most commonly used on daily charts, but can also be applied on 15-min or hourly charts for intraday trading.

But Here’s Where I Add My Twist

Most people stop at the breakout. I don’t.

Over time, I realized that NR4 works even better when blended with time and planetary filters. You see, in my Gann-style research, every breakout has two conditions:

1. Price must be ready

2. Time must support the move

If both align, the move is clean and sharp. If not, it’s choppy.

So here’s what I add to every NR4 setup I trade:

1. Day of the Week Filter

Just like our 20-day high strategy, I noticed NR4 breakouts also respond differently to different days of the week:

• Best days: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

• Avoid: Monday, Tuesday

2. Gann Angle Overlay

I plot the Square of 9 angle from a recent swing high/low. If the price of the NR4 candle aligns with a Gann angle (45°, 90°, 180°), I know the breakout is not just technical—it’s vibrational.

3. Planetary Timing

If the NR4 day falls on a:

• Sun-Venus conjunction: Expect energy, bullish bias

• Moon in Square to Mars: Expect volatility, breakout likely

• Mercury retrograde day: Be cautious, delay breakout confirmation

The True Edge: When Time Confirms Price

I’ll give you a simple example from a recent trade on Bank Nifty.

Here I want to tell u, Bank Nifty is not my Cup of Tea, but here Im giving u an example~

After a week of volatility, Bank Nifty formed a tight NR4 candle on a Thursday. It aligned with the 135° Gann angle from a recent swing low. Moon was forming a sextile with Mercury—a known intraday impulse aspect. I took a long entry above the high, with a tight stop.

Next day—Friday—Bank Nifty opened flat, but by mid-morning, it exploded. That NR4 day was the silent setup. The breakout gave me 2.5x return with just 0.6% risk.

That’s not luck. That’s price and time working together.

When Not to Trade NR4

Just because a day is an NR4 doesn’t mean it must be traded. Some important cautions:

• If the NR4 candle is inside a wide sideways range, skip the trade.

• Avoid breakout trades on low volume—especially during holidays or earnings blackout periods.

• Skip trades where breakout direction is against the major trend unless it’s a confirmed reversal setup.

• If global cues are uncertain (e.g., Fed event next day), better to wait.

NR4 in Crude Oil and Gold

In commodities like Gold and Crude Oil, NR4s are even more powerful due to global triggers. A tight-range day before inventory data in Crude, or before a Fed announcement in Gold, often leads to big moves.

Here’s how I’ve used it:

• Gold forms NR4 during a Venus-Moon conjunction → Watch for bullish breakout

• Crude forms NR4 on a Mars transit day → Expect energy-driven breakout (literally and figuratively)

That’s the beauty of NR4—it works on stocks, indices, commodities, and even cryptos.

Add-On: NR7 and Inside Bars

If you’re looking for even more compressed setups, you can go beyond NR4:

• NR7 = Narrowest range of the last 7 days (even stronger)

• Inside Bar + NR4 = Ultra compression → Massive breakout potential

These are rare, but explosive. I usually add position size when NR4 and Inside Bar occur together, especially on a Friday or Gann time cycle day.

Building a Complete Trading Plan with NR4

Let’s recap how to build a real, working strategy using the NR4 concept.

1. Screen Daily for NR4 Candles

Use a scanner that compares today’s range (High – Low) with the past 3 days.

2. Mark the NR4 High & Low

These are your breakout levels.

3. Wait for Confirmation

Trade the breakout only if:

• Day is Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday

• Breakout happens with volume

• Price is in sync with trend or Gann angle

4. Set Your Risk

Stop-loss = just beyond the opposite end of the breakout Target = 1.5x or 2x the SL, or trail

5. Manage Emotion

Don’t expect all NR4 trades to work. Even with filters, 60–70% win rate is realistic. But the risk-reward is always favorable, so you come out ahead over time.

When the Market Goes Silent, Listen Closer

NR4 isn’t about fancy indicators or complex charting. It’s about listening to silence. It’s the kind of setup that doesn’t show up in every webinar or YouTube video. And maybe that’s why it still works.

To me, NR4 is like a whisper from the market—a hint that something’s about to happen. Most traders miss it because they’re looking for loud signals. But those of us who trade with structure, time, and vibration—we know better.

A quiet day today could be the seed of a strong move tomorrow.

So next time you see an NR4 day on your chart—pause. Mark the high and low. Look at the calendar. Check the vibration. And be ready. Because when the market whispers, it’s usually getting ready to scream.