Support and resistance explained for beginners

By the Ezetrad team · Updated 13 November 2026 · 2 min read

Look at any chart and you will see prices that keep stopping at the same levels. Traders call them support and resistance.

Support: where falls have stopped

A support level is a price where a fall has stopped and turned up before, often more than once. Buyers showed up there in the past, and many traders expect them to show up again.

Resistance: where rises have stopped

Resistance is the opposite: a price where rises have stalled and turned down. Sellers, including people who bought higher and want their money back, appeared there before.

How to find them

• Use a daily chart and look for prices touched several times.
• Draw zones, not exact lines: prices rarely turn at the same cent.
• Round numbers (like $100,000 for Bitcoin) often act as levels because many orders sit there.
• Old highs and lows matter more the more often they were tested and the higher the volume.

Breakouts and role reversal

When the price closes clearly above resistance, it is a breakout. The old resistance often becomes new support. Our scanner lists daily 20-day-high breakouts. Many breakouts fail, though, and fall back inside the range.

Using levels for exits

Levels help place a stop loss (just beyond support for an up idea) and a target (just before the next resistance). Then check whether the reward is big enough compared with the risk.

Limits

Levels are a way of reading past behaviour. Big news can push straight through any level. Use them with a stop, never as a guarantee.

This guide is educational and is not financial advice.

Keep learning

• How to read candlestick charts
• What is RSI?
• Stop loss and take profit
• Position sizing and the 1% rule