USDJPY W Formation: Forex Chart Markups, 13 July 2026

A USDJPY W formation on Tuesday 14 July 2026 scored 7 of 8. The second leg hunted the stops under the first at 08:30 New York, in the same candle as US CPI, and 161.601 became the low of the week. Price rallied 69 pips that day and 94 on the week. Elsewhere the dollar pairs had already turned at Monday's session break, giving six weekly cycles, 13 textbook setups and 5 partials.

The week in brief

• Markets: the seven forex majors and gold (XAUUSD, counted at 1 pip = $1), on 15-minute and 1-hour candles.
• Daily setups: 13 textbook and 5 partial.
• Weekly cycle: 6 of 8 markets turned midweek (EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF, AUDUSD and NZDUSD).
• Setup of the week: USDJPY on Tuesday, W formation, 7 of 8 on confluence: 69 pips that day, 94 on the week.
• News in sync with a stop hunt: USD Consumer Price Index (MoM), Consumer Price Index (YoY), Consumer Price Index ex Food & Energy (MoM), Consumer Price Index ex Food & Energy (YoY); USD Producer Price Index ex Food & Energy (YoY); USD Retail Sales (MoM), Retail Sales Control Group.

USDJPY W formation: how to read these chart markups

A quick key for new readers. These charts use reverse price action, which is reverse psychology applied to the chart: the textbook breakout is treated as the trap, not the trade. The Asian range (blue box) is where retail marks support and resistance. The retail stop losses (red crosses) rest just beyond it. The stop hunt (hatched zone) is price collecting them, and the pips figure in the header is the reversal that followed. Start with How to Read a Forex Chart Markup.

The week at a glance: confluence ranking

Every daily setup of the week on one page, best first. The score is a tally of the eight confirmations the method lists, and the last column says what the rest of the week did with each level. USDJPY leads with 7 of 8.

The weekly cycle: induction, trap, reversal

The weekly cycle is the bigger picture behind every daily setup: an induction trend early in the week, the high or low of the week on Tuesday or Wednesday, then the reversal. We only draw it when the week actually turned, and each chart carries a checklist of which parts held. The idea is laid out in How to Read a Forex Chart Markup.

GBPUSD · 216-pip reversal. The trap printed the low of the week at 1.33417 in Tuesday's session (Monday 17:00 New York), and the reversal ran 216 pips to 1.35579 by Wednesday. 4 of 4 textbook checks held.

NZDUSD · 121-pip reversal. The trap printed the low of the week at 0.57415 in Tuesday's session (Monday 17:15 New York), and the reversal ran 121 pips to 0.58630 by Wednesday. 3 of 4 textbook checks held; the miss: no induction trend, Sun to Mon ranged instead of trending.

USDCHF · 120-pip reversal. The trap printed the high of the week at 0.81513 in Tuesday's session (Monday 20:15 New York), and the reversal ran 120 pips to 0.80314 by Thursday. 4 of 4 textbook checks held.

AUDUSD · 111-pip reversal. The trap printed the low of the week at 0.69102 in Tuesday's session (Monday 17:00 New York), and the reversal ran 111 pips to 0.70210 by Wednesday. 4 of 4 textbook checks held.

EURUSD · 107-pip reversal. The trap printed the low of the week at 1.13752 in Tuesday's session (Monday 17:00 New York), and the reversal ran 107 pips to 1.14825 by Wednesday. 3 of 4 textbook checks held; the miss: no induction trend, Sun to Mon ranged instead of trending.

USDJPY · 94-pip reversal. The trap printed the low of the week at 161.601 on Tuesday 08:30 New York, and the reversal ran 94 pips to 162.545 by Thursday. 4 of 5 textbook checks held; the miss: no induction trend toward the trap, Sun to Mon ran the other way.

No weekly cycle chart for USDCAD and Gold (XAUUSD): those markets did not make a midweek high or low and then reverse by at least 1.25 average daily ranges.

Setup of the week: USDJPY W formation, 14 July 2026

USDJPY spent the Asian session in a 24-pip range between 162.228 and 162.468. London then broke the low of that range by 18 pips, to 162.052 at 04:30 New York: the breakdown the crowd sells. Price pulled back to a neckline at 162.281, then ran a second leg to 161.601 at 08:30 New York, 45 pips past the first leg and 4 pips through Monday's low (161.645). That second leg is the stop hunt. It took the stops resting below the first leg and trapped everyone who sold the new low. From there price reversed 69 pips to 162.286 in 6h, back inside the Asian range.

Now read it in reverse. At each of those prices, whose orders were waiting?

Where the retail stops were

• Buyers' stops below the Asian low, 162.228: taken by the first leg.
• New stops below the first leg, 162.052: taken by the second leg.
• Stops below Monday's low, 161.645: taken by the second leg.
• Sellers' stops above the neckline, 162.281: taken as the reversal broke it.
• Sellers' stops above the Asian high, 162.468: not reached.

The trade. The method buys against the breakout, on the second leg at the low of the day (161.601). The stricter trigger, the first 15-minute close back inside, came with 49 pips of risk to the extreme and 19 pips to the high of the day, about 1 to 0.4. The method skips anything under 1 to 3, so from that trigger this one does not qualify. These numbers are measured after the fact from 15-minute candles.

Confirmations: 7 of 8. It had a clear Asian range, a second-leg stop hunt, a hunt at a session open, the previous day's level taken, high-impact news in sync, a Tuesday or Wednesday date and the high or low of the week. Missing: induction from the week's open. It is the low of the week.

The rules for this pattern are in How to Read a Forex Chart Markup. For another W formation, on USDCAD, see USDCAD W formation, week of 8 June 2026.

Textbook setups, day by day

A setup is textbook when the reversal clears the whole Asian range, or runs at least three quarters of the pair's average daily range. The daily cycle behind all of them, Asia consolidating, London breaking out and the reversal after, is covered in How to Read a Forex Chart Markup.

Monday · EURUSD · London stop hunt (68 pips). London took the stops above the Asian high at 1.14457 (04:15 New York); the reversal went through the whole Asian range.

Monday · GBPUSD · London stop hunt (69 pips). London took the stops above the Asian high at 1.34114 (04:15 New York); the reversal went through the whole Asian range.

Monday · AUDUSD · London stop hunt (36 pips). London took the stops above the Asian high at 0.69492 (07:30 New York); the reversal went through the whole Asian range.

Monday · NZDUSD · M formation (44 pips). The second leg took the stops above the first leg at 0.57880 (09:00 New York); the reversal went through the whole Asian range.

Wednesday · Gold (XAUUSD) · London stop hunt (64 pips). London took the stops below the Asian low at 4017.16 (04:00 New York); the reversal went through the whole Asian range.

Wednesday · USDJPY · Both sides hunted (53 pips). The second leg took the stops above the first leg at 162.421 (06:15 New York); the reversal went through the whole Asian range. Then the other side was hunted at 14:15 New York, 7 pips under the Asian low.

Wednesday · EURUSD · W formation (77 pips). The second leg took the stops below the first leg at 1.14059 (08:00 New York); the reversal went through the whole Asian range.

Wednesday · USDCAD · M formation (53 pips). The second leg took the stops above the first leg at 1.40768 (08:00 New York); the reversal went through the whole Asian range.

Wednesday · USDCHF · M formation (81 pips). The second leg took the stops above the first leg at 0.81142 (08:15 New York); the reversal went through the whole Asian range.

Thursday · USDJPY · London stop hunt (56 pips). London took the stops below the Asian low at 161.981 (03:15 New York); the reversal went through the whole Asian range.

Thursday · USDCAD · W formation (48 pips). The second leg took the stops below the first leg at 1.40099 (09:30 New York); the reversal went through the whole Asian range.

Friday · Gold (XAUUSD) · New York stop hunt (64 pips). New York took the stops below the Asian low at 3959.49 (09:00 New York, 10 pips through Thursday's low); the reversal went through the whole Asian range.

Partial setups: the structure without the follow-through

These printed the structure, but the reversal stalled inside the Asian range. They are worth studying for exactly that reason: the trap was real and the payoff was small.

Monday · USDCAD · W formation (35 pips). The second leg took the stops below the first leg at 1.41246 (07:30 New York); the reversal went back inside the Asian range.

Thursday · AUDUSD · New York stop hunt (22 pips). New York took the stops above the Asian high at 0.70121 (10:30 New York); the reversal went back inside the Asian range.

Friday · AUDUSD · London stop hunt (21 pips). London took the stops below the Asian low at 0.69656 (05:00 New York); the reversal went back inside the Asian range.

Friday · NZDUSD · London stop hunt (24 pips). London took the stops below the Asian low at 0.58246 (05:00 New York); the reversal went back inside the Asian range.

Friday · GBPUSD · W formation (34 pips). The second leg took the stops below the first leg at 1.34259 (06:45 New York); the reversal went back inside the Asian range.

Daily and weekly confluence, pair by pair

Each chart pins a pair's daily setups on its hourly chart for the week. The solid line is the move that day, the dashed line is how far it ran before the level was traded back through, and a gold band marks a weekly reversal. The table under each chart ticks the confirmations.

EURUSD. 2 setups, best 4 of 8 (Wednesday, W off the low).

GBPUSD. 2 setups, best 2 of 8 (Monday, London stop hunt at the high).

USDJPY. 4 setups, best 7 of 8 (Tuesday, W off the low).

USDCHF. 1 setup, best 6 of 8 (Wednesday, M off the high).

AUDUSD. 3 setups, best 2 of 8 (Thursday, New York stop hunt at the high).

USDCAD. 3 setups, best 5 of 8 (Thursday, W off the low). No midweek reversal.

NZDUSD. 2 setups, best 4 of 8 (Monday, M off the high).

Gold (XAUUSD). 2 setups, best 4 of 8 (Wednesday, London stop hunt at the low). No midweek reversal.

What this week teaches about reverse price action

CPI at 08:30 is the most watched minute of the month, which makes it the most useful minute for a stop hunt. USDJPY had already put in a first leg under the Asian range. Buyers who caught the first bounce had their stops just below that low, and sellers were waiting for the data to confirm the breakdown. The release took out the low by a few pips, filled both groups, and reversed. The news gave the crowd its confirmation at the exact moment the liquidity was needed.

On the news itself: the event gives the crowd its reason, and the chart shows where the orders already were.

Frequently asked questions

What was the best forex setup in the week of 13 July 2026?

By confluence, USDJPY on Tuesday: a W off the low that scored 7 of 8. It moved 69 pips that day and 94 on the week. It was the low of the week.

Was there a midweek reversal in the week of 13 July 2026?

Yes, on 6 of the 8 markets we track: EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF, AUDUSD and NZDUSD. The largest was GBPUSD, 216 pips from the low of the week at 1.33417.

What is a W formation in forex?

A W formation is the mirror image of an M, at a low. Price breaks below the Asian range, bounces to a neckline, then makes a second leg slightly under the first low. The second leg takes the stops under the first low and traps breakdown sellers. The method only trades a W off the low of the day.

Why do stop hunts happen on news releases?

A scheduled release brings the most orders into the market at a known minute. Price is often already sitting next to a level with stops behind it, and the release supplies the volume to take them. The timing of the event matters more than the number.

Related chart markups

• Previous week: GBPUSD midweek reversal, week of 6 July 2026
• Next week: GBPUSD stop hunt, week of 20 July 2026
• USDCAD W formation, week of 8 June 2026: another W formation, on USDCAD
• EURUSD W formation, week of 18 May 2026: another W formation, on EURUSD
• CPI stop hunt, week of 7 September 2026: another W formation, on EURUSD
• All forex chart markups, week by week
• How to Read a Forex Chart Markup: what every mark on these charts means

Learn to read the chart this way. The Forexia Academy courses cover the Asian range, M and W formations and the weekly cycle step by step. Browse the courses.

These chart markups are made after the fact, for study. They are not signals and not trade advice. Candles: Dukascopy. Economic calendar: FXStreet. All times are New York. Stop-loss positions are the method's reading of the structure, not order-book data.