Mitigation block

What it is

A mitigation block is an order block that failed without sweeping liquidity first. In a bearish one, price makes a high, pulls back, rallies again but fails to reach the old high (a failure swing), then breaks below the pullback low. The last down candle(s) before that failed rally are the mitigation block, and price often returns to them from below.

It is the twin of the breaker. Both are failed order blocks; the breaker swept the old high before failing, the mitigation block fell short. Remember it as: sweep means breaker, failure means mitigation.

In smart money concepts 'mitigation' also just means price returning to a zone. That is a different use of the word.

How to spot it

• Look for a lower high (in an uptrend that's turning) that did not take the previous high.
• Then a break below the low between the two highs.
• Mark the down candle(s) that started the failed rally: that's the block.

How to use it

• Look for a short when price comes back up into the block, with the stop above it.
• Target the next sell-side liquidity below.
• Some traders treat it as weaker than a breaker and use smaller size, or use it as a place to take profit on longs instead.

Common mistakes

• Mixing it up with a breaker: check whether the old high was swept.
• Using it when the failure swing is tiny and not really a failed attempt at the high.

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