Market Maker Method — The Original AMD Framework Created in 1999

In 1999, Martin Cole created the Market Maker Method—a framework revealing how Market Makers engineer price movements through three repeating phases: Accumulation, Manipulation, and Distribution (AMD). 26 years later, PAT is the original AMD indicator that visualizes this method in real-time.

What Is the Market Maker Method?

The Market Maker Method is a trading framework that explains how professional traders and institutions (Market Makers) systematically engineer price movements in financial markets. Created by Martin Cole in 1999, it identifies three distinct phases that repeat across all timeframes and markets:

Accumulation — Market Makers quietly build positions without causing significant price movement
Manipulation — Market Makers test belief, hunt stops, and trap retail traders to gather liquidity
Distribution (Profit Release) — Market Makers release their accumulated positions into retail buying or selling, causing the real move

Understanding these three Market Maker phases allows traders to read institutional intent instead of chasing price action. You're no longer reacting to candles—you're anticipating the Market Maker cycle.

The Original AMD Framework

Martin Cole created the AMD framework (Accumulation, Manipulation, Distribution) in 1999. It was featured as a 4-page spread in Futures & Options World magazine that year—11 years before Inner Circle Trader (ICT) began teaching AMD publicly. The Market Maker Method and AMD are the same framework.

How Market Makers Engineer Price Movements

Market Makers don't chase price—they create it. Here's how the three-phase cycle works in practice:

Phase 1: Accumulation — The Quiet Build

During accumulation, Market Makers are building inventory. They're positioning for the eventual move, but they do it quietly to avoid driving price against themselves. Price may appear range-bound or choppy. Retail traders see "consolidation" and get bored. Market Makers see opportunity.

What to watch for: The Floating Zone in PAT shows underlying directional momentum forming. Ray lines mark where accumulation pivots occur on underlying strength or weakness.

Phase 2: Manipulation — Testing Belief and Hunting Stops

This is where Market Makers engineer liquidity grabs. Price moves against the eventual direction to:

Test where belief breaks (who panics?)
Hunt retail stop losses (gathering liquidity)
Trap late entries (creating bag holders)
Complete their accumulation at better prices

Retail traders see "false breakouts" and "stop hunts" and assume the market is random or rigged. Market Makers see necessary preparation for distribution.

What to watch for: Buffers in PAT reveal where manipulation zones sit—AMD phase boundaries where belief has historically shifted. Pressure Points show where conviction is fracturing, signaling manipulation is active.

Phase 3: Distribution (Profit Release) — The Real Move

This is when Market Makers release their accumulated positions. They sell into retail buying (or buy from retail selling). The move everyone was waiting for finally happens—but Market Makers positioned 50-100 candles ago.

By the time retail traders recognize the trend, Market Makers are exiting. This is why breakout traders often buy tops and sell bottoms. They're entering during distribution—when professionals are leaving.

What to watch for: Whale Markers in PAT signal where professional positions enter and exit (Smart Money Concept). When a whale marker appears at a manipulation zone while the Floating Zone confirms direction, distribution is beginning.

The Market Maker Method vs Traditional Technical Analysis

Traditional technical analysis studies what price did. The Market Maker Method reads what Market Makers are doing.

Moving averages tell you where price was. The Floating Zone shows you where underlying belief is going.
Support and resistance mark historical price levels. Buffers reveal where Market Makers test belief and rewrite it.
Volume spikes show increased activity. Whale Markers show exactly where professional capital entered or exited.
Breakout signals tell you to chase. The AMD cycle tells you to wait for manipulation to end first.

Why the Market Maker Method Works

Markets don't move on fundamentals or chart patterns. They move on belief. Market Makers engineer belief through the three-phase cycle. Read the cycle, and you'll stop falling for manipulation. Trade the AMD cycle, not predictions.

How PAT Visualizes the Market Maker Method

PAT (Professional Activity Tracker) is the original AMD indicator—created by the same person who created the Market Maker Method in 1999. It visualizes all three Market Maker phases in real-time through five elements:

The Floating Zone — Shows accumulation forming and confirms directional belief
Ray Lines — Mark where accumulation pivots on underlying strength or weakness
Pressure Points — Show where conviction is fracturing (early warning of manipulation)
Buffers — Reveal Market Maker manipulation zones (AMD phase boundaries)
Whale Markers — Signal where professional positions enter and exit (distribution)

Together, these five elements give you a complete picture of the Market Maker cycle as it unfolds. You're not predicting—you're reading institutional intent in real-time.

Market Maker Trading Techniques You Can Use

Once you understand the Market Maker Method, several powerful trading techniques become available:

1. Wait for Manipulation to End Before Entering

Don't enter during manipulation. Wait for a whale marker at a buffer or ray line while the Floating Zone confirms direction. That's when manipulation ends and distribution begins.

2. Trade With Market Makers, Not Against Them

When Market Makers are accumulating (Floating Zone forming), watch but don't enter. When they manipulate (buffer tests, stop hunts), stay out. When they distribute (whale marker + Floating Zone confirmation), that's your window.

3. Read AMD Phase Boundaries as Decision Zones

Buffers aren't entry signals—they're Market Maker phase boundaries. Price testing a buffer is manipulation, not opportunity. The opportunity comes when manipulation fails and belief shifts (whale marker confirmation).

How to Learn the Market Maker Method

The Market Maker Method isn't a "strategy"—it's a lens. It changes how you see markets. Here's how to learn it:

Start with the framework: Read What Is the AMD Indicator? to understand the three Market Maker phases in detail.
Study the origin: Read The Origin Story to see how Martin Cole created this framework in 1999 and why it's the original AMD method.
Learn the visual elements: Study the PAT Manual to see how each element (Floating Zone, Ray Lines, Pressure Points, Buffers, Whale Markers) reveals the Market Maker cycle.
Watch live demonstrations: See the PAT Training videos where Martin demonstrates Market Maker trading techniques on real charts.
Practice with replay mode: Use TradingView's replay function to narrate the Market Maker phases as they unfold bar-by-bar. This calibrates your instincts.

The Market Maker Method changes how you trade permanently. You stop chasing candles and start reading institutional intent. You stop predicting price and start positioning with Market Makers. Trade the AMD cycle, not predictions.

Why PAT Is the Original Market Maker Method Indicator

Many "AMD indicators" exist today. LuxAlgo offers one. Various developers have built interpretations. But only PAT was created by the person who invented the Market Maker Method in 1999.

PAT isn't an interpretation of AMD—it's the original framework made visual. Martin Cole created the Market Maker Method 26 years ago. PAT is his tool to trade it in real-time.

Framework + Tool = Both from the same source.

The Market Maker Method