How to Trade the Breakout & Retest Pattern: Strategies That Work

The reaction from this zone confirms the level and offers a clean entry. A breakout on the 4-hour chart means more if the same level holds on the 15-minute with a clear reaction. Without that overlap, what looks like a strong move might just be noise. Price pushes cleanly through a key level, support, resistance, trendline, or a swing high/low.

It allows traders to take advantage of momentum while managing their entries. If you prefer to keep a close watch on your trades, you can set your stop loss and take smaller profits along the way. As the price moves in your favor, you might also want to move your stop loss up to your entry point, which essentially makes your position risk free. This way, you can ride the trade without the fear of losing any of your initial capital. And finally, failing to apply risk management techniques, like defining your stop-loss clearly or sizing your position properly, can turn a solid setup into a costly lesson.

What is Breakout and Retest Strategy?

  • It’s all about waiting for that extra confirmation and managing your risks smartly.
  • These timeframes offer a good balance between speed and reliability.
  • There’s no one-size-fits-all timeframe for trading break and retest setups.
  • If a resistance level breaks and price returns, the test tells you whether the breakout holds.

EBC Financial Group (UK) Ltd has become aware that our name has been linked to an online Crypto offering by a company.

  • Many traders add confluence such as volume spikes, trendline tests, or indicator support like the VWAP indicator, to filter stronger setups.
  • Instead of reacting to the breakout itself, traders wait for price to return to the level it just cleared, either a support or resistance, and then watch how it behaves.
  • The 15-minute chart allows traders to spot breakouts and retests relatively quickly, making it ideal for those who want to capitalize on shorter-term movements.
  • After some time, the price retests this new resistance at $68,000, and the level holds firm, rejecting the price, which then drops further to the $60,000 mark.

The price tests these levels without success, and the market stays within a range. As the price approaches the retested level, watch for confirmation signals. These can include bearish candlestick patterns like a hammer or a bearish engulfing pattern or perhaps any indicator like the RSI showing oversold conditions.

We’ll Make You A Smarter Trader For Free

You can spot the pattern on gold, major forex pairs, equities, even crypto markets, whether you trade five-minute charts or daily candles. Many traders rely on naked price action, while others layer in RSI readings, moving average slopes, or simple alerts that flag each breach and revisit. Examining charts across different timeframes may help in gaining a broader market perspective. A breakout observed on a 4-hour chart gains additional confirmation when a strong trend is also visible on a daily chart. This alignment across timeframes increases the reliability of the trade setup. After the breakout, the price typically retraces to test the broken level.

Once you’ve got the hang of that, flipping it to a bearish scenario won’t be too hard. And when I say valid, I mean an actual breakout, not a fakeout trying to trick you. Fakeouts are like those “too good to be true” ads, you think you’re getting a deal, but nope, it’s just fluff. To avoid falling for fakeouts, look for a strong upward breakout backed by high trading volume and solid momentum.

Confluence Trading – How to Use It to Improve Your Trading Performance

This way, even if the market moves against you, the loss won’t be catastrophic. Place your stop loss just above the new resistance level to protect your trade if the market moves against you. For your take profit, consider setting it at a swing low or use a Fibonacci extension tool to project a potential target.

Benefits and Limitations of Using the Break and Retest Trading Strategy

The Break and Retest method should be viewed as one part of a broader trading plan, not a standalone solution. It’s most effective when combined with other techniques like technical indicators or fundamental analysis. Trading can appear to be a little tough, especially when you’re just getting started.

Stay ahead of the market!

For instance, if the price breaks above a resistance level, it may pull back to that same level, which now acts as support. This retest phase is critical as it offers a second confirmation of the breakout’s strength. You wouldn’t jump out of a plane without a parachute, right?

If a resistance level breaks and price returns, the test tells you whether the breakout holds. A clean rejection off that area, with wicks or reversal candles, can be a strong signal that the market has flipped the level. Waiting for a retest after a breakout adds an extra layer of confirmation before entering the market. This reduces the chances of falling victim to false breakouts, which can often lead to unnecessary losses.

If the price “retests” this level and successfully bounces back up, you’ve got a clean and healthy breakout and retest pattern. This gives you a much more reliable signal to enter your long position, as it confirms that the market has truly broken past the old resistance. A retest occurs when the price returns to a broken support or resistance level after an initial breakout. It serves to confirm the strength of the breakout, which may help traders decide whether the new trend will continue or if the breakout was false. Once the key levels are Indices Trading Strategies established, traders watch for the price to break through one of these barriers, in line with a broader trend. A breakout occurs when the price moves decisively above resistance or below support, often accompanied by increased trading volume.

The content provided in these blog posts is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Meta Trading Club Inc. shall not be held liable for any losses, damages, or liabilities whatsoever arising from the use of information presented in the blog posts.

Traders also run into trouble when ignoring higher timeframe bias. A break and retest that goes against the dominant trend often has lower probability. Taking a few seconds to check the structure from above can make a big difference. Once the breakout occurred, price didn’t rally straight away.