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Break and Retest (Acceptance)intraday level, continuation

Evidence: ModerateIntermediatePrice Action · Continuation

An intraday level that price has respected two or three times. When price closes through it, comes back, and then holds on the correct side of it, the trade is continuation.

The break says the level has shifted. The retest says that shift was accepted. You need both.

The advantage of entering on the retest is structural: the stop is far tighter than it would be on the break, so the same target gives a better reward-to-risk.

Category
Price Action · Continuation
Timeframe
M15 primary · M5 for entry refinement
Suitable pairs
GBPUSD · EURUSD · USDJPY · XAUUSD
Session
London and New York
Indicators / tools
Horizontal levels with two or more touches · ATR(14)

Valid setup

S23 · BREAK AND RETEST (ACCEPTANCE) — VALID SETUP GBPUSD · M15 · the break says the level moved; the retest is what proves it LONG 1.26147 1.26289 1.26431 1.26573 1.26715 1.26857 1.26999 INTRADAY RESISTANCE — three touches before the break ENTRY on the reclaim candle close SL below the reclaimed level +2R reference 1R +2R 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ①②③ Three touches. A level needs at least two — and each touch adds orders resting at it, which is what makes it a level at all rather than a line you drew. ④ BREAK: candle CLOSES above. Not a wick through. ⑤ RETEST: price returns to the level and HOLDS above it. This is the part that separates acceptance from a spike. ⑥ Reclaim candle closes up → entry. Stop is now far tighter than it would have been on the break itself. ⑦ Continuation to the next structural reference. 1.26699 1.26508 1.26455 1.26412 break retest holds

Exact rules

Entry

  • Identify a level that price has respected at least twice — three times is better.
  • Break: an M15 candle closes through the level.
  • Retest: price comes back to it, touching or slightly past, without closing through it again.
  • Reclaim: a candle closes on the correct side of the level, in the direction of the break.
  • Enter at the close of that reclaim candle.

Stop loss

  • 0.6 × ATR(14) on the far side of the reclaimed level.
  • This is the whole structural advantage of the retest entry: anyone who entered on the break is carrying a much wider stop.
  • If price closes back through the level the thesis is finished — exit, even if the stop has not been hit.

Take profit / exit

  • The next structural reference: the previous swing high or low, or the session extreme.
  • A minimum of 1:2 against the honest invalidation, measured before you enter.
  • A partial at 1R is optional.

Build Break and Retest (Acceptance)

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Trading carries risk and most retail accounts lose money. Nothing on this page is financial advice or a recommendation to trade. The chart is an illustration of the rules on constructed candles — it is not a record of a trade and not a backtest.