There were three touches on both support and resistance which gives us a tradable pattern. In a previous article, we wrote about how to trade breakouts in the financial market. The idea is that after an asset consolidates, it will reach a point where they go through a bullish or break out. When used well, the strategy can lead to substantial profits. Unknowing traders would have traded the first breakout candle and gotten faked out on the next candle.

When using the breakout and retest strategy, the first thing to do is to identify and draw your support and resistance levels correctly. You may be easily tricked into false breakouts without marking out your levels properly. You can also rely on this Support and Resistance indicator to help you mark the levels. They can come after a market breaks a key horizontal level of support or resistance or a breakout from a wedge pattern. Ideally, when a breakout happens, it is usually a sign that bulls or bears have prevailed. As such, instead of going all-in at first, you can wait for the price to retest the previous resistance that has now become a support level.

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If you get yourself in the habit of always waiting for the retest, it will soon become second nature. As it becomes second nature you will begin to find that you are less anxious about what the market might do and more focused on what the market is doing. However, the most important point to take away from the chart above is that Wave C is where we want to buy. This area represents the strongest group of buyers and therefore signals the greatest potential for a sustained move higher. However, there is an underlying dynamic that isn’t immediately apparent.

We recommend that you seek independent financial advice and ensure you fully understand the risks involved before trading. By waiting for a retest you are essentially waiting for any weak hands to exit the market before putting on a position. This provides you with a stronger foundation from which to buy or sell which leads to a greater probability of a successful outcome. Patience is arguably the most important quality you can have as a Forex trader and one that will surely have a positive impact on your trading. And teaching yourself to always wait for a retest is a great way to develop that quality. Don’t worry, the chart above isn’t nearly as confusing as it may seem at first glance.

What is a break and retest strategy?

With the forex breakout and retest strategy, you can avoid a lot of false breakouts and still get into trades at good levels. A break and retest is a popular trading strategy in the market today. However, as we have seen, it has some key risks that you need to be aware about. As such, we recommend that you practice and use quality risk management strategies to use it well. So when the market revisits a level after breaking it, we want to see it test that level as new support or resistance. Also, notice the bearish pin bar that formed after retesting former wedge support as new resistance.

• As you may well know, you always want to place your stop loss at a level where the setup is invalidated if hit.
• As it becomes second nature you will begin to find that you are less anxious about what the market might do and more focused on what the market is doing.
• When using the breakout and retest strategy, the first thing to do is to identify and draw your support and resistance levels correctly.
• However, as we have seen, it has some key risks that you need to be aware about.
• However, the most important point to take away from the chart above is that Wave C is where we want to buy.

Notice how EURGBP formed a bearish pin bar several days after breaking wedge support. Those who entered on the first “retouch” after the break would have been stopped out. Yet those who remained patient and waited for confirming price action would have ended up with a 4R trade if using a 50% entry. A break and retest strategy is a relatively popular one among day traders. At times, the strategy works well among long-term investors.

What the Breakout and Retest Strategy is About

This support area eventually led to a break of channel resistance which is highlighted above. Start thinking of retests as a market’s way of “resetting” itself. These resets are needed as the balance between buyers and sellers is in constant flux.

And when your breakouts come, resist the urge to make any trade, no matter how far the momentum carries the price before the retracement. If you did this, it would only be a breakout strategy and not a breakout and retest strategy. As you can see from the chart above, we have a wedge pattern that formed on the daily chart over the course of several months.

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Put simply, it’s either a bullish or bearish pin bar at the new level of support or resistance. The EURGBP daily chart below is a great example of how we can use a price action signal to help confirm a breakout. The breakout and retest strategy is the one that many traders adopt when trading forex trendline breakouts or support and resistance levels. The strategy is designed to help forex traders do two main things.

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Let’s move in and take a closer look to see where we could have placed our stop loss for this setup. It isn’t enough to simply see the market touch a broken level as new support or resistance. And if you think about it, that doesn’t actually qualify as a retest. In essence, this chart illustrates the basic ebb and flow of a market which is influenced by the balance between buyers and sellers.

It goes without saying that whenever you buy or sell you are looking for a move in the intended direction. But in order for the market to do that, it needs a fresh set of buyers or sellers. Otherwise, you will find yourself buying at the top and selling at the bottom. I have been receiving a lot of similar questions recently so I decided to dedicate a lesson to the topic of retests. Regardless of how or where the retest occurs, the characteristics are the same. The image below illustrates a few of the various ways retests can occur.

But with the breakout and retest strategy, you wouldn’t even be in the trade at the breakout. I can’t guarantee profits on any particular setup just as I can’t guarantee your success as a trader. But one thing I can guarantee is that there will always be more setups tomorrow, so never be in a hurry to risk your trading capital today. Now let’s take a closer look at the breakout and retest to identify the activity between buyers and sellers.