Strategy template · early access
Break and retest strategy, automated
Price closes beyond a swing high or low, comes back to the level within twelve candles and closes on the broken side: that close is the signal. The bot runs it on real candles, draws each signal and posts it to your Telegram channel, built with you in early access.
What the break and retest is
Break and retest is one of the most widely taught price action setups. A level that price has turned from, a swing high or low, is broken; price then comes back to touch the level from the other side, and if it holds there, the old resistance is read as new support (or the old support as new resistance). The trade is taken on the hold, after the break has proven itself, rather than on the break.
The rules turn the level, the break and the retest into three checks on candles: a confirmed swing, a close beyond it, and a candle that touches it and closes back on the broken side. A close back through the level first voids the setup.
The bot's rules
- The level is the latest confirmed swing high (for a buy) or swing low (for a sell): 5 candles before it and 5 after it are lower (or higher), and it is used only once the 5th candle after it has closed.
- The break is a 15-minute close beyond the level by at least 0.75 × ATR(14), so a close that only just clears it is not a break.
- The retest is a candle within 12 candles after the break that comes back to the level (a buy: its low at or under the level plus 0.1 × ATR(14)) and closes on the broken side. The bot signals at that close. A close back through the level first voids the setup.
- Stop beyond the retest candle's extreme plus 0.1 × ATR(14). Targets at 1, 2, 3 times the stop distance. Each level once.
Which version. The swing-level version, as commonly taught: the level is the latest confirmed swing high or low (five candles either side), the break a 15-minute close beyond it, and the retest a candle that touches the level and closes back on the broken side within twelve candles.
The settings
The defaults the example was found with. Each one is a setting, not a rewrite.
| Setting | Default | What you can change |
|---|---|---|
| Market | XAUUSD | Gold or any of the seven US-dollar majors; other markets need a price feed first. |
| Candles | 15 minutes | The swing, the break and the retest are read on these. |
| Swing: candles before | 5 candles | A swing is higher (or lower) than this many candles before it. |
| Swing: candles after | 5 candles | And than this many after it; it counts once the last has closed. |
| Retest within | 12 candles | Counted after the breaking candle. |
| Break must close | 0.75 × ATR(14) beyond | A close that only just clears the level is not counted as a break. |
| Smallest stop | 0.5 × ATR(14) | If the retest candle is very small the stop is pushed out to this distance. |
| Touch and stop buffer | 0.1 × ATR(14) | How near the level counts as a touch, and the room left beyond the retest candle. |
| Targets | 1, 2, 3 × the stop | Or the next swing in the direction of the trade. |
The example, as the bot would post it
The signal in the chart above: found by the template's code on XAUUSD 15 min candles at . Its levels, and the message the bot would send with the chart:
- Entry4165.33
- Stop4173.18 · 8 pips
- TP14157.47 · +8 pips
- TP24149.62 · +16 pips
- TP34141.77 · +24 pips
🔴 SELL XAUUSD · Break and retest Entry: 4165.33 (market) Stop: 4173.18 (8 pips) TP1: 4157.47 (+8 pips) TP2: 4149.62 (+16 pips) TP3: 4141.77 (+24 pips) Swing low broken, retested and held. Stop beyond the retest; targets at 1, 2, 3 times the stop. Not financial advice. Trade at your own risk.
The same signal in another of the bot's chart templates, Daylight, with a space for your logo:
How often it fires
Signals the template's code found with the defaults over the last twelve months of candles. A count of signals, not of wins: we publish no results for templates.
- Gold (XAUUSD)
- 24.8signals a month: 298 from 2025-10-23 to 2026-10-23
- EURUSD
- 25.5signals a month: 306 from 2025-10-23 to 2026-10-23
Automation, not an edge. A template does the work of watching the chart, finding the setup and posting it. It does not make the strategy win. Before it goes live in your channel we run it over past candles on your markets and show you every signal it would have sent, losses included, privately.
What can be changed
- The rules: every setting above, and any filter or confirmation you can write down.
- The markets: gold and the seven US-dollar majors, one or all of them.
- The chart: your logo where the placeholder is, a chart template in your colours, and the marks your method uses.
- The channels: every signal to a paid channel and a paced share to a free one, the way our own channels run.
Or bring a strategy that is not here: every template started as rules someone wrote down.
Questions
What is the level?
The most recent confirmed swing high (for a buy) or swing low (for a sell): the highest high with five lower candles on each side. A swing is only used once its fifth candle after it has closed, so the level is never one that price had not yet confirmed.
What counts as a retest?
A candle that comes back to the level, with its low at or under the level plus a tenth of the ATR for a buy (the reverse for a sell), and closes on the broken side of it. It must come within twelve candles of the break. If a candle closes back through the level first, the setup is dropped.
Why not enter on the break?
Many breaks fail and fall back at once. Waiting for the retest costs some trades that never come back, and gives a stop just beyond the retest candle instead of one beyond the whole move.
Does the bot place trades?
No. It finds the setup, draws the chart, posts the signal to your Telegram channel and follows it with a reply at each target and at the stop. It does not connect to a broker or trade any account.
Can I change the rules?
Yes. Every setting in the table above is yours to change, and so is anything else that can be written down: a filter, a session, a second confirmation, a different stop. If a step is a judgement call, we work out with you how to write it as a rule.
Will it make money?
We do not say it will, for this template or any other. A template is automation, not an edge. Before it goes live we run it over past candles on your markets and show you every signal it would have sent, losses included, privately. How a strategy behaved on past candles is not what it will do.
Is it AI?
No. It follows the written rules on this page. The same candles always give the same signals.
Which markets and timeframes?
The seven US-dollar majors and gold today, on any timeframe from 5 minutes to daily. Other markets need a price feed for them first; ask us.
What does it cost?
Templates are in early access: built with you, for your channel, and priced before launch. Early-access members hear the price first. For a broker, prop firm or educator, write to us.
Other strategy templates
Opening range breakout
The first 15 minutes after the New York open set a range; the first 5-minute close outside it is the signal.
Fair value gap
Three candles leave a gap that price skipped; the first candle to come back into it is the signal.
Liquidity sweep
Price runs through the previous day's high or low, then a 15-minute candle closes back inside the level: that close is the signal.
Order block
A strong candle breaks the last swing high; the last down candle before it is the block, and the first return into it is the signal.
EMA crossover
The 9 EMA closes across the 21 EMA in the direction of the 200 EMA: a buy above it, a sell below it.
Supertrend
The Supertrend line (ATR 10 × 3) flips from above price to below it, or the other way: the candle that closes through it is the signal.
London breakout
The Asian session sets a range; the first 15-minute close above its high or below its low after the London open is the signal.
RSI divergence
Price makes a lower swing low while the RSI makes a higher one, the first in oversold territory: a buy once the second swing is confirmed. The mirror is a sell.
MACD crossover
The MACD line crosses its signal line below zero in an uptrend, or above zero in a downtrend, with price on the 200 EMA's side.
Silver bullet
A fair value gap forms in the 10:00 to 11:00 New York window; the first candle back into it before 11:00 is the signal.
Judas swing
A candle runs through the Asian range early in London, then a 15-minute candle closes back inside it: that close is the signal.