Bollinger band breakout
After a quiet stretch where the Bollinger bands narrow, a close outside the band with the bands starting to widen often marks the start of a move. The opposite of fading the band.
Watch it play out
Replay plays a setup this strategy already finished and stops so you can call it. Live watches for the next one on Bitcoin (BTC-USD, 1-minute candles). Either way a setup is marked only when a candle closes, then it's locked and plays out to its target or its stop. Nothing to trade here.
How the live chart applies the rules
- 1-minute candles. The chart runs every strategy on 1-minute Bitcoin candles from Coinbase, whatever timeframe the strategy page suggests. Times are New York time.
- Closed candles only. Levels, triggers and stops are read when a candle closes. Entry is that candle's close.
- One setup at a time. While a setup is playing out, the same strategy doesn't start another.
- Sensible risk only. A setup counts only if its stop is between a quarter and 6 times the average candle range (ATR 14) from entry (wider for session-range strategies), and its target is at least 0.75R away.
- How a setup ends. At its target or its stop. If one candle touches both, the stop counts. A setup also ends at any exit its page names, and after 120 candles (longer for trend and session strategies) if nothing is hit.
- Replays. A replay plays the latest setup this strategy finished on the live chart's recent history, sped up. It's the same setup the live chart confirmed, with the same entry, stop and result. If the strategy hasn't finished one recently, the replay uses example candles and says so.
- The trading day. A day runs 6:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET, like futures. VWAP restarts at 6:00 PM, and "yesterday" means the last full trading day.
How Bollinger band breakout works
- 1Where's the level?
- The upper and lower Bollinger bands (20, 2), after a period when the bands were narrower than usual.
- 2What's the trigger?
- A candle closes outside a band for the first time, while the bands are widening.
- 3Where is it wrong?
- The middle band (the 20-period average).
- 4Where does it end?
- 2 times the risk.
- Markets
- Futures, Stocks, Forex, Crypto
- Timeframes
- 5m to 1h
- Sessions
- Any liquid session
- Also called
- Band walk, Bollinger expansion
What it means
After a quiet stretch where the Bollinger bands narrow, a close outside the band with the bands starting to widen often marks the start of a move. The opposite of fading the band.
How it is confirmed without repainting
Band values come from closed candles. The squeeze before the break is measured on earlier closed candles, so it is fixed before the trigger.
When it fails
The close outside the band is a single spike in a wide, noisy market. Without a prior squeeze, band breaks often snap back.
Education only. Prop Firm Duel does not provide trade signals or financial advice. This page explains how the strategy is commonly defined. Past results never guarantee future results.
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