Donchian 20-bar breakout
Made famous by the Turtle Traders: buy when price closes above the highest high of the last 20 candles, sell when it closes below the lowest low. It catches big trends and accepts many small losses.
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 Donchian 20-bar breakout works
- 1Where's the level?
- The 20-candle high and low channel.
- 2What's the trigger?
- A candle closes above the prior 20-candle high (or below the 20-candle low).
- 3Where is it wrong?
- 2 times ATR(14) from entry.
- 4Where does it end?
- 2R, or earlier when a candle closes beyond the opposite 10-candle channel.
- Markets
- Futures, Commodities, Crypto
- Timeframes
- 1h to 1d
- Sessions
- Any
- Also called
- turtle breakout, channel breakout
What it means
Made famous by the Turtle Traders: buy when price closes above the highest high of the last 20 candles, sell when it closes below the lowest low. It catches big trends and accepts many small losses.
How it is confirmed without repainting
The channel uses the 20 candles before the current one, so the level is known before the breakout candle closes.
When it fails
Breakouts that immediately reverse back into the channel, common in quiet markets.
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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