Ichimoku cloud breakout

The Ichimoku cloud is a shaded zone built from past highs and lows. A close through the cloud, with the fast conversion line above the slower base line, suggests a new trend.

Trend strategiesAdvancedConfirmed on candle close

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 Ichimoku cloud breakout works

TargetStopLevel tested again and againClose above the level
Example drawing, not live market data.
1Where's the level?
The cloud (spans A and B) and the conversion and base lines (9, 26, 52).
2What's the trigger?
A candle closes above the cloud while the conversion line is above the base line (the reverse for shorts).
3Where is it wrong?
The far side of the cloud or the base line, whichever is further.
4Where does it end?
2 times the risk.
Markets
Forex, Futures, Crypto
Timeframes
15m to 1d
Sessions
Any
Also called
Kumo breakout, Ichimoku

What it means

The Ichimoku cloud is a shaded zone built from past highs and lows. A close through the cloud, with the fast conversion line above the slower base line, suggests a new trend.

How it is confirmed without repainting

The cloud under each candle is the one projected 26 closed candles earlier, so it never changes after the fact.

When it fails

Thin clouds and flat lines, where price drifts through without commitment.

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.

More Trend strategies

All strategies
TrendBeginner

9/21 EMA crossover

When a fast moving average crosses above a slow one, momentum has turned up. This is one of the oldest trend signals: follow the cross, exit on the opposite cross.

See the rules
TrendIntermediate

200 EMA bounce

The 200-period EMA is the line many traders watch to separate an uptrend from a downtrend. In a rising market, the first test of a rising 200 EMA often holds.

See the rules
TrendBeginner

Bull and bear flags

A sharp move (the pole) is followed by a small, orderly drift against it (the flag). When price breaks out of the flag in the pole's direction, the trend usually continues.

See the rules