False Breakout
NeutralReliability: MediumAlso called · fakeout, whipsaw
Price briefly clears support or resistance and immediately comes back.
How to spot it
- Only the wick breaks; the close stays inside
- No volume comes in on the break
Why this shape forms
It looks like a level broke, then price comes back. The stops of everyone who entered on the break become fuel in the other direction.
Where it actually means something
Most common at range edges and obvious prior highs. The more obvious the level, the more often it happens.
What else to check
Check whether the breakout candle held the level on a closing basis. A wick through with the body back inside is not a break.
This means you're wrong
If it doesn't come back and the close settles outside, the breakout is real.
The mistake beginners make
Entering the instant the level breaks. Waiting for the close prevents most of this.
Easy to confuse with
There is no way to tell a real break from a fake one in real time. Rather than trying, decide in advance where you are wrong.
Real examples from the community
Patterns are probabilistic tendencies, not guarantees. This is not investment advice.