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how to read and trade the market session breakout report

how to use the market session breakout report to trade whether one session breaks a prior session's range, including the single/double/no-break read and the by-levels, by-size, and by-weekday subreports.

Written by Brad

summary: how to use the market session breakout report to trade whether one session breaks a prior session's range, including the single/double/no-break read and the by-levels, by-size, and by-weekday subreports.

what it measures

each market session — Asian, London, New York — carves out a high and a low while it runs. this report pairs an earlier session with a later one and measures whether the later session breaks the earlier session's range. you pick the pair: London & New York (does NY break London's range), Asia & London, or Asia & New York.

every day sorts into one of three outcomes:

  • single break — the later session breaks one side of the earlier session's range (its high or its low)

  • double break — it breaks both sides

  • no break — it stays inside the earlier session's range

it's the same family as the overnight range and Asian range breakout reports — a range forms in one window, and you trade the break of it in the next.

how to read it

a high single-break rate means the earlier session's range rarely contains the later one — price usually leaves it, so the range high and low become trigger levels rather than spots to fade. a high no-break rate means the range tends to hold, which favors fading the edges back inside.

the range high and low are your levels: price breaking one is the signal. open the report for the ticker and session pair you trade, and keep the earlier session's high and low drawn on your chart into the later session's open.

the subreports

standard

the single-break, double-break, and no-break split for the session pair you've chosen. your base read on whether the range holds or gives way.

by size

filters by how wide the earlier session's range is. a tight range breaks differently than a wide one — a narrow range is more likely to give way, a very wide range has already done a lot of the day's work. use it to judge whether today's range is one worth trading the break of.

by levels

after the range breaks, how often price reaches specific extension levels beyond it — projected as percentages of the range past the broken level. where the standard view gives you the direction, by levels gives you the targets to trade toward once you're in.

by rejection

which side of the earlier session's range formed first, and then, once that session is over, which side the later session breaks first. use it as the side-picking read, the same way IB by rejection works on the first hour.

by weekday

the same break read filtered to one weekday. session ranges don't break the same way every day, so use it to lean on the setup only on the days the data supports. watch sample sizes on thinner days.

the customize settings

the customize button lets you set the exact time windows for the Asian, London, and New York sessions, so each range is measured the way you define the session. whatever you set shows up in the custom settings panel on the report.

how traders use it

the core play is trading the later session's break of the earlier session's range — long when the high breaks, short when the low breaks, in the direction the standard read favors. use by size to decide whether today's range is worth trading, and by levels to set targets once you're in.

it pairs well with the market session correlation report — correlation tells you whether the earlier session's direction should carry into the later one, and the breakout gives you the level to act on it.

setting it up

use the session breakout indicator to plot the earlier session's high and low on your chart, and confirm the session windows match the ones set in the report so your levels line up with the data.

tips

  • trade with the break, not against it. a high single-break rate is a reason to follow the break, not fade it.

  • the size filter keeps you out of bad ranges — a very wide session range has often already made its move.

  • confirm the read holds across 1 year, 6 months, and 3 months before you lean on it, and remember consistent results take customization and reps.

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