What the chart shows
The most recent range is 12 hourly bars from Thu 02:00 UTC with a high of $4,155.8 and a low of $4,118.0 ($37.8 tall, 1.9 times the average hourly range).
The first close outside it came at Thu 15:00 UTC: a close of $4,094.1, below the range low.
What are a range and a breakout?
A range is a stretch where price moves sideways between a ceiling and a floor. Ranges store orders on both sides, and the breakout, when price finally closes outside, often starts the next directional move. Many breakouts fail, which is why traders wait for a close and often a retest.
The rule that found it
A range is at least 10 consecutive hourly bars whose highest high and lowest low are no more than 2 average hourly ranges apart (the longest such stretch, scanning forward). A breakout is the first later bar that closes above the range high or below the range low. The most recent range on the chart is shown.
How traders use it
- Mark the top and bottom of the range and do nothing in the middle.
- Breakout plan: wait for a close outside, then a retest of the broken edge; place the stop back inside the range and aim for a move about the height of the range.
- Range plan: while it holds, some traders sell near the top and buy near the bottom with stops just outside, and stop doing it once a candle closes outside.
Education only: this explains a pattern that already happened on a past chart. It is not a signal or a level to trade today, and not personal advice.