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Failed breakdown

A break below an obvious support level that quickly reverses and reclaims the level, trapping sellers who entered on the break.

The setup usually starts with visible equal-lows or a well-defined range floor. Price trades through, sell stops trigger, breakdown sellers enter, and then price closes back above the level within a short window.

What gives the pattern force is the trapped positioning. Sellers who entered below the level have stops above it, and longs who were stopped out may re-enter, so a reclaim can produce a fast move. It is the same event Wyckoff called a wyckoff-spring.

The rules matter more than the name. Define how far below the level counts, how quickly the reclaim must occur, and where the trade is wrong, which is normally beneath the low of the breakdown. Without those, every ordinary decline can be labelled a failed breakdown in hindsight.

Related: false-breakout, wyckoff-spring, equal-lows, liquidity-sweep, bear-trap

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