{"slug":"break-of-structure","term":"Break of Structure","category":"Technical Analysis","definition":"A break of structure is a candle close beyond the swing high or swing low that defined the current trend — above the last lower high in a downtrend, below the last higher low in an uptrend. It is the first objective evidence that the sequence has changed, as opposed to a wick that probed the level and came back.","street":"A wick through the level is a rumour; a close through it is the news. Trade the news.","depth":["Say an uptrend has made higher lows at $90, $94 and $97. Price pulls back and prints a 4h candle that closes at $96.40 — below the $97 swing low. That close is the break: the uptrend's defining sequence is broken, and the next lower high is the level to watch for a trend change. A wick to $96.20 that closes at $97.60 is not a break; it is a stop hunt of the people who put stops exactly at the swing low.","Our setups resolve stops on completed candle closes for the same reason, and the difference is not cosmetic: in our ledger, wick-based stops took out trades that then went to target. The trap in the other direction is trading the first break — the first close through structure often retests the broken level before continuing, which is the entry with a defined invalidation rather than the break itself."],"live":{"label":"Read the structure off a live chart","href":"/charts"},"related":["market-structure","swing-high-swing-low","candle-close-confirmation","retest","stop-hunt"]}