Breaker Block

Also: Breaker · Bullish Breaker · Bearish Breaker

Definition

A breaker block is a failed order block — a swing point where price rejected once, then returned, violated that swing, and caused a market structure shift. The original opposing candle now flips polarity and becomes support (bullish breaker) or resistance (bearish breaker) on retest.

Key characteristics

• Requires a failed swing — price tests, rejects, then returns and breaks through
• Bullish breaker: down-close candle at a prior swing high that gets violated to the upside
• Bearish breaker: up-close candle at a prior swing low that gets violated to the downside
• Polarity flips after the break — old resistance becomes support, old support becomes resistance
• Often paired with [[Displacement]] through the swing point
• Retest of the broken candle is the entry zone

How it forms

Price makes a swing (e.g., a low), retraces, fails to continue, and returns to take out that swing (the low). The candle that was the original opposing candle at the swing now becomes a breaker. When price retraces back to that candle, the algorithm uses it as a reference to deliver price in the new direction — the direction of the break.

How to use

After confirmed [[Market Structure Shift]], mark the breaker candle. Wait for price to retrace to it. Enter at the candle's edge or [[Mean Threshold]]. Stop beyond the extreme of the breaker. Target the next PD array. Breakers work well as re-entry models after an OB has already been hit.

Common mistakes

• Labeling a normal pullback as a breaker without a genuine swing violation
• Confusing bearish breakers with bullish order blocks — pattern structure differs
• Using breakers in choppy price without displacement

Source quotes