15 / Inside-bar breakout

Several inside bars, a wick through the mother low, then a close through the high

SOL/USD, daily. A wide mother bar is followed by three inside sessions. The first excursion is a wick through the mother low, with a close that still holds above it; the close through the mother high comes two sessions later.

Educational examples — not a trade Josh took, not a signal

A row of sculptural candlesticks: solid teal up candles and translucent red down candles, with wicks and no prices.
Illustration of the idea, not a market chart and not a result.

SOL/USD · daily · 2025-01-05 to 2025-01-25. Data: Kraken public OHLC API. Fills, fees and slippage are not known from these bars. Hypothetical study figures on this page are untested.

Related glossary: inside bar, breakout, wick.

Solana daily candlesticks from 5 January to 25 January 2025. Dashed blue lines mark the 9 January mother-bar high of 199.00 and low of 182.20. Annotations mark that mother bar, inside bars on 10–12 January, a 13 January wick to 168.74 through the mother low, the 15 January close at 206.00 through the mother high, and the 19 January high at 296.00.
SOL/USD daily, 5–25 January 2025. The dashed lines are the 9 January mother-bar high of $199.00 and low of $182.20. Source: Kraken public OHLC API.
What this Inside-bar breakout, after a downside wick example shows
What the setup showsOn 9 January 2025 Solana printed a wide down candle: open $197.48, high $199.00, low $182.20, close $185.06. The next three sessions were inside that mother range: 10 January high $192.97 / low $183.46, 11 January $191.69 / $184.17, and 12 January $190.79 / $185.16. On 13 January the low was $168.74, through the mother low of $182.20, and the close was $182.73, still just above it. On 14 January the low was $181.83, slightly under the mother low, close $187.49. On 15 January the close was $206.00 (high $206.00), through the mother high of $199.00.
Hypothetical study logic (untested)A study of an upside inside-bar break might treat the 15 January close of $206.00 as interest. Invalidation below the 13 January wick of $168.74 would be $37.26 of planned risk (1R), with an illustrative 2R at $280.52 — a wide stop. A tighter untested stop below the mother low of $182.20 would be $23.80 of planned risk, with 2R at $253.60. Untested, and a daily close is not a known fill. The 13 January downside wick happened before this hypothetical entry.
What price did afterwardsOn 18 January the high was $270.00 (close $261.51), already through the tighter 2R figure. On 19 January the high was $296.00 (close $252.22), through the wider 2R figure of $280.52 as well.
What could go wrongThis is not a single neat inside bar with an immediate close-break. Three inside sessions, then a wick through the mother low, then a close through the high two days later, is a messier sequence than the textbook drawing. A rule that takes the first close outside the mother bar would have had to decide what the 13 January close of $182.73, still above the mother low, counted as. A later high is not proof the shape has an edge.
Josh teaching in front of a simple unlabeled candlestick chart.

Josh explains

A walkthrough of this example

This is narration of the published facts on this page. It does not add new numbers, and it is not a signal.

  1. Josh pointing as he explains an idea.

    Step 1

    What the chart is showing

    Solana daily, January 2025: a wide mother bar, three inside sessions, a wick through the mother low, then a later close through the high. The write-up calls this messier than the textbook drawing — that’s the point.

  2. Josh thinking, with a hand on his chin.

    Step 2

    The untested study idea

    A hypothetical upside break from the 15 January close has both a wide stop under the wick and a tighter stop under the mother low, both untested. Later highs in the window ran through the illustrative 2R figures. A daily close is still not a known fill.

  3. Josh holding up a caution hand.

    Step 3

    What could go wrong

    A rule that takes the first probe, or that assumes one neat inside bar, would have had to decide what to do on the wick through the low. Textbook shapes rarely arrive as clean as the diagram.

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