05 / Moving-average pullback
A pullback to the 20-day average — and a stop that would have been hit
A pullback to the 20-day average on Bitcoin daily, and a later session that would have hit a stop. Educational only.
Educational examples — not a trade Josh took, not a signal
BTC/USD · daily · 2026-04-08 to 2026-05-15. Data: Kraken public OHLC API. Fills, fees and slippage are not known from these bars. Hypothetical study figures on this page are untested.
The full write-up, including the hypothetical study logic and what happened afterwards, is on the technical examples page. The published facts for this chart are:
| cross.date | 2026-04-13 |
|---|---|
| cross.c | 74441.7 |
| cross.sma20 | 69338.69499999989 |
| cross.sma50 | 69287.89200000004 |
| pullback.date | 2026-04-28 |
| pullback.l | 75652.1 |
| pullback.c | 76331.9 |
| pullback.sma20 | 75500.17999999989 |
| pullback.sma50 | 71962.06600000002 |
| after10End.date | 2026-05-08 |
| after10End.c | 80196.9 |
| after10High | 82790.9 |
| after10Low | 74940 |
| after10HighDate | 2026-05-06 |
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.
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Step 1
What the chart is showing
Bitcoin daily in 2026: after an April close above the 20-day and 50-day averages, price later pulls back toward the 20-day on 28 April. The title already tells you the honest part — a stop in a study of this shape would have been hit. That’s why this example is here.
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Step 2
How to read it as a student
A bounce at a moving average is easy to screenshot when it works. This page exists so you also study the version that does not. Read the published facts for the cross, the pullback, and what happened afterward in this window.
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Step 3
What to keep honest
A moving-average tag is not support. This is not a trade I took. If you only collect the pullbacks that resumed, you are building a highlight reel, not a process.
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Occasional notes about this public lab — new pages and implementation notes. Not signals, not a membership account, and not an application.
Education only, not financial advice. This is a personal record of one trader’s decisions, including the mistakes. Trading crypto carries a real risk of losing money. Full disclaimer.