Naming the breakout before you size
Range break, continuation break, and gap follow-through need different confirmation language — mixing them is how checklists go soft.
In the Intensive we stop anyone who says “it broke” without naming the type. A multi-week range break asks for a close outside the boundary and usually a volume expansion. A continuation break in a trending tape may accept a shallower pause if the prior swing structure stayed intact. A gap follow-through after news needs rules about fill risk that a quiet range break does not share.
Why the label matters
Without a label, traders borrow confirmation from whichever rule feels convenient that morning. We have watched desks apply retest rules to news gaps that never retested, then blame “confirmation” when the tape ran. Naming the breakout first forces the matching rule card.
Drill we run in week one
Coaches show twelve unmarked charts. Traders have forty seconds each to write the type and the first confirmation check they would demand. Discussion follows only after all twelve are marked. Speed matters less than refusing to leave the type blank.
Carry it to your desk
Tape a three-line card near the monitor: range / continuation / gap. Circle one before you touch order size. If you cannot circle one, you do not have a breakout trade — you have curiosity.