Simultaneous Breaks

A simultaneous break tells us there is algorithmic activity. That makes it the most definitive buy or sell signal available, so it is watched on the four major timeframes (60, day, week, month) as well as the quarter and year.

Pre-break identification

Before the break occurs, look for actionable signals. A concentration of signals in the same sector or index identifies a potential simultaneous break: it fires if all of the signals go in force. For example, four inside bar setups in one sector: on the next session, all four going in force at once is a simultaneous inside bar break.

If only some go in force, wait. The others break the same way, or the break reclaims right away and sets up a 1-3. Example on the 60: not all four break.

The week of 27 to 31 July 2026 closed with 31 technology names printing a hammer (XLK and QQQ among them), and every one of them a 2d that got bought back off the prior week’s low. Each carries the same trigger, its own hammer high, and the new weekly bar opens Monday. Scan Recipes, recipe 3 walks through it step by step.

Pick a timeframe whose clock turns over. The same names are also a 1 on the quarterly, so the identical setup exists up there, but the quarter will not resolve until the end of September. A weekly setup answers within days. The higher timeframe tells you the direction; choose the timeframe you scan for setups so that it finishes inside the period you intend to hold.

To quantify strength, count the number of potential in-force signals, and count how many stocks within that sector are currently trading in the same direction as the breaks. The most powerful setups occur when every index and sector reverses at the same time with 80% or more of their holdings in the same direction.

Post-break identification

Once multiple 2s in the same direction have already broken, that is the simultaneous break, and there is nothing left to confirm. Finding it is two questions: who is taking the highs and lows out, and how concentrated are those breaks by sector. Reading that off the tape is Scanning Technique: Reading the Tape; running it in the software is recipe 4 in Scan Recipes, where the sector stats give you the concentration in one line.

Higher timeframes carry the most weight. A break on the week, month, quarter or year gives far more time to gain entry and a much larger magnitude than a 60-minute break. Once you have it, lower-timeframe signals in the same direction are what confirm it.

The unfinished bar is the opportunity, not a problem. A quarterly break that fires in July is not over: that bar runs until 30 September, so the direction is settled while the magnitude still has two months to fill in. There is never a reason to chase a higher timeframe break: take the direction from the broken bar, then use the buy/sell list and lower-timeframe actionable signals to time entries for as long as it stays in force. A live example (58 financials with a quarterly 2u in force, XLF and KRE among them) is worked through in Scan Recipes, recipe 4.

Continuation and exits

When it is moving, enter on momentum signals (momo hammers, momo shooters, and inside bars) on the lower timeframes, in the break’s direction.

A true simultaneous break should go instantly. Because the evidence is so strong, it is best held until price has reversed against the position. That does not mean a wide stop: a true simultaneous break that trades far against you has failed long before a stop that wide (see stop losses). Continuations in the break’s direction can be added until price reverses.

Buy the laggards & group trading

Within a simultaneous break, the last correlated name to break carries the most evidence behind it. Every other name in the group has already broken, so the laggard’s break is backed by the whole group’s momentum at the smallest premium.

In a sector-wide break, names in the sector that are not printing the exact same pattern can still be traded with the group, because full timeframe continuity plus the group break carries them. Diversify across the sector rather than concentrate in one name: take positions across the correlated list, keep stops tight, and let the market self-select. The names that do not stop out are the strongest in the group, and those survivors are the leaders to hold and add to (see adding to winners).

Related: The Flip · Full Timeframe Continuity · Opening Price · Intraday Index Simultaneous Break
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