Mark a level before explaining the move
Choose the level your own setup uses and explain why it is relevant to that setup. Record the exact instrument, timeframe and session, then save a chart that shows the surrounding context. Do not move the level afterward simply to make an entry look cleaner in review. If the context changes, save a new revision and explain the change.
For illustration, call the level L rather than naming a live price. Your observation might say “price is approaching L from below.” Your working idea might say “I will evaluate continuation only if the required close and retest occur.” The first describes the chart; the second describes a conditional decision. Neither claims to know the next candle.
Write break, close and retest as separate checks
- Break: Record the price behavior your strategy defines as a break of L.
- Close: Name the timeframe and what must be true at the candle close.
- Retest: Define the return toward L and the response your own rule requires.
- Decision gate: Assess entry only after the complete sequence and your separate risk checks.
A retest is not a universal measurement. Some methods use a zone, others a specific price or candle behavior. Document the version your method uses, including what would fail the check. Edgelog stores your condition labels and observations; it does not decide whether a candle or a level qualifies on your behalf.
Keep three possible outcomes in the plan
The buy scenario is the sequence you wrote, not the confidence you feel while watching it. The wait scenario covers incomplete evidence: the close has not occurred, the retest is absent, or the session has ended. A clear waiting branch prevents a fast move from quietly changing your setup into a different strategy.
The sell scenario needs its own criteria if you trade that direction. A failed upside break does not automatically establish a sell. You might record a separate rejection setup, with its own close and confirmation rules, or simply write “Stand aside.” The trading bias journal explains this separation without assigning a bullish or bearish forecast.
Decide invalidation and risk before the retest
Write the evidence that would end the original idea, and distinguish it from a protective order or exit rule. Invalidation describes why the explanation no longer fits. Risk rules describe what exposure you are prepared to accept and how you intend to exit. They can be related, but a checklist should not substitute one for the other.
Include the session expiry and the account limits that matter to you. A close-and-retest pattern does not remove execution risk, spread changes or losses. Use the position size calculator to examine your own sizing inputs. No percentage, stop distance or reward multiple on this page is a recommendation for your account.
Record an incomplete setup honestly
Imagine the hypothetical chart breaks L and closes beyond it, but never provides the retest you defined. Save “close observed, retest pending” rather than marking the entire setup ready. If price later runs further, that outcome does not retroactively complete the missing step. The record describes the decision available at the time.
If an earlier condition fails after you checked later ones, reset the branch instead of recycling the old confirmations. Edgelog resets later checks when an earlier step fails or is reset. A revised setup also starts pending. That behavior makes it harder for a new explanation to inherit evidence that belonged to the original one.
Review execution without rewriting the chart
After a completed trade, link it to the saved plan revision and compare the entry time with your recorded confirmations. If the plan was written after entry, call it retrospective. If you took the trade before the retest, record the deviation even when it made money. If you lack a reliable record, choose Insufficient evidence.
Assign the trade to your Playbook strategy to keep the example beside the original execution and performance. Over time, compare genuinely similar examples instead of combining unrelated breakout methods into one success rate. This page supplies a documentation workflow, not backtesting results or proof that breakout-and-retest entries have an edge.
Try the workflow with a chart of your own
Use the trading plan template to copy the fields, then adapt the example to your own method. The pre-trade checklist helps separate context, confirmation and risk. In the Trade Plan demo, save a synthetic example and practice keeping one direction pending while reviewing the other.
For general education about explicit entry and exit criteria, see CME Group’s trading-strategy lesson. Trade Plan remains a manual journal workflow: no live breakout alerts, no automatic candle confirmation and no broker execution. Your observations and decisions stay yours.