london breakout strategy variants, what's currently working
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classical london breakout: identify the asian session range, trade the breakout in either direction with stop at the opposite end of the range. used to be one of the most reliable retail strategies.
in 2026 the straight breakout fails too often (algos hunt the obvious stops). the variants ive seen people pivot to:
- fade the first breakout, trade the reversal back into the range
- wait for second test of the breakout level before entering
- add a momentum filter (only take breakout if RSI confirms direction)
curious whats actually working for london open scalpers in 2026.
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running variant 2 (wait for second test) profitably for 18 months. classic breakout: 38% win rate. second-test confirmation: 56% win rate. you miss some early moves but you avoid most of the failed breakouts that kill the strategy. trade off is fewer setups per week.
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+1 on second test. its the cleanest improvement. the failed breakout fade (variant 1) works too but requires reading the failed move correctly which is more discretionary. second test is mechanical: did price come back and respect the level? yes or no.
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what counts as 'asian session range' exactly? what time and what high/low?
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typical definition: high and low of price between 00:00 and 06:00 UTC. so its an 6-hour window during asian session. the london open at around 07:00 UTC is when the breakout trade triggers. mark the range high and low on your chart at 06:00, then watch how price interacts with those levels in the next 2-3 hours.
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variant 3 (momentum filter) was my go-to for a year. RSI confirming direction filtered out maybe 60% of false breakouts. but it also filtered some real moves where momentum lagged price. ended up combining variants 2 and 3: wait for second test AND require RSI confirmation. high quality but rare setups, maybe 3 per week.
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london breakout is dead. has been for years. all your variants are just admitting that and adding filters to slow down the bleeding.
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its not dead, its evolved. classical breakout is dead. but the concept of trading the volatility expansion at session opens is still profitable with the right adjustments. claiming the entire concept is dead because the simplest version no longer works is too broad a claim.
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second test confirmation. clean.
simple, mechanical, high-probability when set up right. the failed breakout reversal (variant 1) is my favorite variant because it makes me feel like im trading against the herd rather than with itHello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
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